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Executive Vice President
Guy Carpenter & Co.
Atlanta

Since launching Guy Carpenter's Atlanta office in 1997, William M. "Bill" Allen has led the group to become the fourth-largest in size among the firm's 44 offices worldwide. Not only did Allen support these treaty brokers and their accounts in his role as office head, but he acted as his own account executive supporting several major Guy Carpenter clients.

Allen's line-of-business expertise includes casualty, property and workers' compensation business lines. He was recently appointed to Guy Carpenter's executive sales group, comprising the firm's most experienced brokers who have significant accomplishments in the areas of growth strategies, client relation management and innovative solutions development.

Familiarity with excess & surplus underwriting as well as facultative brokering have been big factors in Allen's line expertise and individual account underwriting knowledge. A veteran of the reinsurance trade, he has 23 years of experience in treaty reinsurance brokering.

Senior Vice President
Aon Re Global
Chicago

Perhaps more than anything, Karl Amidon is known as a fair, honest people person.

"He puts a client's needs ahead of his," said one client. "He believed in me, and by putting my interests first, he helped me grow from $6 million in sales to $150 million. In all situations, he would tell me to go for what's best for me."

"He's always gone to bat for me through thick and thin," this client also said. "That's all I can ask for. As long as he wants to be my broker, he will be my broker."

"He's a great negotiator," added another client. "He understands that reinsurers need to make money too. He always looks for what is good for the long term. The last thing you want is for your broker to short-change anybody. He's been a great advocate for me."

"He's very plugged in," said a large mutual insurer. "He has excellent connections. He's probably one of the best sales people I've ever met. He has the uncanny ability to make parties on both sides of the table feel like their interests are well represented. I don't think I always win, but he makes me feel like I do. He has a great sense of intuitiveness, a great knowledge of the industry."

In 2007, Amidon was the lead broker for a major client's workers' compensation program and the company was able to write a substantial amount of business as a result of the program.

In his 35 years in the insurance business, Amidon has worked as an underwriter, retail broker, casualty facultative underwriter and treaty broker.

Personally, Amidon "is just a very likable guy," said a large client. "He's the kind of guy you'd enjoy having a beer or soda or whatever you drink with. We started out on a professional basis ten years ago, but now he's a friend."

"He's just a good guy," added the mutual insurer. "A good family man who you can have a social event with."

Managing Director
Guy Carpenter & Co.
New York

Michelle Harnick is one of those brokers who brings much more than negotiation skills to the table. As an actuary, she's well known for her analytical skills and she works with her clients to understand risk aggregations and how those risks affect a client's balance sheets.

But reinsurers also commend her work, especially in the structured risk area. "We're always looking for aggregate covers and Michelle came up with an answer as an option," said one client. "We look for a well-vetted submission and we want our broker to understand our desires and how we evaluate a transaction. The best brokers are able to find an alignment of interests between the client and the reinsurers. Michelle does that well."

Carpenter has developed a series of new products in both the property and casualty exposure areas. Harnick, on the casualty side, help to develop a product to handle "reserve risk," an especially significant risk to insurers who write long-tail business like casualty. Carpenter is currently working with reinsurers on further development of the product, but reserve risk can be the biggest cause of insurer and reinsurer failure. The product in development is a reserve hedging tool.

Managing Director
Guy Carpenter & Co.
Morristown, N.J.

Charles Griffin's greatest attribute as a managing director is that he is a "great listener" according to one grateful client.

"First comes his ability to listen, then, right behind that is his ability to decipher a client's needs," said this client.

From there, Griffin knows where to go to connect with many resources, both within Guy Carpenter and outside. "He has a very large resource network," said this client.

Finally, Griffin is very good at matching the resources at his command to the needs of his clients. "He is very good as a communicator, especially in in-person presentations," adds this client.

Furthermore, Griffin is good at volunteering information if he learns of something going on in the marketplace. At the same time, adds the client, Griffin is good at keeping information confidential.

In 2007, Griffin saved a client more than $18 million in ceded premium by consolidating two casualty reinsurance placements. He also secured a placement to include the basis risk contained in a catastrophe bond, and renewed a casualty placement for the 28th year.

Personally, said the client, Griffin is "very honest to the point of transparency. He is sincere and thoughtful. If he doesn't know an answer he'll tell you so and then go out and look for the answer."

Griffin is known for his dry sense of humor, especially in times of stress.

Senior Vice President
Guy Carpenter & Co.
San Francisco

David Sapia's Blackberry is always on, his clients are quick to note. "His service is excellent," said a client. "Even when he's on vacation his Blackberry is on."

Sapia knows people at all levels of his client companies so he can relate through an organization. "He has great communications skills and he makes long-lasting relationships. He's very outgoing. He shares who he is with you so you develop a good friendship as well as a business relationship."

Clients rate Sapia very high on the creativity scale. "If one approach doesn't work, he'll try another one," a client said, noting he is particularly good at presenting new coverage ideas. "He asks good questions of reinsurers, making it easier for them to understand the risk," she notes.

Sapia recognized long ago that the casualty market was continuing its pricing decline and he knew he needed to focus on areas other than general casualty. By visiting as many companies as possible and asking many questions, he saw an emerging opportunity for professional liability facultative support for many of the excess and surplus companies located nationwide. He therefore began prospecting many of these markets and found that, overall, this was a market that was largely ignored by the brokers and woefully underserved by the direct writers. The reason was simple. Many of the reinsurance brokers and underwriters lacked a comfort level with this highly specialized area of underwriting, and therefore tended to stay away from it.

What started with two professional liability primary underwriters and one reinsurer has since developed into several dozen underwriters and nine reinsurers, many of whom specifically hired underwriters to service the extensive excess and surplus flow coming in from Sapia's West Coast operation. As a former underwriter, Sapia knows the importance of speaking the language of underwriters and closing deals quickly and accurately.

Executive Vice President
Guy Carpenter & Co.
New York

Ed Sweeney is a Carpenter veteran--27 years at the firm. And Carpenter clients give him exceptionally high marks because, even though he's a top executive, he's readily available.

"Ed's a real professional," said one client. "What I want from my broker is not to waste time. I know when I call them, the response is immediate. I have to have that kind of confidence level with my broker and I have to know that they can command and marshal the kind of resources we need to get the job done on a moment's notice. Carpenter and Ed can do that."

Adds another client, "even though Ed's at the top, he knows what's going on and understands what's needed."

Sweeney manages both property and casualty operations, although the clients that were contacted commented on the casualty business only.

"We're about executing and delivering on the promise. Our brokers must have excellent credibility with the reinsurers. Both Ed and the other people who are more day to day on our account are excellent. They do a fantastic job," said one billion-dollar client.