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Senior Vice President
Hilb Rogal & Hobbs
San Francisco

There was a time when brokers were sought out for their knowledge of the insurance business. Now that quality is a given, and brokers differentiate themselves by their knowledge of the insureds' industry.

Garry Edwards is a prime example. "We are a capital-intensive, integrated company," says one utility client. "We have a great deal of risk that is very complex. Garry's knowledge of our industry is unsurpassed. We have been with him for 10 years."

With a focus on power generation and transmission, Edwards has helped clients develop property and construction coverage to accommodate the explosion in the value of their assets.

That kind of growth, in the billion-dollar multiples, has also meant that Edwards has had to branch out from crafting insurance coverage for pure power to construction, because his clients have asked him to handle that aspect of their business as well--about 50 projects to date.

During this past year in particular, clients say, Edwards' understanding of the utility and construction sectors helped them place exposures they did not think they could transfer. He was also able to craft coverage to emphasize risks that could not be handled internally, while guiding some manageable exposures back in-house.

Senior Vice President
Power and Utilities Practice Leader
Aon
Dallas

As you sew, shall you reap. Two years ago, Marshall Nadel contacted a potential client who was expanding into new power-generating capability. That original inquiry did not get too far, but soon thereafter the client was dropped by its carrier. The client's broker at the time said he could not help. The client then turned to Nadel, who found coverage within days, working without a retainer.

No surprise then, when the client got an operating license in the middle of 2006, he retained Nadel for a wide program of coverage, including property and general liability.

"As we expand our operations, we have been and will be placing builders' risk," this client says. "To go operational within our building window, we have needed and will need a multitude of services. Marshall has been able to provide those."

Nadel also keeps up with the needs of his clients and stays current on developments in the power sector through participating and serving as Aon's liaison in industry groups. He also sits on the national Price Anderson Task Force, a nuclear liability legislation and insurance program advisory body to the Nuclear Energy Institute, the nuclear industry's trade and lobbying arm.

Managing Director
Beecher Carlson
Boston

If Patrick Stumbras' only accomplishment in 2006 was to build a new book of business in Beecher's power and utility practice within days of his start at the firm last March, he may very well have made the Power Broker^TM rankings on that alone.

But along the way he pried open what was a virtually closed niche market, thanks to a placement for a wind farm that was facing significant windstorm and earthquake limits, not to mention deductibles. Stumbras approached a new underwriter and made a compelling argument. As a result, he was able to bring new competition and new capacity into the market, lowering premiums in some cases.

Clients say that after early fears about catastrophic coverage and reinsurance costs based on the events of 2005, 2006 turned out to be a very competitive market in this sector, thanks in no small part to AIG ending its relationship with Starr Tech.

Even in that environment, where clients were pushing brokers to take advantage of the competition, insureds credit Stumbras with coaxing underwriters into new segments, and thus encouraging established carriers in those markets to offer insureds a better deal.

One client adds, "Since joining Beecher, Pat brings a wealth of experience and knowledge which has further enhanced our program."

Managing Director
J. Wortham LLC
Houston

In terms of recent accomplishments, even this year's pantheon of Power Broker^TM winners would be hard-pressed to match Richard Blades' coup in December: He was elected vice chairman at his firm's annual partners meeting. He will serve new Chairman Bob Hixon, who becomes just the fourth person in that post in the firm's 91 years.

Far from spending 2006 jockeying for his lofty new post, Blades spent the year in the trenches. His major accomplishment of the past 12 months has come working on claims recovery for hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Though that work is not quite complete, the infrastructure for handling claims has been stretched.

Given that environment, clients say another major achievement last year was Blades' design of creative programs that enabled them to place their exposures within their budgets. In the case of one program, which Blades took over midterm, the broker was able to modify it to get a rare reduction in premium.

The insurance buyer for one national utility perhaps provides the explanation for the broker's talents, noting that Blades has broad expertise across the energy and utility sectors, giving him a rare understanding of both markets. Another client says that Blades is very comfortable working with the largest clients, but can still stay engaged with the details of a placement or a claim.

Managing Director
Beecher Carlson
Boston

After a decade of serving the power sector, Robert Bothwell might be inclined to settle into a comfortable routine. Instead, one client cites how he continues to churn out "innovative solutions as we grow and evolve."

Of course, consolidation within and among utilities keeps Bothwell on his toes too. One of his clients made a very large acquisition of eight facilities this year, for example. Bothwell's team worked through the asset transition to get necessary underwriting information. The team then negotiated a program that was 40 percent less expensive than the expiring program, with lower property damage deductibles to boot.

That program was placed with seven different carriers, including some in European markets. Bothwell worked with each to establish the lowest rates and the most comprehensive deductible structure. The insurers receive updates from Bothwell, his team and Beecher's loss-control engineers on each facility in the portfolio.

Among other exploits, Bothwell and his team crafted a special deductible program for a coal facility under construction. The engineering contractor was responsible for the insurance, but the contractor couldn't secure deductibles that complied with the lender's requirements. Bothwell came up with an alternative that allowed the client to satisfy the credit agreement without needing a waiver.