One insurer is making a priority of ethics and integrity by making one of its four appointments to the position of corporate vice president responsible in her role as compliance officer.
Chief Compliance Officer Sarah DiLorenzo is one of four named to the role of vice president at arthur J.
Gallagher & Co.
DiLorenzo joined Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in February after serving as Senior Counsel for Global Compliance and Privacy at McDonald’s Corporation. In this role, she became familiar with Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s reputation for ethical conduct, as the firm played a key role in managing the McDonald’s insurance and risk management program and served as third party administrator for many of the fast food giant’s worker’s compensation and tort claims.
In her role as Compliance Officer for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., she will focus on helping to uphold that tradition of meeting client needs with a constant focus on ethics and integrity.
“My goal is to continue to expand the company’s compliance and ethics program in our international markets, where we are experiencing rapid growth,” says DiLorenzo.
Some of these markets include Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Gallagher recently made headlines in its acquisition of top-five Canadian insurance broker Noraxis Capital Corporation.
Noraxis generated nearly $125 million in revenue for the year ended December 31, 2013, and operates out of 23 offices across Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario.
“I view my role as supporting the business leaders in setting an ethical tone from the top and educating our employees on top risk areas, legal requirements and the pitfalls of noncompliance,” says DiLorenzo. “I want to make sure teams have the guidance, information and tools they need to make the right decisions and avoid any actions that could tarnish the company’s reputation.” (continued.)
#pb#
During her McDonald’s years, DiLorenzo dealt with legal and cross-cultural challenges that arose in the context of expanding the global compliance program to 119 countries. At Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., she looks forward to dealing with such challenges in a proactive way that protects the company but is also flexible and adaptive. A one-size-fits-all approach to a compliance program is simply not effective. For example, privacy regulations vary country by country.
“Each country has a different approach to data privacy,” she says, “so you have to make sure you’re balancing the requirements in a way that allows you to have a consistent policy for the organization while also meeting local legal requirements.”
DiLorenzo appreciates that the companies that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired have the same approach to business ethics.
“Because we have chosen partners who share our values,” says DiLorenzo, “we have had very good luck merging newly acquired organizations into our culture and letting them know, ‘we have high standards and we hold our people accountable for their behavior,’ and we’ve been fortunate that this message has been well received.”
She mentions two of the firm’s guiding doctrines: The Gallagher Way and the Global Standards of Business Conduct.
She says that these documents provide employees with information on key company policies such as “…non-discrimination, appropriate use of technology, and everything from protecting client confidentiality to avoiding conflicts of interest. (continued.)
#pb#
“And then, of course, never engaging in any type of kickbacks, corruption, or anything that could even appear to be improper.”
These efforts have not gone unnoticed. This year marks the fourth consecutive year that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has been named one of Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies. This measure takes into account such indicators as employee training and communications, policies and procedures, corporate governance, and social responsibility.
For DiLorenzo, however, it’s not about the praise or accolades. She just appreciates hearing fellow company employees say, “I’ve been here for 30 years, and feel like I’m part of the Gallagher family. I hope to be here for the rest of my career.”
