Leading a Global Insurance Portfolio
My role is to lead the insurance portfolio for the U.S. business as well as provide some oversight to our other regional countries in Latin America, Mexico and Canada. This includes procuring and renewing insurance policies, maintaining broker relationships, reporting to the C-suite team on insurance budgets and exposures, managing claims for all insurance lines, reviewing contracts and new business opportunities to insure risks. I ensure the risks are known and covered, and that we are in full compliance with insurance requirements. I also lead/manage our single-parent insurance captive and serve as director of our participation in a group captive.
Broker Success Isn’t About Scale
We work with a number of brokers across our portfolio, including two of the top five, as well as one independent broker whom we met as part of an acquisition. We found in our experience that there was no gap between the large firm and the independent agency, and both were able to work with us to accomplish the needed goals.
When firms focus on the client and not their insurance spend, you get outstanding service
As we did not work with an independent agency pre-pandemic, we can’t make a direct comparison on how working relationships with agencies may have shifted post-COVID. Our experience with this firm suggests that the level of service would have remained consistent regardless of the disruption.
How Agencies Can Evolve Strategically
The potential that independent agencies have to move from transactional service to true strategic enablement lies in the people and the expertise they bring to the table. Finding the right agency, whether it be a top five firm or a smaller independent agency, is key. Further, if you can do like we did and have all agencies work together, then it’s even more ideal. A room full of experts in the insurance industry, all working together to solve problems, is powerful.
Our firms are not focused on portfolio growth or taking business from others, yet are focused on their piece of the business and making it as efficient as possible within the full scope of the program. When firms focus on the client and not their insurance spend, you get outstanding service.
Collaboration Beats Competition
To independent agencies looking to become long-term strategic partners to global enterprises, focus on the business you are given and not on the business you do not yet have. Offer to work alongside other firms, even larger ones, to maximize the benefit to the client. Utilize your flexibility and nimbleness that comes with being an independent agency to think outside the box in ways the larger firms may be constrained by red tape.
