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Senior Vice President
Marsh
Chicago

One of her clients, a risk executive for a national big-box retailer, says of Elsa Lynch that day-to-day she delivers what's needed and then some. This retail risk executive says Lynch once rolled up her sleeves and sorted through boxes to dig this then-neophyte client out of the mess she was left in by her predecessor. Another client, a risk manager with a major department store, says Lynch does "a great job every time."

Internally recognized at Marsh as a 2005/2006 "Top Producers Client Executive," Lynch has been with Marsh for 28 years, most recently serving as a risk management client executive. She has worked on a major department store account for the past 20 years, one which underwent many changes, including a number of acquisitions and divestitures. All of which tests Lynch's creativity. "The account has been a continuing source of opportunity to offer creative solutions," she says.

To prepare this client for yet another divestiture this year, Lynch completed a risk management functional needs assessment. Once the divestiture's complete, the client will be able to establish a new risk management department. The risk manager of the department store subsequently became the director of a major office-supply retailer. Thanks to Lynch, Marsh was appointed casualty, executive risk, surety and aviation broker for that operation, and last year property and marine broker for the company.

Managing Director
Marsh
Charlotte, N.C.

A senior risk management official for one national retailer calls Frank Sanders a retail business expert and a "visionary" who always looks three to five years down the road and focuses on continuous improvement in all areas "to make certain everything is in place." Sanders' goal is simple: to execute best practices and deliver best-in-class performance, from claims to technology to you name it.

A national grocery retailer calls Sanders "extraordinarily helpful," full of ideas and solutions. That company, in fact, switched to Marsh last year from another Big Three brokerage because of Sanders' ability to introduce a strong team concept and to deliver much-improved terms and conditions.

He conducts an annual retail advisory council for major retailers in the Carolinas to discuss and review risk management practices. In 2006, he also launched a two-day summit meeting among 15 to 20 underwriters from around the world and retail risk managers for Fortune 500 companies.

In 2006, working with Marsh's casualty team and the risk management team from a home-improvement retailer, he led the restructuring and remarketing of the casualty program, which resulted in big cost cuts. He also worked with the company to create a single-parent captive that now ranks as one of the top-50 captives in Bermuda.

Managing Director
Retail Industry Practice Leader
Marsh
San Francisco

One name comes up pre-eminently when you talk to risk managers in the retail sector. That name is Gary Bull, managing director and retail practice leader at Marsh since 1991. Bull was a Power Broker^TM in this category last year, when we dubbed him "probably the dean of brokers that serve large retailing clients." His accounts are powerhouses as well--the biggest names in groceries, wholesalers, home improvement and office supplies.

In addition to his prior credentials, Bull this year started a new service for retail clients--the Retailer Networking Group. The purpose of the group is to allow clients to request information from their peers anonymously. Requests for information are sent directly to Bull, and he blinds the request and sends them to participating retail clients. Clients send their responses back to him, and he blinds the responses and sends the information back to the group. Client feedback on this strategy to share information and best practices has been extremely positive.

Bull has also continued to head the annual Marsh Retail Client Advisory Council meeting. This meeting is an opportunity for two dozen of Marsh's retail clients to network with their peers and share information and best practices. Several clients have indicated that this is the most important meeting they attend during the year.

Senior Vice President
Hilb Rogal & Hobbs
Atlanta

While Joel A. Troisi has focused extensively on retail, his expertise in the property sphere also has won him recognition in telecommunications and a number of other industries--where companies frequently have complex property holdings.

One risk manager, who describes himself as a very tough customer, awards top marks to Troisi for industry knowledge, creativity and customer service.

Troisi, who is based in Atlanta, has nearly a decade of experience with the Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Complex Property division. From his perspective, Troisi believes that it is imperative to be able to understand a customer's risk profile and how those risks are changing seasonally and over the longer term.

To develop a deep understanding of a customer's risk profile, Troisi seeks to first understand its business model and how that model differs from those of its competitors.

When it comes to customer service, Troisi attempts to understand how growth and strategic initiatives impact a client's risk profile. He also maintains a strong involvement in client claims, and provides market guidance all year long. This approach has enabled him over the last year to be able to secure much needed limits for excess wind and fire capacity.

Joel Troisi knows he's a bit of an anomaly. He wasn't born into brokerage exactly, but close to it. "I'm probably one of the few individuals out there who got into insurance by way of my college degree," he says. This retailing-wholesaling Power Broker^TM attended the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, from which he graduated in 1998.

Now a senior vice president, he's been with the complex property division at Hilb Rogal & Hobbs in Atlanta ever since he ditched the cap and gown. Troisi is quick to acknowledge the importance of a mentor. "My first professor at the University of Georgia was Randy Dumm, who is now at Florida State University," Troisi says. "I really enjoyed his lectures and his approach to the information he was teaching. I just developed a good rapport with him."

Troisi says he concentrated on the insurance career path because of an entry-level insurance course that was part of the college's core curriculum. He also was persuaded by the job opportunities in a variety of insurance avenues, from claims and risk management to brokerage and reinsurance. "The curriculum I was exposed to had a real-world taste to it," he says. "I actually understood how things in the business would work."

Nearly a decade out of the classroom, Troisi's job requires some recruiting and developing new talent, as well as networking. He even runs into his former professor at industry events like the RIMS conference, and hopes more college students will consider the insurance path.

Senior Vice President
Hilb Rogal & Hobbs
New York

A repeat winner from last year's Power Broker^TM list, Joe Vineis is a much-admired player in the retail field. A senior vice president of Hilb Rogal & Hobbs in New York, he's been a "Top Producer Rainmaker" for the firm nine of the last 10 years.

Joe Vineis "understands the ins and the outs and the difficulties of the retail business from all sides and comes up with creative solutions to problems," says a risk manager for a national clothing retailer. One example, this client says, has been Vineis' approach to the past year's struggles in the property market. He didn't just cut limits, he took a long hard look at exposures.

In past years, wind sublimits were not an issue, and California earthquake coverage was plentiful at decent rates--but not in 2006.

Vineis used HRH's Air Profiler modeling software to pinpoint exactly where the sublimits should be, and this allowed him to isolate a stark disparity between catastrophe and noncatastrophe exposures, and help to get his retailers below the pricing curve.

Another goal Vineis says he works painstakingly on throughout the year is to make sure customers know their underwriters.

"It's proven that underwriters treat customers that they know differently than just an underwriting submission," he says. "That's a fact. And 2006 has been no different."