Here’s How Marsh Power Broker Julie Polera Irons Out Mergers and Acquisitions

This Marsh broker already has extensive accolades under her belt, and she’s just getting started.

By: Maura Keller | May 12, 2020

When Julie Polera began her college years at Northeastern University in Boston as a psychology major, little did she know her career path would lead her to become vice president of private equity, mergers and acquisitions at Marsh.

“My strategy after graduation was to be accepted into a management training program, and I was fortunate enough to begin my career at HUB International,” Polera said.

“At a certain point, I became interested in private equity business and sought out a role within the private equity and mergers and acquisitions group at Marsh in 2012.”

Today, Polera celebrates having several industry certifications, including being a licensed property and casualty broker in all 50 states, as well as a licensed life and health broker, and she has earned her commercial lines coverage specialist designation.

Using Her Knowledge to Help her Clients Succeed

Her role at Marsh is one that earned her accolades aplenty thanks to producing substantial savings for many sizable clients.

“My role at Marsh requires a detailed knowledge of the insurance marketplace and an understanding of how we are able to work with the markets and their product offerings to tailor to the needs of our clients,” Polera said.

“Each deal in the private equity practice must have a strategy as we negotiate solutions for our clients. This is vital as our clients are consistently acquiring and divesting operations.

“We also must create a program that satisfies the financial needs of our clients in terms of overall program costs and credit risk requirements,” Polera continued.

In fact, one of her clients, a large construction aggregates company, which is owned by private equity, has grown substantially by an acquisition-based $1.5 billion during the last five years.

The company has had a solid claims history and utilized risk control/telematics for its 3,800-unit fleet.

However, the company was looking to review alternative ideas and approaches to managing its insurance program.

Polera worked her magic and was able to produce a creative corridor deductible option that generated a year-over-year savings of 30% — more than $1.6 million — as well as a flat collateral requirement with the company’s incumbent carrier.

“The purchase of insurance is a critical component to both the financial and operational components of the business,” Polera said.

“The ability to overcome obstacles and produce a positive outcome for clients is what I am most proud [of].”

Creating a Strong Bond

In addition, Polera prides herself in understanding her clients’ needs and working with the client as a team.

“It’s important to get the client comfortable enough to talk to you on a personal level and express what drives their decisions and performance metrics,” Polera said. “My goal is to become an extension of my client’s team as opposed to an insurance broker.”

And she did just that when she worked with a leading transportation solutions provider that, despite not paying out any losses within the past five years, was facing a 100% rate increase (equivalent to $2 million) lead umbrella renewal indication as a result of a rather tumultuous umbrella market.

“I worked in collaboration with the client and primary markets to obtain the optimal program structure balance on the primary and lead program to provide a savings of $1.3 million in premium,” Polera said.

A Well-deserved 2020 Power broker Win

And while providing extensive cost savings and becoming a key partner with her clients is what Polera is most proud of, becoming a Risk & Insurance M&A Power Broker in 2020 was a nice moment.

“I am proud of the strong relationships I have developed with colleagues, peers and mentors who I trust and admire within the industry,” Polera said.

“I am lucky to be able to work and learn from some of the best in the industry.”

And while Polera has always been very driven and has embraced self-motivation, she is also a firm believer that success takes a village.

“I would never be where I am now without the support and guidance of my family, my close mentors within Marsh and the industry,” she said.

“I also believe having had the resources available within Marsh has given me the ability to achieve my goals,” Polera said.

“One of the things I have learned in my current role is that you must be able to be flexible and adaptable at any point in time, given [the] nature of private equity business.”

Communication also is paramount within her role.

“It is critical to develop relationships with the client at varying levels and disciplines to understand each client’s unique needs as there are many stakeholders involved in the decision of how to best insure the company.”

Embracing Challenges

Of course, Polera’s role certainly provides its fair share of challenges.

As she explains, over the last year, the volatility of the excess market has been a challenge for many of Marsh’s clients.

As a result, Polera has worked with colleagues and markets to structure complicated deals that create solutions on both a primary and excess basis.

“Most currently, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption to many of our clients’ businesses,” Polera said.

Challenges aside, Polera hopes to thrive as a leader and make an impact on people as her leaders have done with her. She strives to continue to grow and add value with every opportunity and be an innovator in the industry.

“I look forward to each challenge and opportunity to make a difference. I love working with underwriters, my colleagues at Marsh and clients to navigate and solve problems,” Polera said.

“My goal is to continue advancing my career and to be acknowledged as a resourceful broker in the insurance industry.” &

Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Maura Keller is a writer, editor and published book author with more than 20 years of experience. She has written about business, design, marketing, health care, and a wealth of other topics for dozens of regional and national publications. She can be reached at [email protected].

How a Carrier Partner Can Help Navigate a Challenging Management and Professional Liability Market

A combination of a choppy economy with increased claims frequency and severity could lead to rate increases in the Management & Professional Liability market.

By: Risk & Insurance | April 3, 2024

Rates in the management & professional liability (M&PL) markets were on the rise from 2020 to early 2023 and are now falling rapidly.

M&PL divisions manage a number of different insurance products including management liability (D&O), professional liability (E&O), employment practices liability (EPL), fiduciary liability policies, cyber, etc. In 2023 and into 2024, a big influence on the marketplace has been the extremely aggressive and softening public company D&O market.

Though these rates have been softening for management liability, that may change over the next few years as companies continue to adjust their business models motivated by economic uncertainty. Layoffs were up nearly 200% last year, Forbes reported, even as other recession indicators, like the inflation rate, improved. A recession could lead to an increased claim activity and force carriers to raise rates.

“Whenever there is a meaningful downturn in the economy, we tend to see claim frequency pop up,” said George Schalick, Jr., senior vice president of the Management and Professional Liability Division at Philadelphia Insurance Companies (PHLY).

With continued fiscal uncertainty, businesses potentially already burdened with pandemic-related claims should seek a carrier with a long history in M&PL products. They will provide much-needed risk management guidance and be better positioned to support their insureds during market fluctuations.

Why Insureds Might See an Uptick in M&PL Claims

George Schalick, Jr., Senior Vice President of the Management and Professional Liability Division, Philadelphia Insurance Companies

The current soft market might come as a bit of a surprise as it does not track with previous underwriting cycles and economic conditions. Afterall, many privately held and non-profit organizations struggled during the early days of the pandemic with shutdowns and rapidly declining revenues. But the Government assistance programs, like the Paycheck Protection Program loans, helped keep many afloat during the tough times.

“During COVID many organizations stopped doing business until they were able to sort out all of the health and safety challenges,” Schalick said. “They were forced to lock down, but then all the government assistance programs allowed them to keep people employed. The increased volume of claims we anticipated we would see coming from the lockdowns and restrictions that were imposed upon businesses in the U.S. didn’t manifest at first.”

“Just because there wasn’t an onslaught of reported claims at the beginning of the pandemic, doesn’t mean the circumstances that would give rise to a claim being reported didn’t occur. Courts and the judicial system were closed or slowed and now that they are back open, we’re starting to see the circumstances that occurred during the COVID lockdowns becoming claims today,” Schalick said. “Litigation is progressing.”

Added to the delayed pandemic litigation is a concern over newer claims that might be filed as the country inches toward an economic downturn. Though a recession was avoided in 2023, experts think a soft dip could occur in 2024, with 76% of economists saying there’s a 50% or less chance of an economic downturn this year — that almost always results in more management liability claims.

“During the Great Recession in 2008, we saw an almost immediate spike in claims because of the economic conditions and the pressure it placed on organizations. They were making personnel changes with significant belt tightening almost immediately.” Schalick said.

What’s in Store for M&PL Policy Rates in 2024?

Despite an uptick in claims and increased economic uncertainty, management liability rates haven’t increased, resulting in market-wide pricing levels that may not meet the increased pressure of rising settlements and jury verdicts.

“Rates are going the other direction and settlement values are not falling,” Schalick said.

The mismatch between rates, claim frequency and severity is, in part, because carriers experiencing the dramatic soft market in the public D&O market are seeking premium gain in the private and non-profit market.

“In the public company market, the rates have been decreasing significantly. The rates were increasing in the private, not-for-profit market, and rightfully so, but there’s a desire to supplement overall mid-size D&O for carriers who also write private not-for-profit, and they see that as an opportunity to aggregate premium,” Schalick said. “So the always competitive landscape in the private, not-for-profit market has dramatically increased in the last 18 to 24 months.”

Still, companies of all sizes and types should be concerned about management liability rates in the future. Legal system abuse is resulting in increases in both the amount of litigation and the size of verdicts plaintiffs are receiving.

Certain areas of the country are particularly vulnerable to this type of legal system abuse. As a result, insureds in these localities are likely to be vulnerable to rate increases.

“The environment is so positive for the plaintiff that forces premium increases so carriers are able to stay in that market long term,” Schalick said.

Why a Tenured Carrier Partner Can Help Insureds Navigate An Uncertain Market

It’s clear that insureds are facing an uncertain M&PL market over the next few years. Fortunately, carriers with a long history in the M&PL space will be there to offer stability.

Philadelphia Insurance Companies has been supporting this market for 35 years. PHLY is committed to offering long-term rate stability, even as economic and claims trends start to push premiums upwards. They have an appetite for all sorts of companies, large and small, for-profit and nonprofit alike.

“We’ve been at this game for a long time and are one of the most tenured underwriters in this space,” Schalick said. “We like to stay very consistent.”

PHLY has worked with both for-profit and non-profit on management liability policies. With dedicated M&PL teams throughout the company’s 13 regions, PHLY provides the support agents and brokers are looking for on behalf of their clients. The teams know their regions well and can respond to local trends. They’re also dedicated to making the renewal process as easy as possible for their partners and policyholders.

“We have real confidence in our results, so we focus a lot on making the renewal experience as painless as possible for all agents and insureds,” Schalick said.

The company is also investing in tools to help insureds avoid losses. Earlier this year, they launched a new online risk management platform, PHLYGateway, which offers resources for insureds on how to create an employee handbook and trainings on issues such as recognizing workplace sexual harassment and discrimination.

If insureds have questions, they can consult a Best Practices Help Line, provided via the platform. That way, they can get on the spot risk management guidance to help them prevent claims.

To learn more, visit: https://www.phly.com/mplDivision/managementLiability/default.aspx.

This article was produced by the R&I Brand Studio, a unit of the advertising department of Risk & Insurance, in collaboration with Philadelphia Insurance Companies. The editorial staff of Risk & Insurance had no role in its preparation.

Here’s How Marsh Power Broker Julie Polera Irons Out Mergers and Acquisitions