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Daniel Lazarz (pictured) started out in the management and professional liability space more than 15 years ago and has occupied many roles in the insurance placement process. He’s now a director in the professional services group at CRC Swett, where he provides management and professional liability wholesale brokerage services and consulting to more than 500 retail agents.
Lazarz isn’t only accomplished in the insurance space. He’s used his experiences as a father to help launch a successful social media company that’s been recognized by Forbes, other major news outlets, and even some celebrities.
In this Q&A, the director goes back thousands of years to point out why insurance has always been a people business and why it’s going to stay that way, despite disruptions to the space.
How did your broad range of experiences in the management and professional liability space prepare you for your current role?
I’ve been in every role of the insurance placement process, from underwriting to business development to retail broker to wholesale broker, and even buyer. Having this broad range of experience, in all facets of the insurance placement process, has provided me great insight into the roles each party plays, the demands each has and what it takes to fulfil each of those needs. By getting this insight, it has made me realize what it takes to really be viewed as the best in the eyes of my retail agents.
What is the most fulfilling aspect of your work in the insurance space?
Answering questions pertaining to exposures inherent within my retail clients’ risks, and directing them to appropriate placement of insurance policies to transfer that risk, always makes my work fulfilling. I take pride in educating clients about various product lines and crafting unique policies that address their clients’ unique risk aspects.
Tell us briefly about your company and its role in the industry. What makes it unique?
CRC Swett is a national wholesale broker, serving independent agents & brokers through specialized property, casualty, oil & gas/energy, professional services, transportation, reinsurance and marine practice groups. These groups/divisions provide access to commercial insurance products and programs, including property and casualty coverages, products liability, reinsurance, professional liability, management liability, cyber & data privacy coverage, commercial and public auto liability as well as a host of customized binding authorities and exclusive programs tailored to specific industries, businesses and professionals. We are unique because we have been doing this for over 100 years, always helping to mitigate the risks of doing business here and around the globe.
What are some of the challenges your wholesale and retail clients face?
Disintermediation has become a threat heard about through the insurance world. Whether this comes in the form of “insurtech” or going direct to the end buyer in some other fashion, at the end of the day, I do not believe this will “wipe out” insurance agents and brokers. Insurance has always been a “people business,” and whether it was Chinese and Babylonian traders distributing risk of a merchant traveling treacherous waters in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC or an agent looking to place cyber & data privacy coverage in the 21st millennia AD, insurance intermediaries were, and still will be required to be, a part of the transaction and process.
If you were not working in the insurance space, what would you be doing right now?
If not in insurance, I would love to be the Public Address Announcer for Marquette University men’s basketball games.
What are your passions or hobbies outside insurance?
My family is my number one priority. My wife and I have been blessed with five boys, and they keep us busy and happy. Outside of family and work, I am a co-founder and head of sales for Life of Dad, LLC (www.lifeofdad.com). We are a growing social media destination for dads where every day, we celebrate fatherhood. By way of our engaging content and thriving communities, we have been successful developing a platform to ideate, construct and execute effective influencer marketing campaigns for major brands and marketing agencies around the world. We have been recognized by Forbes as a Top Influencer in the Parenting category, and even won a Cannes Silver Lion Award for our #CheerioChallenge campaign a few years ago. It was quite thrilling to see news outlets around the world, and top celebrities like Reese Witherspoon, Macklemore and even President Obama get in on the Cheerio stacking action Life of Dad started.
