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Account Manager
Aon, Hamburg, Germany

Clutch in Cargo

By taking the time to understand his client's business, Frank Behrens was able to help a global retailer that was having a hard time getting marine coverage because of some big losses several years ago.

"A few years back we had some very hard times," this client said. "He worked with us and it was coordinated in such a way that it brought everyone to where we could live comfortably," he said. Behrens was able to obtain coverage from a reluctant market by helping underwriters understand the client's sustainable risk management procedures and he succeeded in making the markets comfortable with the risk at attractive terms for the client.

In addition, Behrens was able to place coverage for this retailer as a result of his connections with German marine market facilities.

Behrens has also been running a project where German marine market facilities are providing capacity to Aon's retail network for qualified cargoes. This includes not only placing the coverage but also the dedicated client claims service through the Aon network.

In another example, Behrens was able to structure and complete a very complex integration of a diversified subsidiary into the parent master marine program of a global tobacco group.

Behrens has dedicated himself to the marine industry for more than two decades after earlier working with the shipping and surveying businesses.

Senior Vice President
Aon, Chicago

Supply Chain Savvy

As a logistics expert, Barbara M. Spain is not only able to place marine insurance for her clients but is also able to provide extensive supply chain consulting services.

"From our perspective, she's wonderful to work with and has provided us with a lot of knowledge and support from the logistics standpoint," one client said.

This client says Spain stands out for her logistics expertise "not only on the insurance side but on the claims side.

"She knows how the contracts work," she said. "Because marine is such a different type of insurance coverage, you really have to know how all the contracts interact."

Spain also helped this client after it had a couple of losses. The underwriter had become increasingly difficult about the renewal. And so Spain launched a marketing effort and helped the client to select a new insurance partner.

"She really went to bat for us," this client said.

Spain also helped a large logistics client, which had recently merged two large companies, to combine the marine insurance programs into one program, capturing the best of each program. Working with several underwriters, Spain negotiated competitive terms and rewrote the manuscript policy, which had not been rewritten in over 15 years.

This resulted in one form for the client to use as it moves forward as one company.

Senior Vice President
Hays Cos. of Illinois LLC, Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Undamaged Goods

One of Thomas J. Holland's clients described Holland as an extraordinary broker, who succeeds where others don't because of his ability to build relationships with clients and underwriters.

"He's a real relationship builder," this client said. "He makes sure the clients and the underwriter really, really get to know each other and understand each other's risks," she said.

In one case, Holland resurrected a marine cargo loss and turned it into an asset. He negotiated a deal to bring back a client's damaged merchandise and then used those goods to put the client's manufacturing facility through a test. The client's property insurer had been concerned that the facility had inadequate sprinklers, which could lead to a big business interruption claim if there were a fire.

The test proved that the insurer's theory was wrong, saving the client millions in capital improvements.

Holland also won a favorable resolution to a hotly disputed claim. "I don't think other people could have gotten it done," the risk manager said.

Holland also has generated a significant amount of new business through the creative use of marine stock throughput programs to address concerns about the appropriate valuation of inventory whether it be located in the manufacturing facility, at a warehouse, or in transit.

While the marine stock throughput policy is not new to insurance, Holland's willingness to use this approach for clients and potential clients is innovative.

Senior Vice President--Producer Partner
Lockton, San Francisco

A Partner in Protection

After going through the effort, not to mention the expense, to purchase the right insurance coverage, no company wants to then run into trouble when it has a claim. But claims are bound to occur and so a broker that can run interference and negotiate a successful resolution is worth a lot.

One client gave Douglas E. Holm high marks for his work in this area.

"He's been our broker for a number of years and he's done an outstanding job," this client said.
"The measure is when you have a claim. We've not had a lot of claims, but have had a few," this client said. "That's when the quality of his work product has really shone."

In addition to his work on claims, Holm also helped to find insurers who were interested in working with the client to reduce claims.

"The insurance companies our broker has brought to us are our partners in trying to minimize losses," this client said. "It's in their interest as much as ours," he said. "But they don't just talk about it. They come and try to find ways to lessen the claims," he said.

Holms is also a sailor and has found in marine brokerage a profession to fit his passion.

In one case, Holm had surveyors and salvage teams on site on a Saturday, just one hour after a yacht had been dropped by ship cranes during the offload. Holm had a multi-million dollar claim paid within 30 days.

Holm and Lockton now insure most of the major excursion/ferry operators on San Francisco Bay.

Vice President
Marsh, Los Angeles

Quick Score

Find a way to deliver big savings to your clients and you are an instant hero.

That was the case with Enoch Martinez when a major retailer asked him last February to provide a quote for marine coverage.

This company's marine program had a March renewal date and had been handled by a rival broker for the past five years.

In the short window of time that was provided for a competitive quote, Martinez reviewed and identified major deficiencies in coverage, structure and pricing and set out to place an alternative program for the client to consider.

The quote came in $700,000 below what the rival broker was quoting.

That was enough to convince the retailer to bind not only the marine, but all of its other coverages with Marsh as well.

"Enoch was the broker for marine and he was amazing," this client said.

In addition to the premium reduction, Martinez also improved the coverage and the structure of the program and allowed for a better servicing environment.

Martinez has been with Marsh for 13 years. He received an MBA from Pepperdine University and a BA from UCLA.

Vice President
Marsh, San Francisco

A Taste for the Finer Points

Michael Pellegrini knows something about the wine business given that his family has owned and operated a well-known Sonoma County winery since 1933. He has been able to put that knowledge of the wine industry to use by creating a better policy for wineries.

Pellegrini launched the Winery Stock Throughput policy form in 2008 and picked up four new winery clients in 2009. This new policy better covers wine leakage, contamination, and catastrophic exposure for inventory in transit, processing and during storage.

One of the keys to this program is the valuation clause for nonreplaceable vintage products. Standard policy forms would not adequately cover the recovery required by wineries in event of a loss, so a customized approach was needed.

Pellegrini received agreement from three U.S. and five London markets to quote per the Marsh Manuscript Winery Stock Throughput form.

"The cargo coverage is much more broad than what was available under the normal property program," one client said.

This has made a big difference for the client, which had two claims which previously would have been uninsured.

Pellegrini is a client adviser in the Global Marine Practice of Marsh's San Francisco office. His primary responsibilities are marketing and servicing cargo programs, primarily for clients in the biotechnology, technology, retail and agriculture sectors.

Vice President
Marsh, San Francisco
Category: Marine

The Team Captain

Michael Pellegrini is not one to sit around and wait for other people to take action.

As a client advisor in the Global Marine Practice at Marsh's San Francisco office, he has stepped up to take on leadership roles to provide clients with better service. He is, for instance, manager for Marsh's National Cargo Marketing Platform and is the national cargo leader for the Life Sciences Industry Practice Group.

After hours, he puts in time working to help his community. He serves on the board of trustees for the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and is on the insurance committee of the Olympic Club, a private San Francisco area athletic and social club.

"I believe if you give time and effort into these things, there's going to be a reward and benefit beyond anything that is measurable," said Pellegrini, a San Francisco native.

His involvement with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society came about as a result of his connection with former colleague Norm Jacobi, a managing director at Marsh who had been active in the LLS before he died of blood cancer in 2006. It was Jacobi who had recruited Pellegrini to Marsh and then invited Pellegrini to get involved with the LLS.

In his work for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Pellegrini is also the team captain for Marsh and has played a key role in organizing in-house fundraisers.

For the Olympic Club, he was able to put his insurance knowledge to work to help the organization with a recent insurance RFP.

--By Patricia Vowinkel

West Coast Marine Director
Aon
San Francisco