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Managing Director
Aon, Houston

Filling the Gap

For Fugro Inc. insurance administrator Karen Luke, having an insurance broker who can put into the clearest possible terms the risks a company faces is paramount for a successful business relationship.

Jim Aylsworth, managing director for Aon in Houston, meets that criteria. Indeed, he goes beyond it.

"His availability and response level for any question or problem is always immediate and thorough, usually giving examples for our project managers to better understand our coverages as it affects their current project or contract negotiation," Luke said.

Such professionalism has been critical for Luke and Fugro as the company's insurance needs have expanded. "His knowledge and service, along with his team's professional involvement make us very confident in making significant changes when required to best serve our needs," she said.

The departure of the chief executive officer who also served in the top risk management role for a terminal operator left a gap that Aylsworth filled more than adequately. "He works with equity partners on directors and officers' coverage, top management on enterprise risk management principles, and operations management regarding marine liability and other insurance placements," said a company official who assumed the role as Aylsworth's main contact.

The broker's discovery of a new catastrophe exposure resulted in coverage for that risk and at a lower cost for the overall policy.

Category: Marine

Leading Through His Intellect

Jim Aylsworth, managing director for Aon, is known as the "insurance professor" to his colleagues because of his depth of industry knowledge and his willingness to share it. And this is one professor who doesn't insist on tenure.

"Jim has been instrumental in knowing our business thoroughly and conveying our diverse operations to our underwriters,'' said Karen Luke, an insurance administrator of Fugro Inc. Aylsworth ¿ as most professors do ¿ has the requisite gravitas to be taken quite seriously. He's a past president of the Houston chapter of the CPCU and maintains an active role in that organization.

He has the knowledge to help not just colleagues but CEOs and corporate controllers, too. Clients like Aylsworth because he doesn't rest on his laurels. The only track record he cares about is the one he delivers to clients. His expertise wasn't gained overnight or "off the shelf." It came with hard work and more than 30 years in the business, and now, as one of the "wise men" in the segment, is happy to share it.

In addition to his business accomplishments, Aylsworth, professorial as ever, has taken on the management of Aon's Early Career Development Program, which trains and mentors Aon's new hires out of college. He meets with new hires weekly to encourage them and to boost their knowledge and development.

Aylsworth, based in Houston, also has championed a program for development and promotion of minorities into senior management at Aon.

In addition to his corporate mentoring work, he's also active in the nonprofit volunteer community in Houston and is a director of the Rotary Club of Houston.

Vice President
Hays Companies of Illinois, Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Deals Bring Economies of Scale

Acquiring companies often trumpet the cost-saving synergies that will result from any proposed merger. Yet that is not always the case. But for at least for one such deal this year, savings did accrue in the area of insurance costs, thanks to the diligence and experience of Thomas Holland, senior vice president with Hays Cos. of Illinois. The broker took a marine program that included marine hull, marine cargo and P&I marine liabilities for a major chemical fertilizer program, and seamlessly integrated its acquisition into the program.

One executive with the acquiring company credited Holland with consolidating the two insurance programs in such a way that those cost-savings everyone promises actually did come about.

Working closely with the London market, Holland got a better deal for the client without affecting the high limits and broad coverage that was already in place. The acquisition doubled the size of the company and enabled the risk manager to demonstrate to senior level executives economies of scale.

"In mid-program, Tom reworked the marine program, maintaining existing programs and relationships to the greatest extent possible while bringing in new quality markets where needed," he said. "It was a first-rate job, and the premium reduction from the two existing programs to a consolidated one was significant."

Holland serves as the "go-to guy" at Hays for brokers developing marine programs.

President and CEO
Leeds & Leeds Company Inc., New York

Maintaining the Family Reputation

As president of the General Maritime Corp., a publicly traded company with 38 oil tankers, John Tavlarios knows how critical a skillfully packaged insurance program can be to the success of an enterprise where it does not take much imagination to see the risks involved.

"The biggest thing that Tom brings to the table is client service. He is almost an extension of our company on the insurance side," said Tavlarios of Thomas Leeds, the president and CEO of Leeds & Leeds.

Leeds has played a leading role for nearly four decades in the Wall Street-area insurance brokerage business founded by his grandfather in 1930s.

"We can see in the results that he has our best interests in mind. He treats our business as if it is his own," Tavlarios said.

The family connection means a lot as Tavlarios and Leeds first met through the long-term business relationship formed between their fathers.

"There are obviously a lot bigger firms out there, but none that could match the services he provides," Tavlarios said. "After all, in one of the bigger shops we would have been one of just many other companies."

In the past year, Leeds has acted as insurance advisor in the initial public offering of the Baltic Trading Ltd. dry bulk shipping company as well as major General Maritime acquisitions as the company continues its strategy of becoming a consolidator in various sectors of the tanker industry.

Senior Vice President
HUB International, Lafayette, La.

No Vacation When Client Is In Need

Vacations apparently don't mean all that much to Keith Poirrier, senior vice president with Hub Intl. Gulf South Ltd., not when the well-being and peace of mind of his client is at risk.

New Orleans area-based Offshore Boats executive Craig Pierce recalled the time a crisis required the calm and steady hand of his broker. Pierce, who was vacationing with his family, reached out with a call for assistance.

"He not only took our call, but stayed with us the whole time keeping in touch," Pierce said. "I know that by doing that he disrupted his time with his family, and we will be forever grateful."

Regular trips to London with Poirrier to meet with market representatives are critical for men and women who run businesses such as Pierce's, since the risks of running such businesses are not always well understood in the marine world.

"Those meetings have helped us gain a relationship in a very limited market, and helped us manage our premiums," Pierce said.

While Pierce has worked only with Poirrier, Pierce takes the word of his boss, who has worked with other brokers who have not measured up to Poirrier's level, that Offshore Boats is in the best possible hands.

Poirrier, who sees his primary duty as lowering the total cost of risk for clients, often enters into lengthy discussions with other legal and financial professionals on behalf of his clients when clients they take on new contracts.

President
Lockton, Houston

Three Decades and Counting

John Rathmell's more than three decades of experience as an insurance broker has provided many a welcome savings for his customers, both old and new.

Tim Woodard, vice president and chief risk officer for the Houston-based McDermott International oil rig construction company, found that out when he recently took his business to Lockton and the marine and energy team under Rathmell's guidance, and gained significantly improved coverage at a lower cost.

"They worked tirelessly to identify and close gaps that we were not aware existed in our coverages," he said. "While doing so, they have significantly improved both our coverage terms and pricing, which is no small feat given the current energy and marine market."

Rathmell, president of Lockton Marine and Environment, also took a leading role in the case of another engineering client in the resolution of a lingering claim that resulted in a payment on favorable terms, and renewal negotiations that ended up producing $500,000 in premium savings that included broader coverage and more favorable terms.

Another new client was suffering the impact of a casualty and environmental loss claim in the tens of millions of dollars. Rathmell and his team stepped in to get negotiations going again with carriers, producing a resolution that finally took shape after 60 days of tough negotiations that previously had been delayed.

Producers look to Rathmell as a mentor through a program he has designed that puts all of his lessons learned in those decades into written form.

Senior Vice President
Aon, Houston

Covering the Underwater Observers

SURF Subsea risk management executive Patricia Rodriquez describes her company "as a small fish in this huge oil and gas industry."

But don't try telling that to Kevin Sisk, who according to Rodriguez, treats the company with care and diligence that provides savings on coverage in the end.

The Houston-based company operates remote operated vehicles that became familiar this summer as the conduits for data on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Sisk, senior vice president with Aon in Houston, ensures that each tiny part of the vehicle is properly categorized as to its risk.

"It takes time, and it is tedious, because we are literally splitting dollars on a unit cost," she said. "But it is worth it to us because we are able to have complete coverage on the parts that we need."

The coverage they receive is "the best possible we can get and always at awesome rates," she said.

"And of course, he keeps us in check to make sure we do our due diligence so that contracts are written correctly so that the mitigation of exposure is allocated correctly," she said.

Now approaching his 20th anniversary as an insurance broker, Sisk has also helped the rapidly growing J-W Energy Co. to not only improve its profile to underwriters, but lower its overall cost of risk. He has done that by helping J-W identify risks and bring unique ideas on how to better manage them.

Regional Director
Aon
Boston

Senior Vice President
Willis
Farmington Hills, Mich.