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Senior Vice President
Aon, Los Angeles

Providing Exceptional Service

Anne Corona believes that providing exceptional client service comes down to communication, reliability and hard work. "Anne is very quick to present creative thinking [and] out-of-the-box solutions that are respected in the underwriting community," said client Rosy Ku, director, risk management at The Gores Group.

In one recent situation, just 60 days prior to renewal, Corona, senior vice president at Aon Risk Solutions in Los Angeles, was told by a primary insurer that, because of its changing underwriting philosophy and client mix, the company would be willing -- but would prefer not -- to remain as the primary directors' and officers' (D&O) and fiduciary insurer for a client. Despite the accelerated timeline in a hardening D&O and fiduciary insurance marketplace, Corona was able to maintain and actually improve upon the already broad manuscripted policy form.

Moreover, given the new insurer's international footprint and capability, she put in place a more tax compliant and improved risk transfer international D&O program; and convinced the insurers to issue the primary D&O and fiduciary policy, along with a lead Side A difference-in-conditions policy, to fill potential coverage gaps.

She also convinced the excess D&O and fiduciary insurers to issue each of the remaining approximately 40 policies within 30 days of inception. "Anne is very responsive to the client's role and objectives," said another client. "She's also extremely effective with the insurers because she has a good relationship with them and is able to negotiate difficult areas. We feel that we get satisfactory outcomes even though all of the people have to give a little."

Director
Aon, St. Louis

Sweetening the Deals

Nick Kalist likes to remove obstacles for his clients.
"Nick Kalist is fantastic," said Derek Falb, vice president of finance and treasurer at CIC Group. "He's very responsive, hard-working and extremely intelligent with regard to insurance matters, particularly for our industry." Mark Allen, a board member of Concurrent Manufacturing Solutions, said Kalist, a director at Aon Risk Solutions in St. Louis, "has outstanding responsiveness and a customer-service focus. He doesn't just consult, but he's actually on the team, follows through and coordinates all the resources for us."

One of Kalist's private equity clients was about to close a deal, but the target company had a poor financial quarter, so his client wanted to negotiate a purchase price adjustment -- at the risk of killing the deal. Kalist and his team suggested using a representations and warranties insurance policy to eliminate the seller's escrow funding requirement.

By doing this, the buyer was able to offer a lower purchase price but make the terms of the transaction more palatable, in effect a deal sweetener, by eliminating the seller escrow that allowed the seller to have more cash at closing.

The representations and warranties policy was able to increase the indemnity cap and lengthen the terms of the representations, which was a benefit to the buyer. "A lot of times," said one client, "the due diligence process involves looking at different regions of the world, particularly involving issues in quantifying risks that are somewhat complicated. Nick Kalist is extraordinarily responsible and he's always done a good job for us."

Executive Vice President
Aon, New York

Effective at Innovation

Alan Mann's niche is handling difficult spin-off deals.

His role is to lead Aon's efforts for its M&A clients and serve as strategic director during due diligence, implementation of new insurance programs and ongoing servicing.

"Alan Mann is the best in the business in my mind, because he's extremely thoughtful and responsive," said one client. "He's one of those rare brokers who has really great relationships.

"He is a senior executive at Aon, but he also rolls up his sleeves and does the dirty work on everything that needs to get done. I value that a lot," said the client, who requested anonymity.

Last year, Mann, executive vice president at Aon Risk Solutions in New York, developed an innovative environmental liability insurance policy for a large client that was concerned with corporate veil risk, should a major catastrophic claim be made against one of its underlying investments and somehow implicate the equity owner.

This type of policy may have never been purchased by a private equity firm before and sits as corporate balance sheet cover, with substantial limits over a three-year policy term. The policy will provide coverage should the underlying coverage of the assets and investments prove nonexistent or insufficient.

Securing this policy required considerable involvement by the client's risk management, finance, legal and industry operating groups, along with senior-level management at each of the participating insurers.

Executive Vice President
Equity Risk Partners, San Francisco

Making a Difference

Tony Marcon has to be nimble, because time is of the essence for his private equity clients. Marcon's service is "really terrific," said Mitchell Presser, a partner at Paine & Partners LLC. "They engage really hard to improve, not just costs, but also greater and more appropriate coverage at lower pricing." Daniel F. Muth, CEO of International Fiber Corp., said, "Tony Marcon and his team have done a great job at getting a number of people to bid on our business.

"It's taken a lot of background legwork to get people to tour our facilities, to get comfortable with the risks, and quote competitively," he said. "Prior to this, we only had one bidder, so we had to take what they offered, so Marcon made a big difference in insurance premiums over time." One client, which recently acquired a product manufacturer in Brazil, tasked Marcon, executive vice president at Equity Risk Partners in San Francisco, with securing environmental coverages and specific financial insurance policies.

Marcon and his team were able to roll that acquisition into the client's overall coverage, while ensuring compliance with the unique needs of the region -- all at the most competitive prices available. That helped the client grow their earnings to more than $100 million.

Jeffrey S. Mills, a partner at Weston Presidio, said Marcon is "highly efficient and totally client-focused, with top-notch service." Another client said Marcon and his team "are very responsive whenever a situation arises, which is of tremendous value to our firm and our portfolio companies."

President, Business Development
Equity Risk Partners, Chicago

Going Above and Beyond

Chris Veber knows that serving private equity clients isn't just about performing due diligence, brokering insurance and showering them with free ballgame tickets or dinners. It's about serving all of their needs -- assisting in opportunity development and portfolio management, and making them better at what they do.

In early 2012, Veber, president of business development at Equity Risk Partners in Chicago, was tasked with a due diligence risk analysis and brokering an insurance policy for a client involved in an competitive auction process for a private equity health care buyout. The target business was heavily regulated, with approximately $300 million in revenues.

Veber secured a representations and warranties insurance policy for a good price.

In particular, if the seller has a claim based on noncompliance with laws and regulations, then the claim can be covered by the representations and warranties policy, limiting the seller's liability. This enabled the buyer to make a highly competitive bid that limited the seller's post-closing liability in the primary area that potential claims would be made.

"The quality work that Veber and his team do for us is very well done," said one client. "During the due diligence process when we're looking to acquire companies, they have come up with pretty innovative products or solutions to help bridge an issue in the purchase agreement, particularly in representations and warranties. He helped us get a rep and warranty insurance policy as a way to bridge the gap."

Vice President
Equity Risk Partners, Chicago

Meeting Client Challenges

Josh Warren knows how to speak the language of his private equity clients -- and how to make fast and accurate decisions that deliver precise results within their deadline.

As vice president-global risk for Equity Risk Partners, Warren's specialty is working with multinational and foreign-based companies. He has built a network of insurance brokers that can provide service to clients -- both as consultants and brokers.

"Josh Warren is a very strong leader and goes out of his way to find solutions to meet our challenges in insurance needs and coverage," said client Al Leonardt, chief financial officer at Peerless Chain Co. "He has absolute on-time responses, making sure to get the resources we need. If he doesn't have them, then he personally makes sure that the resources get to us."

Finding resources for his clients includes multiple trips abroad in order to be in front of brokers, underwriters, clients and prospects. In the last two years, he has frequently traveled abroad to improve his knowledge of multinational and foreign-based programs. Then, he shares that expertise with his colleagues, ultimately enabling deals to get done.

Another client credited Warren and his team with creating an insurance package leveraging the spend of approximately 10 of the client's portfolio companies. "Moreover, they were able to work with carriers to provide solutions that were more cost-effective and, in many cases, with better coverage than what the 10 companies could do on their own," the client said.

Executive Vice President
Aon Risk Solutions
New York

Senior Vice President
Aon Risk Solutions
New York

Managing Director
Equity Risk Partners
Chicago