The 2022 Executives to Watch: Lexington Insurance Company’s Neil Smallcombe

AIG’s Neil Smallcombe shares how companies can harness the next generation of talent.
By: | November 5, 2021

The insurance industry was right in Neil Smallcombe’s backyard during his London boyhood.

“I was lucky enough to grow up on top of the biggest insurance market in the world,” Smallcombe said.

He started his first position at Lexington’s London Casualty operation in 2003 in a policy wording position, developing a passion for insurance.

He rose through the ranks and moved from the UK to America to lead AIG’s Lexington Casualty surplus lines platform in 2019.

In that role, he has led Lexington’s shift in focus to the wholesale market, and a realignment of  Lexington’s Casualty appetite for middle market and mid-excess business segments.

He also reduced outsized limits and portfolio volatility.

“We decided that we needed to make a significant shift,” Smallcombe said.

His team underwrites insurance solutions for a number of key market segments, including products liability, construction, energy, transportation and rail, public entity and general casualty.

Smallcombe has played a lead role with Lou Levinson, President & CEO of Lexington, and the rest of the Lexington leadership team in developing the next generation of insurance underwriting talent.

“We really try to be a breeding ground for developing young talent,” he said.

“We decided a couple of years ago to create a position that is dedicated to training. We want to really build that deep subject matter expertise and technical skills that are required when you’re underwriting different risks.”

As we look ahead to 2022, Smallcombe plans to continue strengthening his team, which is already known for its underwriting expertise in a wide variety of lines.

Risks are continuing to evolve at an astonishingly fast pace and Smallcombe is committed to developing fast-paced insurance solutions in tandem with the company’s wholesale broker partners.

These solutions allow the company to proactively address new risks by providing specialty casualty products that complement products offered by AIG’s other business groups.

“We’ve always had this entrepreneurial spirit,” Smallcombe said.

“We’ve always been willing to write complex or unique risks that don’t fit well into a bucket.” &

Courtney DuChene is a freelance journalist based in Philadelphia. She can be reached at [email protected].

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