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Managing Director
Guy Carpenter Securities
New York

Managing Director
Guy Carpenter Securities
New York

Managing Director
Guy Carpenter Securities
New York

Vice President
Guy Carpenter Securities
New York

Assistant Vice President
Guy Carpenter Securities
New York

Innovative and Exceptional

Creativity works well for the Guy Carpenter securities team.

Over the past 18 months, the team has placed catastrophe bonds that were the first to include: hurricane risk for the Cayman Islands; the use of the Paradex hazard parameter trigger for U.S. hurricane and earthquake risks and typhoon risk in Japan; access to single-state hurricane exposure in the Northeastern United States; and utilize a time-element dropdown coverage feature.

During that same period, of the 24 completed transactions for which external bookrunners were engaged, only 12 involved a sole bookrunner--and the Guy Carpenter team was the choice in five of those deals.

Through May this year, the team placed four catastrophe bonds valued at $912 million, ranking it first in the Insurance-linked Securities League. That follows a second-place finish last year with six bonds valued at $1.25 billion, a jump from sixth place in 2009.

"Cory and her team have detailed and extensive knowledge of the industry," a client said of Guy Carpenter's Cory Anger and her teammates.

"Their dedication to client service is a commitment shared by each member of the team, and Cory went above and beyond to make sure we achieved the very best results."

And, at times, that wasn't easy, given the number of problems that arose during the engagement. "She approached each issue or problem which arose with a positive, can-do attitude and solved difficult problems with innovative and exceptional solutions," the client said.

Head of ERM-Global; Head of Rating Agency Advisory-EMEA Region
Aon Benfield
London

Head of Rating Agency Advisory-Americas
Aon Benfield
Philadelphia

Senior Managing Director/Head of Global Rating Agency Advisory
Aon Benfield
Chicago

Senior Managing Director
Aon Benfield
Chicago

Chief Operating Officer, Analytics Asia Pacific
Aon Benfield
Sydney, Australia

Beating the Ratings Game

Engagement after engagement, clients said, this Aon Benfield team produces results.

Christopher Myers has "worked with our company to evaluate the adequacy of our risk management practices for Solvency II equivalence. . . and the adjustments we would be expected to make," a client said.

The team's Kelly Superczynski this year helped a client with accelerating premium growth save its A.M. Best rating, a client noted. Before Superczynski intervened, an agency analyst warned the client it likely would not meet Best's capital adequacy ratio, which would negatively affect its rating.

Likewise, Patrick Matthews' "knowledge of the rating process and requirements helped our senior management team make informed financial decisions that helped us achieve our goal of an A- rating in our first attempt" with Best, said Gregory A. Burton, president and chief executive officer at BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co.

The team's reach extends internationally. "Our company is the first and the only local insurer in the country who has successfully obtained a secured rating from A.M. Best for the last two years. . . thanks to a great contribution from our advisor, Mr. Rade Musulin," a client said.

The team's influence extends beyond their project engagement. Parr Schoolman "has made me a better actuary," a client said. "I have learned new concepts and techniques that are directly applicable to the work that I do, and not just related to reinsurance."

Managing Director/Head of Market Analysis, North America and Bermuda
Aon Benfield
Philadelphia

Head of Market Analysis, International
Aon Benfield
London Analytics

Quality, not Quantity

Mike McClane and Mike Van Slooten understand that clients don't want more information about reinsurers; they need an abundant amount of information synthesized and analyzed.

To that end, McClane in the past year helped develop and launch the MarketReView website on industry trends and information. He also launched Market Updates to provide in-depth analysis on reinsurers and trends, including regulatory developments, and expanded Aon Benfied's real time automated ratings notification service.

McClane "was a pivotal component in a major project for my company," said Gary P. Devery, chief financial officer at MS Frontier Reinsurance Ltd. in Hamilton, Bermuda. "His drive and ideas were a key part in a very successful outcome and set the standard by which we judge similar projects."

In meetings, McClane "helped to generate interactive discussions and draw out details of what was required and many times offer solutions on the spot," Devery said.

Another client that has a relationship with the team through its London office said McClane "has always gone the extra mile" to help the client obtain the program it wanted.

The client continued: "His part in creating the ReMetrica conference each year in the U.S. also exemplifies his knowledge of what clients want in the area of capital modeling. The agenda for this meeting is extremely thoughtfully put together, and the event is very informative both on ReMetrica specifics and general capital modeling trends."

In addition to launching MarketReView, McClane and Van Slooten recruited, trained and launched a North American Market Analysis team, and promoted and deployed Aon Benfield's DFA software, Re Metrica.