News & Press

Thanks to a $26,029 grant from Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. and Swett and Crawford, Ventura County Fire Department has expanded its award-winning “Ready, Set, Go!” wildfire preparedness program.

"'Ready, Set, Go!' is a critical component of our wildfire program here in Ventura County," said Fire Chief Bob Roper, “and grants like this help us take the message of early preparation and early evacuation to more people in the county. We think that will save both lives and property.”

The money was used to print Wildfire Action Plan brochures, banners, literature bags and to duplicate educational DVDs.

The grant came to the department through a nationwide philanthropic program funded by Fireman’s Fund®. The program supplies needed equipment, training and educational tools to local fire departments and, since 2004, has provided more than 1,500 fire departments with more than $25 million in grants. Independent insurance agencies that sell Fireman’s Fund products, like Swett and Crawford, are able to direct these grants to support the fire service.

A ceremonial check presentation and display of the “Ready, Set, Go!” materials was held on July 29, 2010 at Station 42 in Moorpark, CA. Curt Biersch, West Coast Division Leader and Jeff Coles, Casualty Broker of Swett and Crawford attended the event, along with representatives from Fireman’s Fund and the fire department.

Educating the community about wildfire risks will make our community safer, saving lives and property. We are proud to be able to give back to the community in such a meaningful way, stated Curt Biersch.

“We budget for our core mission of protecting lives and property,” said Roper, “but this kind of grant gives us the ability to take our educational efforts to a much higher level. By supporting our efforts, Fireman’s Fund and Swett and Crawford are helping protect the citizens of Ventura County.”

For more information about the grant program at Fireman’s Fund, visit www.firemansfund.com/heritage or www.facebook.com/SupportingFirefighters.

Swett & Crawford introduces its Umbrella Facility for Habitational and Real Estate. In-house underwriting, Master Policy, limits per insured and low minimum premiums. Contact Bill Braig for details - 808.545.2482.

  Swett & Crawford's Real Estate Umbrella Facility.pdf

2010 is shaping up to be an active year in defining whether and to what extent insurance brokers owe fiduciary responsibilities to their insureds. Some recent developments include:

People ex rel. Cuomo. The New York Court of Appeals has agreed to hear a case this fall in which New York's Attorney General is challenging a broker's acceptance and alleged nondisclosure of contingent commissions. The court is expected to address if, and under what circumstances, insurance brokers owe fiduciary duties to insureds. If the court finds that the broker-insured relationship is fiduciary in nature, it could influence other jurisdictions and generally increase brokers' liability to their insureds.

Producer Compensation Transparency Rule. Effective January 1, 2011, the New York State Insurance Department is expected to adopt a rule that will require brokers to inform clients either orally or in writing prior to the time of the insurance application of their right to seek information concerning the compensation they anticipate receiving based on the sale. For more information, see http://www.ins.state.ny.us/r_finala/2010/rf194txt.pdf

Tiara Condominium Ass'n, Inc. Florida recognizes the "economic loss rule," which can bar recovery in tort for economic damages that arise in contract. However, there is an exception to the economic loss rule where the contract at issue relates to the provision of professional services. In the Tiara case, a key issue is whether the economic loss rule bars recovery from claims relating to the broker's alleged breach of fiduciary duties. The 11th Circuit said this is an open question under Florida law and certified it to the Florida Supreme Court, which is expected to rule later this summer.

We will continue to monitor these and other developments in this area. Your Swett & Crawford Professional Services Group broker is available to discuss these issues - including their potential impact on insurance agents' E&O policies - with you and your colleagues.

CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce commercial motor vehicle (CMV)-related crashes, injuries and fatalities. It introduces a new enforcement and compliance model that allows FMCSA and its State Partners to contact a larger number of carriers earlier in order to address safety problems before crashes occur.

Here's an easy way to stay current on the changes and implementation schedule of CSA 2010. Just click on the link http://csa2010.fmcsa.dot.gov/ and sign up for regular e-mails outlining program updates.

This is a great way for you to stay on top of this important development in the transportation industry.

Atlanta, GA and London, England, July 9th, 2010 – The world’s largest independent global wholesale and reinsurance broker was created today following the completion of a deal to combine Swett & Crawford, America’s oldest independent wholesale broker and Cooper Gay, the leading London-based independent wholesale, reinsurance and specialist retail insurance broker.

Effective immediately, the two industry leading businesses will come together under a new group holding company, Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford Ltd. The enlarged Group will place approximately $3.5 billion in premiums in the United States, London and International insurance markets and employ over 1,500 staff based in more than 60 offices across four continents.

As already announced, the combined Group will be led by Toby Esser as Group Chief Executive. J. Neal Abernathy will continue as President & Chief Executive of Swett & Crawford, and will also become a member of the new holding company’s Executive Committee. All of the Group’s operations in North America will report to Mr. Abernathy.

Cooper Gay’s offices outside North America and all Swett & Crawford business units will continue to trade as before. They will keep their existing branding and management teams, but will focus on implementing combined best practices and driving synergies across the Group.

Employee shareholders remain the largest single group of investors in Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford Ltd., with existing strategic partners MDS SGPS and HM Capital retaining significant stakes in the combined business.

Toby Esser, Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford Group CEO commented:

“I am truly delighted that we have completed this transformational deal. By bringing together the resources of Cooper Gay and Swett & Crawford under common ownership, we have not only created the world’s largest truly global independent wholesale and reinsurance broker, but have also created an exceptional team with the experience and skills to deliver market leading service to our clients.

Our enhanced scale and broad product range will also act as a springboard for future growth and development. We will not be resting on our laurels but working to take advantage of the many exciting opportunities the transaction will create.”

J. Neal Abernathy, Swett & Crawford President & CEO commented:

“The strong synergies and excellent strategic fit between our businesses was clearly apparent from the very outset of our talks. With the deal completed we now look forward to demonstrating the full potential of our enhanced international network, broader professional expertise and increased market access to both clients and the markets in which we operate.”

Notes to editors

Cooper Gay
Founded in 1965, Cooper Gay is one of the world’s leading independent insurance and reinsurance intermediaries. Headquartered in London, and operating at Lloyd’s, the Group has a global network and truly international reach with more than 25 offices operating from countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australasia.

Additional information may be found at www.coopergay.com

Swett & Crawford
For over 96 years, Swett & Crawford has delivered exceptional expertise and service to the US commercial insurance marketplace. As a wholesale insurance broker, Swett & Crawford does not work directly with insureds. Rather, it serves as a key intermediary between the independent insurance agents and the nation's top insurance carriers.

The company works with the insured's retail insurance agent or broker to provide comprehensive, cost-effective commercial coverages and specialty programs for a wide variety of risks. For decades Swett has been the leading broker of its type in the United States, and for the last five years has been voted "Best Wholesaler" by readers of the influential Business Insurance© magazine.

Additional information may be found at www.swett.com

Media contacts:
Ian Barrett, Cooper Gay
Mobile: 44 (0) 7949 422 257
Tel : 44 (0) 20 7100 3960
Email: ian@concisepr.com

Jennifer Pinto, Swett & Crawford
Tel: 347.302.3448
Email: jennifer_pinto@swett.com

Toby Esser

J. Neal Abernathy

Swett & Crawford, one of the nation's largest and oldest wholesale insurance brokerage firms, and London-based independent wholesale, reinsurance and specialist broker Cooper Gay, are in final negotiations to form a combined entity under a new unified holding company. Despite the revised ownership structure, Neal Abernathy, CEO of Swett & Crawford, says the deal doesn't mean a great deal of change for retail agents doing business with his firm today. But in the longer-term, he sees the combination delivering more resources to Swett & Crawford's agent base on a global basis. The combination will put the wholesale brokerage giant in a much better position to handle global accounts, Abernathy says in this interview with Insurance Journal's Andrea Wells along with Steve Sadler, COO of Swett & Crawford.

Watch the full video at http://www.insurancejournal.tv/videos/4007/.

LONDON—Executives from Cooper Gay (Holdings) Ltd. and Swett & Crawford Group Inc. confirmed last week that they are in "advanced deal discussions" to create a global wholesale and reinsurance brokerage firm.

The potential combination of the world's fifth largest reinsurance brokerage with the nation's third-largest wholesaler still is subject to stakeholder and legal approval, but executives said they hope to have it completed within a month.

Observers say the deal makes strategic sense as it satisfies London-based Cooper Gay's desires to expand in the U.S. wholesale market, while giving Atlanta-based Swett new international and reinsurance capabilities.

As a combined entity, the firm also will be in a better position to launch an initial public offering in the future, giving Swett & Crawford's private equity owners an exit strategy, observers say.

Chicago-based Aon Corp. sold Swett for an undisclosed amount to a group of private equity investors led by HM Capital Partners L.L.C. in 2005 amid the broker compensation scandal that erupted in the retail brokerage industry.

Swett & Crawford reported premium volume of $2.20 billion for 2008, the latest year for which figures are available. Business Insurance estimates that the wholesaler had $198.4 million in gross revenues in 2008. Cooper Gay reported fees and commissions of £100.5 million ($145.5 million) for 2009. Swett & Crawford has offices in 24 states. Cooper Gay has offices in 17 countries.

In a joint statement issued last week, Cooper Gay and Swett said they are seeking to combine their operations into a new London-based holding company that will be led by Cooper Gay's group CEO Toby Esser. Neal Abernathy, president and CEO of Swett, will continue in his current role with Cooper Gay's existing North American businesses reporting to him as well.

Both firms will continue to operate under their existing names.

Cooper Gay has been open about its wish to grow organically and by acquisition and it has looked at a "good number" of potential acquisitions in the wholesale and managing general agency space during the past couple of years, Mr. Esser said in an interview. "To our mind, Swett is a perfect fit."

While Swett & Crawford places a lot of business in the London insurance market, it does not have a physical presence there, Mr. Esser noted, and it does not have a reinsurance arm.

Cooper Gay, which has a large presence in the London market and is one of the world's largest reinsurance brokers, has a wholesale brokerage in the United States, which would "be wrapped up" into Swett if the deal proceeds, Mr. Esser said. There is "very little overlap" between the two businesses.

"The thing that excites me so much is that we are able to bring two companies together and have virtually no overlap. That's just tremendous energy for us without any distractions," Mr. Abernathy said.

"I'm very, very excited about all the opportunities" the combination with Cooper Gay brings, he said. "It just expands everything that we do. It brings us reinsurance capabilities; it gives us international capabilities and it gives us an opportunity to be better stewards of our premium and work more closely with our markets to distribute products."

Insurance market observers say they too think the combination makes sense.

"The deal represents a nice marriage of Swett's dominant U.S. market position with Cooper Gay's established international business," said John T. Hompe, managing director and co-head of insurance investment banking at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. in New York. "Plus, transactions that feel more like mergers have a much greater chance of success in this business than straight-out acquisitions," he said.

"If they can mesh the cultures, two and two may make five when this deal is said and done," said John Wicher, of John Wicher & Associates Inc. in San Francisco.

John Butler, managing director and head of Piper, Jaffray & Co.'s insurance practice in New York, also likes the idea of the combination. "They're both a bit underscaled and, with the long soft market, I'm sure they're both feeling a bit of pressure."

By combining operations, they get more diversification and that will put them in a better position to "ride out" the soft market and it certainly moves them in the direction of an IPO down the road, Mr. Butler said.

"This would be a very good merger on paper," agreed Kevin Donoghue, managing director of Mystic Capital Advisors Group L.L.C. in New York. "I like the geographical diversification, combined size of the entities and global broking power. Combine these elements with the hope that the market is firming up on pricing, and the potential for growth is tremendous," he said. "I would think, given the scale of the combined organization, a public offering would be in sight in the next year."

"We definitely would be leaning that way," said Swett's Mr. Abernathy, referring to a potential IPO in the future.

Sally Roberts Business Insurance, June 14th, 2010

Atlanta, GA—May 24th , 2010 — Following a nearly ten-year stint with Connecticut-based S. H. Smith & Company, Scott Bartlett joins Swett & Crawford’s New York office as Vice President, Program Development. His responsibility will be to develop and nurture programs for larger retail agents who specialize in niche industries. He has been charged with responsibility for the entire process, from negotiations and sales to the implementation of these programs with the carrier and underwriting staff.

While at Smith, he was most recently the brokerage’s Chief Program Officer and previously headed national sales for them. During his tenure there, he developed large exclusive programs for agencies nationwide, particularly in the areas of transportation and umbrella liability.

He began his P&C insurance industry career at Accordia of Northeast Ohio where he specialized in brokering large transportation risks. He also headed his own firm, Insurance Programs, Inc.

Bartlett attended Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland. He also studied at Wharton in their executive education program.

Effective immediately, CEO/President, Neal Abernathy has been appointed Chair of the CIAB’s - Wholesale Working Group

The Council's Wholesale Working Group is one of five active working groups of The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers. http://www.ciab.com/About.aspx It was created in 2006 to provide members in the Wholesale/MGA business a forum to exchange ideas and address common challenges and, in turn, provide in-depth knowledge on critical issues to help guide development of Council policies and programs. The formation of this group recognizes the significant role Wholesale Brokerage represents to the insurance industry as a whole.

Neal Abernathy’s appointment is recognition of the leadership role Swett has in the insurance industry, CIAB and specifically the wholesale brokerage segment.

Swett & Crawford has welcomed senior insurance executive Tim Boyd to its roster of casualty brokers. He will be based in the company’s New York office. Boyd was most recently with the Philadelphia Insurance Companies.

He has worked in the P&C industry for more than 25 years in increasingly responsible positions, beginning with Guy Carpenter-Sedgwick, where he placed property and casualty reinsurance. He subsequently held the title of vice president at Meadowbrook Insurance Group, Willis/Stewart Smith/AmWins and Tri-City Insurance Brokers.

His hiring was announced by Eddie Williams, who heads Swett & Crawford’s New York Office. Boyd holds a B.B.A. degree in Risk and Insurance from The College of Insurance.

Timothy Boyd, Vice President
32 Old Slip, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10005
PH(212) 618-0173
FAX(212) 401-1548
Tim_Boyd@swett.com

There is no question about it. Most clients are unaware of their new liabilities under state and federal privacy laws. Unfortunately, unlike the old cliché, "ignorance is not always bliss ".

In today's economy, even if clients are aware of their new liabilities, they are likely too stressed from trying to keep their doors open to be able to afford a premium for a new coverage they may not fully understand.

These facts present the typical retail agent a serious challenge. How do they educate their clients about their new liabilities, let alone explain and sell a new coverage most clients don't understand and really don't want to buy? Similar to the difficulty of selling Employment Practices Liability in the mid 1990's, it would be easy walk away, but the reality of these new exposures is too scary to ignore. In fact, doing so could lead to an agent's own E&O claim later down the road.

Download the PDF

It's easy for your clients to ignore the prospect of something really terrible happening to their businesses, buildings and livelihoods. Earthquake devastation has become a regular feature on the nightly news. Seismologists suggest there is ample evidence that the issue is not "if" but "when." With that evidence in hand, guide the clients who depend on you to take action now rather than bury their heads in the sand. Give them the reality check they need to be proactive in mitigating the economic effect of a major earthquake. That's where Swett & Crawford comes in. We have the market intelligence and clout to deliver solutions for even your most challenging risk. Just one more reason why Swett has been voted Best Wholesaler by readers of Business Insurance for five consecutive years.

Download the PDF.

Your Swett & Crawford Transportation Team continues to roll out markets and products to help you better protect your insureds.

While not a substitute for those required to carry workers compensation, owner operators and contract drivers of fleet owners are often excellent candidates for this coverage. A motor carrier that does not mandate all drivers be covered by workers compensation typically requires these leased drivers to have accident coverage........and TAP is often the answer!

The attached TAP brochure provides details regarding our various TAP options. Quoting and administration is handled by Donna Neal, located in our Mabelvale, Arkansas office. Her contact information is included.

Occupational accident is coverage for independent owner/operators or contract drivers while engaged in the usual and customary duties of a motor carrier with whom they have a long term lease. Benefits include accident medical expense, AD&D, temporary total disability and continuous total disability. Travel to and from work is not covered.

We look forward to your inquires and promise you the quick service, comprehensive coverage and competitive pricing you've grown to expect from your Swett & Crawford Transportation Team.

Regards,

Peter J Dumas
Swett & Crawford
National Transportation Practice Group Leader

Personal lines with Neal Abernathy, CEO. Everybody's in a different spot, and you can't really relate to people until you understand where they are.

A publication from Leader's Edge Magazine, April 2010 with Neal Abernathy, CEO, Swett & Crawford. Click here to read the full article.

ATLANTA, (March 17th, 2010) – Swett & Crawford Underwriting today announced the launch of a new program targeting Allied Healthcare providers.

Mary K. Nolan, Senior Vice President, Healthcare Underwriting said "Allied healthcare professions and providers are a critical link in the delivery of healthcare services. Swett & Crawford has ramped up its historic commitment to serving brokers with clients in the healthcare industry by adding markets in this vital component, and to staying on top of opportunities for our customers to expand their business in this industry."

This program offers both Professional and General liability for over 50 classes in the Allied Healthcare arena.

Click the attached brochure for additional information.

Scott Royle knows a disturbing trend when he sees one , and he doesn't need numbers from the trade press or the burgeoning stack of submissions for clarity. The view from his Irvine, Calif., office window says enough.

"I look out and see three seven- to 12-story buildings completed and totally unoccupied," he says. As vice president of American E&S Insurance Brokers, Royle is no novice to vacant-property insurance, a perennial excess and surplus lines product. But what he’s been seeing lately is different. "What's happening now—buildings completed with no tenants ready—is very different. It’s not normal."

Read the full article.

Cheryl Celcer, most recently in a senior sales position with The Hartford, has joined Swett & Crawford as a broker. The announcement was made by Jim Bishop, who heads Swett & Crawford's Dallas office. Ms. Celcer was hired to enhance Swett's coverage of the state of Oklahoma, where she has spent most of her insurance career.

She joins Swett & Crawford after a nearly 30-year stint with The Hartford, in which she held increasingly responsible positions in underwriting and sales. Beginning as a clerical administrator in 1981, she moved up through the ranks, transitioning into her first sales position covering Oklahoma and Arkansas as a Customer Sales Representative.

Her most recent position with The Hartford was as Executive Select Customer Sales Representative. She holds an A.A. degree in Applied Science from Rose State College in Midwest City, Oklahoma.

Jim Bishop who heads the Dallas office states "I am excited to expand our client base in Oklahoma as well as other states due to Cheryl's acquisition."

Ed Antonucci, Jr., Executive Vice President and Managing Director of AmWINS Chicago for the past 4-1/2 years, has joined Swett & Crawford in Chicago where he will be a Financial Services Broker.

Antonucci was with AmWINS Chicago since early 2005 where he managed a financial services book of business and directed a staff of sales executives.

Earlier, he spent ten years at Stewart Smith Mid-America, also in Chicago, where as senior vice president, he managed a sales force and achieved an overall growth rate at the 80th percentile on his book of business.

Prior to joining Stewart Smith, Antonucci worked in increasingly responsible positions for National Union Fire Insurance Company, including managing branch and regional offices, marketing commercial lines, D&O and E&O. As Regional Manager in National Union's Chicago office, he oversaw a $70 million budget for the company's Midwest region. A graduate of PACE University in New York where he majored in finance, he holds a Bachelor of Business Administration. He was a board member of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society- Midwest Region and a member of the St. Louis Insurance Association. For the past nine years, he has been a member of the PLUS Foundation Shots for Charity Committee.