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Vice President
Aon, New York
Hilda_batlle@ars.aon.com

Batlle Star Dominicana

Even as a relative newcomer, Hilda Batlle has made a powerful impression among her clients for her hard work and dedication.

One risk manager in the life-sciences industry gives Batlle high marks for her work with the company to transition coverage for two acquisitions last year.

"She worked with the old broker to understand the prior underlying contract and underlying terms and conditions and then compared that to our broader directors' and officers' coverage and identified where the gaps were," the risk manager said. "She went above the expectations of the acquired companies and improved their D&O coverage."

Batlle was able to obtain "a better carrier, better coverage and better pricing," the risk manager said. "Those were a couple of bright stars for Hilda."

In addition, Batlle wins praise for customer service and her quick response to customer queries.

As a management liability insurance broker specializing in directors' and officers' coverage, as well as employment practices and fiduciary liability, Batlle said attention to detail and a dedication to providing outstanding results are key in a rapidly changing business.

Batlle, who started with Aon as a senior broker/syndicator after working for an investment bank, brings an international perspective to her work. A native of the Dominican Republic, she speaks English, French, Italian and Spanish.

Managing Director, National Life Sciences Practice Leader
Marsh, Philadelphia
bruce.c.belzak@marsh.com

Belzak Rides the Turbulence

As National Life Sciences Practice leader for Marsh based in Philadelphia, Bruce Belzak brings decades of expertise in working with clients in the pharmaceutical, medical-device, biotechnology and research fields.

"He knows everybody, and he's well connected, which at my level you need," said one risk manager in the pharmaceutical industry.

"I've always found him to be an excellent resource whenever I need to talk to someone who has a good, broad understanding of risk in the pharmaceutical industry," said another risk manager.

While Belzak is widely recognized for his expertise after 38 years with Marsh, risk managers also commend him for the results he delivers for clients year after year.

"This past year, in which we were completing renewals in the particularly turbulent month of October 2008, Bruce excelled above and beyond," a risk manager at a multinational company said. "Our company operates in over 20 countries, and shake-ups in the insurance and financial markets, coupled with unique foreign currency impacts to our business, created some very challenging issues for us. Bruce counseled us all the way and delivered unbelievable results."

"While we have become used to stellar service from Bruce and his team, last year was one in which he raised the bar even higher than usual," the risk manager said.

Senior Vice President, Life Sciences Practice Group Co-Leader
Wells Fargo Insurance Services, Bloomington, Minn.
gail_nordhaus@wellsfargois.com

Time and Pressure Sensitive

Gail Polley-Nordhaus, a senior vice president with Wells Fargo Insurance Services, has made a name among customers in the medical-device business for her expertise as well as her customer service.

"Her expertise (in the medical-device business) is very strong," said one risk manager.

She also inspires loyalty, said the risk manager, who first started working with her more than a decade ago and has stayed with her through moves to new companies.

"I've recommended Gail to CFOs several times," the risk manager said.

Polley-Nordhaus, who is co-practice leader of the Life Sciences Practice Group for Wells Fargo, also draws high marks for customer service.

"She's great. I had one incident where I had an employee who died on the job and she was available 24 hours a day. She's very conscientious and easy to work with," said a client.

As part of her devotion to client service, Polley-Nordhaus keeps up with the latest trends facing the medical-device business. As more clients expand globally, it's critical to understand the international environment around issues such as placing master control programs abroad.

In addition, Polley-Nordhaus is sensitive to the time pressures of an industry where her clients are bringing new products to the market everyday. She is able to craft time-efficient risk solutions for clinical trials so that new products can move quickly through the approval process.

Principal
Rosenberg & Parker, King of Prussia, Pa.
matt.rosenberg@suretybond.com

In All Surety

Matthew Rosenberg brings not only a deep knowledge of the surety industry to his life-sciences clients, but also a dedication to customer service.

"He is hugely knowledgeable ... in terms of surety," said one life-sciences industry risk manager.

"They are just excellent," said a risk manager at a pharmaceutical company. "They treat us as if we're the only client, and their service is just outstanding."

When that pharmaceutical company needed a surety bond to ship a life-saving drug to a Latin American country, they turned to Rosenberg after their regular carriers demurred.

"They were on top of it, got it done and made everything as easy as they could. We were under this severe pressure with shipping this life-saving drug," the risk manager said. "It was absolutely amazing. It's just wonderful the level of personalized service that they give. If they do this for all their clients, that's really impressive."

Rosenberg has been a principal with King of Prussia, Pa.-based surety firm Rosenberg & Parker for 13 years. Before that, he was an international surety underwriter with United States Fidelity & Guarantee. He also worked as an underwriter with AIG and Reliance.

Rosenberg has won recognition within the surety profession for his expertise. He was one of three surety professionals inducted in April 2008 into the Tiger Trust, an elite honorary society of surety professionals serving construction industry clients.

Senior Vice President, Life Sciences Practice Leader
Riggs, Counselman, Michaels & Downes
Bethesda, Md.
hwallace@rcmd.com

Starting From Scratch

Harry Wallace saw an untapped opportunity among the many small to midsize life-sciences companies in the Mid-Atlantic region and developed a life-sciences practices at Riggs, Counselman, Michaels & Downes to offer outsourced risk management services. The client response has been enthusiastic.

"He has taken over our risk management from a liability standpoint on an outsourced basis," said a risk manager at one life-sciences technology company, "and done a tremendous job in making sure we have the right types of coverage with the right types of carrier, that we're proactive in our business practices to make sure our coverages and exposures line up, and to make sure that we mitigate against any potential issues that come up."

Wallace, who previously worked with Willis, William Gallagher and before that with Chubb in claims, marketing and underwriting, has worked with RCM&D as a senior vice president for two years.

During the past year, Bethesda, Md.-based Wallace was responsible for creating the Life Sciences Practice for RCM&D, where none had existed before. Wallace said because they were able to assemble the practice from scratch, they decided to take the usual practice a step further and offer to act as the "outsourced risk management department" for drug sponsors, medical-device developers, and testing and assay companies.

Managing Director, Global Property Brokerage
Aon, Philadelphia
susan_winterode@ars.aon.com

Property Super

Pharmaceutical industry clients say that Aon's Susan Winterode brings both experience and enthusiasm to helping them manage their property risks.

"She's a super property expert," said one pharmaceutical services risk manager. "She's technically highly knowledgeable and doing some exciting things."

One risk manager for a large pharmaceutical company said that, when Winterode started on their property coverage in 2007, "she brought a wealth of experience ... and picked up on the complexities of our account without a misstep."

Winterode followed that up strongly in 2008, the risk manager said.

"Sue's second year on our program brought great rewards ... we tightened the property program, increased critical sublimits, while being extremely aggressive on premium," the risk manager said.

Winterode, who is managing director, global property brokerage for Aon based in Philadelphia, scores high marks for customer service and creativity as well.

"She is very responsive to (our) requests, as well as coming up with creative solutions to those requests," the risk manager said.

Winterode credited the persistence learned over 23 years as a property broker, combined with enthusiasm and solid relationships built up during her career as key factors in delivering improved coverage and premium reductions for her clients.

Integro
Managing Principal
San Francisco

Aon
National Director
Philadelphia