Kay Stephenson
Risk Placement Services
Specialty: Coastal Property
Kay Stephenson started her insurance career as a branch manager’s secretary at AIG before moving to a position at Lexington Insurance Company’s new excess & surplus lines department in Atlanta. “I started out as an assistant placing facultative reinsurance,” she says. “Now I realize the great foundation this provided for me to eventually become a property broker.” Stephenson went on to work with McAlear and then Crump Insurance, where she stayed for 16 years until Risk Placement Services purchased the company.
Still one of only a few women in the US with a full binding contract, Stephenson says her greatest challenge is being able to adapt to changing markets. “Due to all of the natural disasters and losses this past year, we are on the brink of a hard market,” she says. “I have experienced several hard markets, which have allowed me to gain the knowledge and ability to be prepared to handle the challenges ahead. The most rewarding thing is being able to gather information and obtain a quote that offers better terms and conditions than my competitor. This allows me to win the trust of my agents. The people who deal with me know that I will stop at nothing to achieve the best for them.”
