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Lexington: Organized for Innovation
When the leading U.S. Excess and Surplus Lines Insurer, Lexington Insurance Company recently gathered a meeting of long-term clients and their brokers for a two-day briefing on Cape Cod, speakers consisted of a curious group of politicians, academics, political journalists, and private sector CEO's.
"The focus of meetings like these tend to be on economic, social, and political trends that can impact the world in which we live," said Lexington CEO, Kevin Kelley. "Understanding the impact of these trends can allow us to be first to market with real- time solutions that protect both individual and corporate interests." Lexington has long been viewed as an innovator within the insurance industry, focused on creating new markets through product innovation. As both government and the private sector move toward environmentally friendly growth strategies, for instance, the opportunity to create new insurance products ranging from Green Commercial Property Forms to Carbon Sequestration Credit Protections becomes an area of intense study by the company's management.
Susan Kostro, Vice President and Industry Practice Leader for the company's Public Entity Solutions Group, reports growth of more than 32 percent increase in GWP through the first 6 months of the year. "A significant amount of growth we experienced was the result the roll out of a new casualty form which has been viewed by the market as significantly more adaptive than traditional market approaches. As we enter the second part of the year, we have rolled out LexElect, a menu-based suite of products which provide essential coverages for political campaigns of all sizes." The company's Public Entity Practice is now focused on specific subsets of their book, and creating specialty insurance products and services to support those areas. Areas such as homeland security, higher education, real estate, life sciences, agriculture and health care have all been given similar levels of focus. Karen O'Reilly, director of New Product Development for the group, leads customer focus groups and innovation councils across the country in order to gain a deeper understanding of issues Lexington clients within these sectors face in the wake of changing environs. "Many ideas that we ultimately develop into product solutions are gestated through client interface. Understanding the challenges and opportunities clients face within their industries ranging from supply chain exposures to vertical integration of industry sectors allows us to create product in tandem with transforming business exposures. Engaging academic institutions, industry experts and policy makers helps us to remain agile in an area of our business where speed to market is so very critical." More than $1.7 billion in GWP has been generated at Lexington over the past 5 years from new products developed as the result of this focus. According to Kelley, "The opportunity to create meaningful new product approaches for our customers is all around us and creates a sustainable competitive advantage for Lexington as we move into areas where the competition is not established." (The above piece is part of our continuing Insights series designed to highlight key products and services to our readers. This paid-for Insights was written and edited by Risk & Insurance® on behalf of our marketing partner. Additional Insights can be found on our Web site at www.riskandinsurance.com/.) October 31, 2007 Copyright 2007© LRP Publications |
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