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Principal
Barney & Barney, San Diego

Young Gun

Mike Milligan has watched his firm"s life sciences clients in Southern California multiply exponentially since he joined in 2000 immediately after graduating from the University of San Diego. The number jumped from seven clients to 200 over the last nine years.

Those in the industry, particularly in California, hold Milligan and his team in high regard, said one biotechnology client. The client ended up switching her entire insurance program to Barney & Barney after Milligan was able to show her lowered rates and better service.

"We shipped some drugs to one of our sites for use in clinical trials, and it ended up going out of temperature range," the client said. "The carrier thought they shouldn"t pay the claim. Mike got on the phone and eventually got that paid."

While the claim wasn"t all that bad, the client said it"s just one example of how superior Milligan"s customer relations are compared with those at larger, publicly owned firms.

For a client in the spine business, Milligan traveled to London in 2009 to make presentations to several underwriters with the goal of creating a captive for product liability insurance. Milligan was so successful at marketing the client"s program--a tough task given the invasive nature of spine products--that the captive no longer made financial sense. Underwriters were fighting to write the risk.

"I would definitely say he is the best," the biotechnology client said. "In fact, I"d say he is among the better service providers I"ve worked with in any service."

Principal
Integro, San Francisco

A Broker With Spice

One Jennifer Wheeler client, a treasurer at a pharmaceutical company, referred to his broker"s personal manner as "spicy." Before considering whether this is a desirable quality or not, consider that he also said he"s experienced tremendous amounts of premium savings since switching his insurance to her.

"She is a great, great resource," the treasurer said. "We"re not a huge company, we don"t even have a full-time risk manager, so we lean on our broker a lot. Jennifer has had to step up on a lot of the day-to-day stuff, and I"m always impressed with what she"s willing to help out with. I don"t speak up for people often, but Jennifer is outstanding."

In the vein of the "spicy" classification, another pharmaceutical client said Wheeler is "to the point. She doesn"t waste any time. She doesn"t beat around the bush. She is very honest."

For this particular client, Wheeler worked some magic when the client"s company was acquired by a European company in 2008. The new foreign ownership initially instructed the client that all its coverage would be consolidated into its corporate program. But over the Thanksgiving holiday they decided, after having convincing conversations with the client, that they wanted Wheeler to find product liability insurance and to make it effective Jan. 1.

"The corporate insurance folks were not very responsive, so it was hard to get the information she needed," the client said. "I was panicking, especially over Christmas because the underwriters were nowhere to be seen. But Jennifer was able to work with the limited information, and she met the timeline. She pulled a miracle."

Senior Vice President
Marsh, Atlanta

Making Waves Overseas

A Marsh veteran for more than two decades, Joe Coombs has developed long-term relationships with clients and has worked consistently to improve their programs. One client describes the complexity of their program.

"Our company is European-owned, and we have two distinct areas--life science and materials science," he said. "So, you can imagine that, when you go to the marketplace, product liability is very complicated."

The company has 15 U.S. business groups that cover the manufacturing of products ranging from human and animal nutrition and health, personal care and pharmaceuticals to paints, electronics and armor protection. The client said Coombs" team spent a lot of time learning the company and most recently has helped with the company"s U.S. acquisitions.

"I see him as a business partner," the client said.

"He adds value to everything we do. Most recently he made a presentation to our safety professionals, because we are trying to implement a process where we change the behavior of our employees when it comes to safety. He also visits specific sites and determines what they need insurance-wise. The real value Joe adds is helping us understand what the risk of our business is and how to cover it."

Not only does Coombs handle the company"s U.S. policy for product liability, but he also handles its global property program. A European company using an American broker?

"That"s really saying something," the client said.

Senior Vice President
Marsh, New York

A Broker With Bite

One pharmaceuticals client who has used Nicholson in his casualty program said she has distanced herself from other brokers.

"One thing I like about Marla is she picks up the phone," this director of risk management said. "She will call us when she reads material about our company in the press to see if she can tailor our coverage differently. She is very attentive," the client said.

Another client, a director of corporate risk management at a pharmaceuticals company, had great things to say about Nicholson"s superior at Marsh, Bruce Belzak, the "big picture guy" who handles the company"s strategic direction. But it was about Nicholson that he said, "She does such a good job that, if she was ever to leave our account and go somewhere else, we would go there."

This client said about his company"s challenging casualty program, "She keeps it running better than a well-oiled machine." Recently Nicholson was able to get the client"s carrier to agree to some unusual coverage stipulations that aren"t typical to a primary casualty program. He added that Nicholson has a way of making underwriters do things they don"t normally want to do, that every year his program goes out to bid she always comes back with every enhancement he"s looking for at the rock-bottom price.

"She is a bulldog of a negotiator and doesn"t leave a penny on the table." he said. "And she is a really nice person to boot. Let"s put it this way: I recently got married and I invited her to the wedding, that"s how much I like her."

Senior Vice President, Life Science Practice Leader
Riggs, Counselman, Michaels & Downes, Bethesda, Md.

A Repeat Not to Be Beat

Harry Wallace is back on the Power Broker¿ list this year after winning in 2009, and clients have every reason to believe he deserves to be here. A "connector" in the pharmaceutical industry, which has been as hard hit as everything else in this tough economy, he"s helped numerous clients and prospects find jobs after being laid off.

One pharmaceutical client said Wallace is, simply, "tireless on your behalf." Over the last year, Wallace has visited this client on several occasions to look at how the economic downturn has impacted the company"s contract renewal, volume and risk status and has worked with them to readjust their program to save them money.

"I didn"t ask him to do that," the client said. "He just came and did it. He is a full-service broker and beyond."

Wallace won a new account in 2009. The CFO of the life science company said Wallace has the total package: excellent customer service, industry expertise and a great team.

"My challenge to him was that we would consolidate all of our insurance under him if he could bring us better coverage at lower premiums, with equal or better carriers," the CFO said. "He delivered in every aspect."

On a larger scale, Wallace has been an advocate for the life sciences community in Maryland and nationwide, lobbying for a state tax credit for emerging life sciences companies.

Senior Vice President, Life Science Practice Leader
Riggs, Counselman, Michaels & Downes, Bethesda, Md.
Category: Pharmaceuticals

The Motivator

It might be difficult to find an insurance broker who isn't a member of various community organizations, who doesn't scope out networking events to land a prospective client. But what about a broker who is truly passionate about promoting the community he works for?

Harry Wallace said that he feels his responsibilities to the life science community go far beyond simply procuring risk management for it.

"The life science community is the future of healing and making people's lives better," Wallace said. "Life science companies are tricky enough investments as they are, but whenever the country falls on hard times like we have, it becomes doubly tricky. Finding access to capital and promoting some of these companies that frankly have some amazing cures and amazing science--it is good for our children and grandchilden to make sure that some of this science gets to the shelf."

Wallace has been doing his part to make that happen. He sits on the bioscience committee of the Greater Baltimore Committee, a business trade group in Maryland. Last year he worked with clients, law firms and accounting firms; drafted letters; created mailing lists; and made phone calls to make sure a tax credit for emerging life science companies remained.

"We lobbied hard and motivated people to make their voices heard, to make sure the tax credit was not cut," he said. "And we were successful."

Another issue at the top of Wallace's list is the controversy surrounding how the National Institutes of Health were choosing to distribute its stimulus funds. He has been part of an effort to work with state and federal legislators to question the NIH practices to ensure the money is distributed to needy and worthy startup life science companies.

--By Erin Gazica

Senior Vice President
Wells Fargo Insurance Services, Redwood City, Calif.

Clients Rally Behind Daly

Peter Daly"s clients stick with him over other brokers because, simply put by one of them, "he"s an excellent broker."

This client"s company, a biotechnology firm, recently was spun off of its parent company. The timing was less than ideal, coming just prior to renewal. Daly made sure that brand new coverage was secured for the spun-off company in record time. "Everything went off without a hitch," this client said.

The same biotech company last year sold off its manufacturing operations, and Daly won the business of the new owner, a testament to the excellent work he does, said the client.

Another client of Daly"s, who"s taken him on as a broker at each company he"s worked for over the last 11 years, said Daly has something that other brokers lack.

"He"s very honest, and a lot of brokers aren"t. He"s somebody I can trust, and I leverage his experience to make sure we have the right coverage."

For example, the client said Daly is looking out for when the company is overcovered, not just when it is undercovered.

In 2008, this client faced D&O insurance renewal the same week that AIG, its primary insurer, took a nose dive. Daly led the client through the tough decisions that had to be made.

"If Pete didn"t step in and do his due diligence and explain everything for us we probably would have gone with AIG since they were the least expensive," the client said. "Based on Pete"s recommendation, we took out coverage with another carrier who was a financially better fit and everybody was happy, even the CFO and the board."

Account Executive
Aon
Philadelphia

Managing Director
Aon
Chicago

Managing Director
Marsh
Philadelphia