The Need for Speed


A good idea doesn’t have much value if it never reaches market. Sometimes it needs to move quickly before the window closes.


Not to compare us to McDonald’s, but when you go to a specialist, you’re expecting expertise, you’re expecting systems that work, and you’re expecting applications that fi t. You’re expecting them to know all the coverages that go around your risk. Glenn Clark, Rockwood Programs and Target Markets Founder


Good programs are based on careful planning and research, but execution should be handled in as timely a manner as possible, panelists agreed.


Rapid program execution means the program administrator can seize market windows that may prove fl eeting, or at least capture the fi rst-mover advantage.


“If you don’t, someone will invariably come in and try to duplicate what you’re doing,” Geoffrey McKernan said.


The interval between idea and execution for an insurance program could be anywhere from 90 days to two-and-a-half years. When program writers detect a shift in the market, a change in law or new regulatory dynamics, they should be prepared to act.


“We saw a couple of people exit the market quickly, so we were able to hire underwriters that knew this expertise,” McKernan said of one program he helped launch. “We were able to do fi lings very quickly and we were able to get up and running within 90 days.”


Richard Augustyn agrees with the need to be timely and cites his own regret at not moving sooner with a venture of his own that, while profi table, came to market after the window of opportunity was open


widest. “We have a reciprocal insurance exchange we started. We think about that as an insurance program, but really, it’s an insurance company,” Augustyn said. “We believe that if we had started that three months earlier, we would be twice our size today. That’s how quickly the market had closed on us.”


Copyright © 2010 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means; electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise.


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