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Managing Principal
Integro, New York

The Honeymooner

For every broker there is that narrow window, a honeymoon, after landing a new prospect when the broker has a chance to be wonderful. The glow of the wooing and winning is still around, but there is also that hint of urgency, the need to get it right with a big, early win. Green did.

"Jack is an innovative and strategic tactician who fully met and exceeded our very high expectations," said a risk manager who is described as "meticulous." "Although new to the relationship with us, Jack took the time to completely understand our business and those casualty markets that would be interested in our risk. Through his leadership and execution, our casualty program was restructured resulting in large decreases in our risk transfer costs."

Following a detailed proposal process, the client's renewal in the fall not only cut premium costs but also enhancement coverage. The client's excess liability program was also restructured, while maintaining long-term relationships and introducing new capacity from Lloyds and the Bermuda marketplace.

To do that Green had to convince the market place that the client had accomplished a significant change in its risk profile. In making those changes, the client not only decreased its risk exposure, but improved its manufacturing and shipping process, saving both costs and deductibles.

Principal
Integro, New York

The Treasured Multitasker

Some brokers are best at overarching strategy, while others are good at tactical details. Laura Tesoriero, principal at Integro Insurance Brokers, revels in details.

"Laura is a skilled tactician whose knowledge of insurance coverages and policy structure is unsurpassed," said one client. "She is tireless in her attention to detail and is able to tackle multiple complex issues at the same time while being able to prioritize and focus on those that are important in the correct sequence."

Those abilities come into sharp focus in the chemical sector, which differs from other industrial and manufacturing sectors. In most cases, for example, excess liability insurance companies typically use revenue as their exposure basis. Commodity chemical companies are heavily dependent on pricing, and this year Tesoriero was able to get coverage based on tons sold rather than the standard basis.

In another case, instead of a static layered excess tower, Tesoriero was able to evaluate and bind a larger quota-share layer at the top of the program.

The client said he was not aware of alternative carriers who would want to review their account in the past. The result was a savings of 14 percent on premium at renewal in 2009, along with a reduction of 22 percent in the amount posted by the letters of credit. The client achieved those savings while receiving enhanced coverage, a detail not to be overlooked.

Senior Vice President
Marsh, Atlanta

A Long-Term Player

Risk managers and insurance buyers understand that cheapest is not always best, having hydrocarbons at high temperatures and high pressures does help to focus the thinking on the optimum rather than the minimum.

"It is not easy to find a broker who truly seeks to form a partnership with a company," said one client. "Anyone can tell you what he thinks is best for your company, but Mickey simply does his job and allows the results to speak for themselves."

In a field as technical as the chemical industry, it is often an accomplishment for a broker to be a specialist, but Brown has differentiated himself by getting results in many different lines. This year, he was cited for placing programs and achieving favorable terms and costs in property and casualty of course, but also in excess casualty, directors' and officers' (D&O) liability, trade credit, pollution, and even ocean shipping.

"Mickey obviously needs to be a producer at his firm, but he has never sought to push the salesmanship to achieve some short-term profit goal," said a client. In one excess casualty placement, the client needed Brown to help integrate offshore affiliate companies to create synergies in coverage at higher limits than each country could have negotiated on a stand-alone basis. That was especially challenging given the hazardous materials being produced and shipped from the sites. "He's a long-term player and I admire his ability to place the customer needs before his own," said a client. "He knows the value."

Managing Director
Marsh, Detroit

Iron Jon

Big Iron still thrives in Detroit in the sense of Finley's commitment to the commodity chemical sector. His clients include some the largest global majors in the sector, which operate some of the most massive manufacturing complexes on the planet: reactor vessels weighing millions of pounds, miles and miles of pipes, and thousands of valves all worth many billions of dollars.

Anywhere on earth any one site would be a P&C challenge, but cluster many of them along the storm- and flood-prone Gulf of Mexico, and any broker would have a challenge.

In 2009 the global recession magnified those challenges twice over, by plunging even the strongest companies into the red and by increasing acquisitions. "Our normal Gulf Coast exposure is huge, given our large complexes," said the risk manager at one major operator, "and this past year we had some challenging placements throughout our properties. That requires John to find capacity at a lot of carriers." Finley was also deeply involved in M&A. "We were ultimately able to develop considerable cost synergies as we combined programs," said one client, "and we relied upon John to unlock pockets of expertise," within his organization and within carriers. Those cost savings amounted to about 40%, as compared to the separate pre-merger programs. Showing strong versatility, Finley also prepared a chemical producer for a major divestiture that resulted again in a cost savings to the client.

Managing Director, Chemicals Practice Leader
Marsh, Philadelphia

Running With Opportunity

It is not common for a major global chemical company to shift its worldwide property and casualty program from one broker to another, but when that happens, the broker had better be able to run with the opportunity. Lebourgeois did in 2009.

When a large international specialty chemicals firm went to market Lebourgeois "was able to drive the global placement team and achieve a very significant cost savings," said the risk manager at that chemical company.

The new placement started with a "complete restructuring and relayering" of the program, according to the risk manager, who was particularly pleased "that Fabrice brought new carriers of very high quality. Year after year we had been told that we were not going to get much better rates, but when we switched brokers, we saw a significant improvement in rates and also in terms and conditions."

It is also not common for proprietary work done by a broker for one client to be of direct use to others, but risk mangers said they are working with Lebourgeois on testing the feasibility of a multiline, multiyear, single aggregate policy to increase the protection available in case of a catastrophic event. In an even wider effort, Lebourgeois is working on an industrywide solution to address a complex set of liability issues affecting companies producing and shipping chemicals that are toxic by inhalation.

Senior Vice President
William Gallagher Associates, Boston

A Broker Dedicated to Executing

Welcome to the fourth dimension. In directors' and officers' (D&O) coverage, brokers have to handle not just clients, underwriters, and risks, but also the directors and officers themselves. And while these senior managers are always powerful individuals, they may not have much expertise in risk management. That's where Sharkey, senior vice president of William Gallagher Associates, comes in.

"Jennifer is an expert in executive risk," said one client. "She understands the exposures, understands the markets, and is able to put together a program that fits the needs of the organization--very broad coverages at a very competitive price. Although Jennifer's skill in directing and managing the process is unequalled, she gets down into the details to ensure that the client gets flawless execution."

In one case last year, for example, a client was facing a triple threat: deep decreases in revenues, regulatory scrutiny, and several restive board members on the eve of the firm renewing its D&O coverage. The board was demanding high limits, and low premiums. The incumbent insurers were not sure if they were going to renew the program.

It took two formal presentations and two months of meetings, but in the end Sharkey secured D&O limits in excess of $150 million through a large group underwriting. The program was built with full continuity, broader coverage than the expiring program, significantly less premium than anticipated and very limited litigation exclusion language.

Managing Director
Marsh
Morristown, N.J.

Managing Director
Marsh
New York