Exposure Aggregation Doesn’t Have to Be Aggravating. Just Have Jim Iervolino on Your Side

The insurance purchasing landscape that risk manager Jim Iervolino operates in is nothing short of complicated.
By: | July 25, 2022

Actuaries, underwriters, brokers and risk managers can be forgiven if they sometimes confuse the word aggregation with the word aggravation.

For it’s the aggregation of risk, a concentration of high-dollar exposures in a given geography or segment of a carrier’s portfolio, that can result in massive losses in the event of a catastrophe or some other loss origin.

When it comes to property exposures and places where risk aggregates, the neighborhood where the New York Rangers play their home games comes to mind. Madison Square Garden, the Moynihan Train Hall at New York Penn Station and numerous other high-dollar iconic properties call the area around 7th Avenue and 33rd Street in Manhattan home.

That part of the world is also where the Vornado Realty Trust owns millions of square feet of office space.

Vornado’s senior vice president, risk management, Jim Iervolino, manages not only massive aggregation risks, but an insurance purchasing environment where carriers are pulling back on limits and raising prices. Where carriers were once offering $25 million or $50 million in limits on excess liability exposures, they are now offering as little as $10 million to $15 million for the same risk.

Iervolino’s ability to negotiate placements on a huge real estate portfolio under very difficult circumstances, and still deliver programs with fully secured limits and best in class terms and conditions make him a 2022 Risk All Star.

“I think Jim does a masterful job of negotiating with partner carriers,” said Nick Bozzi, a senior vice president, placement leader, real estate, for Marsh.

“Jim treats people as partners and negotiates with them as partners,” Bozzi said. “Because people feel that they are a part of the process, they’re engaged. It’s transparent, it’s communicative, and it’s honest.”

For his part, Iervolino also stresses the value of building and maintaining partnerships: “I partner with the best resources in the market, whether it be brokerage resources, insurance carrier resources, or risk control sources and we put the best people together,” Iervolino said.

Manhattan may represent high aggregations of exposures and risk, but it also is where a lot of talented and experienced insurance professionals go to work every day. Iervolino said it’s the opportunity to walk insurance executives through the neighborhoods where Vornado owns property that allows him to narrate his risk management story. This in turn produces optimal placements for this company’s insurance policies.

“We’ve toured more than a hundred times in the past year assets that otherwise they would be looking at on paper,” he said.

Iervolino’s abilities as a communicator don’t hurt, Bozzi said. “He’s a very good collaborator and a good partner, “ he added. “I think that goes a long way in helping us broker his risk in the marketplace.” &


Every year, Risk & Insurance selects deserving candidates to become Risk All Stars. These are risk managers who, through their perseverance, passion and creativity, make a big difference to the stability of their organizations.

See all the 2022 Risk All Star Winners here.

Dan Reynolds is editor-in-chief of Risk & Insurance. He can be reached at [email protected].

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