One of Canada's 'Top Brokers' is striking out on his own, with renewed interest in an underserved segment of the market.
“It has been a lot of work and years in the making,” says Andrew Clark, formerly of
Marsh Insurance and number 30 on Insurance Business’ Elite Brokers listing. “I started my original business plan about four years ago, and I’ve sort of been tweaking it as I learned new things and had new experiences.”
Clark feels that there is an opportunity to grow in the directors and officers space, despite the variety of choice in products.
“That is my expertise, and that product line is drastically undersold in the company space,” he told Insurance Business. “There is certainly a lot of product out there, it’s just not a lot of companies buying it.”
Clark speculates that his intimate knowledge and comfort level in the D&O space gives him an advantage in selling the product.
“When you get into the underwriting process (with D&O) it requires a certain kind of intimacy,” says Clark, “because you are getting involved in the company’s financials. There is a severity of exposure there, so it is not for everybody.” (continued.)
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As President and CEO of ALIGNED insurance, located in Toronto, Ont., Clark comes from a commercial background, having been the senior vice president and small/medium enterprise insurance and risk solutions department manager with Marsh, starting with the company in 2007.
“I’ve worked for the top two brokerages,” Clark told Insurance Business, referring to his days with
Aon Reed Stenhouse prior to Marsh. “With ALIGNED Insurance, we’ll be 100 per cent commercial lines, and mainly focus on professional and D&O insurance as well as other P&C lines.”
A unique kind of equity strategy with a zero per cent (fee-only) structure will be made available when extra staff are brought in, says Clark, “but for the moment, it is just me.”
