Contents

8

with the group, having served in a variety of leadership

positions across the finance function in Asia and London

since joining in 1997. Bulmer also will become a member

of the group executive committee, reporting to Anil

Wadhwani, chief executive officer, and will continue to be

based in Hong Kong, the company said.

In his most recent role, Bulmer leads the performance

management, financial planning and analysis, finance

operations and control, tax, actuarial and capital

management functions of the Prudential Group. He is a

member of the group management forum and manages

a finance community of 16 CFOs across 13 countries and

the Africa regional head office, his company bio said.

In addition to his most recent role, his other leadership

positions include CFO of Eastspring, the group’s

asset management business, CFO of Prudential Hong

Kong’s life and general insurance businesses, and chief

accountant of Prudential Asia, according to his bio.

MetLife Chief Investment Officer To Retire

M

etLife Inc. said

Steven J. Goulart,

chief investment officer

and president of MetLife

Investment Management,

will retire on Aug. 31, in

line with the firm’s age-65

retirement policy.

MetLife Chief

Financial Officer John

McCallion will lead MetLife

Investment Management,

the institutional asset

management business

of MetLife, according to

a statement. MetLife Chief Risk Officer Marlene Debel

will lead MetLife Insurance Investments, responsible

for MetLife’s general account. Ramy Tadros, regional

president of MetLife’s U.S. business, will lead MetLife

Holdings. The appointments will be effective Sept. 1.

A search is underway for a MetLife Investment

Management president who will report to McCallion

and lead the institutional asset management business,

whose clients include insurance companies, corporate

plans, public and private pension plans, endowments,

foundations and sovereign wealth funds. MetLife

Investment Management manages approximately $600

billion in total assets under management.

Goulart joined MetLife in 2006 and was named CIO

in 2011. In 2012, he led the launch of MetLife Investment

Management’s institutional asset management business.

McCallion has been MetLife’s CFO since 2018 and

previously served as treasurer in regional and business

CFO roles and as head of investor relations. Debel was

named chief risk officer in 2019 after previously leading

Steven J. Goulart

BEST’S REVIEW

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AUGUST 

MetLife’s Retirement &

Income Solutions business,

serving as U.S. CFO and

joining the company in 2011

as treasurer.

Chuck Scully, a 22-year

veteran of MetLife, will

continue to lead investment

strategy for the MetLife

general account, serving

as CIO, MetLife Insurance

Investments, and reporting

to Debel.

John McCallion

MassMutual Promotes Two Following Retirement

of Head of MassMutual US

M

assachusetts Mutual

Life Insurance Co.

named Paul LaPiana to

head of brand, product and

affiliated distribution, and

Dominic Blue to head of

third-party distribution and

new markets.

Both join the company’s

executive leadership

team and report to Roger

Crandall, MassMutual

chairman, president and

chief executive officer.

The promotions come

as Mike Fanning, head of

MassMutual U.S., retires

after a 37-year career

devoted to the financial

services industry. Nearly

half of that—17 years—was

spent with MassMutual.

During Fanning’s tenure

as head of MassMutual’s

domestic insurance

business, the company

Dominic Blue

dramatically expanded its

network of affiliated financial professionals, became one

of the top annuity providers in the United States, divested

its retirement plan business to contribute to the company’s

financial flexibility, and enhanced and expanded its suite

of protection and wealth management solutions as well

as digital enablement to meet customers’ needs, the

company said.

LaPiana will oversee MassMutual’s core distribution

channel, MassMutual Financial Advisors, while

also managing the company’s portfolio of wealth

management and protection products and solutions to

ensure they meet a broad range of customer needs. He

Paul LaPiana

Executive Changes

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BEST’S REVIEW

, Volume 124, Issue 8, August 2023 (ISSN 1527-5914) is published monthly by A.M. Best Company, Inc. Editorial and executive offices: 1 Ambest Road, Oldwick, NJ 08858-9988. A

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BEST’S REVIEW

•

AUGUST 

“What I’ve learned is less is more. When

putting together an ad, don’t include too

much verbiage. People are only going to

read three bullets. Make sure those are

powerful bullet points in your marketing

statement.”

Chris LaMantia

Omaha National

12

works very well for us, as we are advertising in many

of the trade magazines to continue to engage our

broker network.

We also focus on mailers and some email

blasts and make sure we’re at the trade shows and

conferences to continually engage with agents and

brokers we work with.

What I’ve learned is less is more. When putting

together an ad, don’t include too much verbiage.

People are only going to read three bullets. Make

sure those are powerful bullet points in your

marketing statement.

We’re also continuing to expand our digital

advertising. For me, because it often comes with

a big price tag, it’s important to make sure that

the digital piece is landing on the devices of the

audiences we want to capture. We distribute and

offer our products exclusively through agents and

brokers, so I always want to ensure we are visible in

the places where they are looking.

While we aren’t doing much video yet, it is an

area we are planning to expand. One of the things

I’ve tasked myself with over the next 18 months is

starting to take some of our stories and share them

using video. We’re not a new company anymore; we

have a great history behind us already and we have

some good stories to share, especially on the claims

side of our business. I don’t want to go out and tell

agents and brokers how great we are—but how great

they are when they work with us.

How do you measure your customer

experience?

Measuring success comes down to how many

applications we’re getting or how many submissions

we’re receiving from agencies we work with. As we

continue to engage with them, there’s response, and

BEST’S REVIEW

•

AUGUST 

the best way to measure that response is: Are they

sending you applications? Are they sending business?

Are you sending them back quotes?

The biggest measure of success, of how we are

performing as a company and how we’re engaging

from a marketing standpoint, is our retention rates.

So far this year, our retention rates have been 90%.

Much of that has to do with the agent and customer

experience. We use all the marketing options

available to us, but then we make sure that our

brokers and their customers have a good experience

with us.

As long as we’re providing the support that we

promise in our marketing campaigns, if they see that

we’re committing to what we’re advertising, they’ll

renew and stay with us.

How does product differentiation create

value add and brand loyalty and allow

Omaha National to compete in different

ways?

We’re a monoline workers’ compensation

company, so we differentiate ourselves by doing

everything in-house and offering insureds several

ways to pay premium, including a pay-as-you-go

program that gives them three different payroll

options. Having multiple options on the shelf is

important to consumers. Product differentiation is

great as long as your differentiation matters to the

consumers.

AM Best TV

Visit

bestsreview.ambest.com

to watch

the interview with Chris LaMantia.

Insurance Marketing

Tale of the Ticker

Tape: What Global

Equity Markets Can

Tell Us About Our

Industry

A recent ACORDstudy shows nearly

half of the country’s 100 largest

insurers achieved “sustainable value

creation”—accruing profits through

both underwriting and investment.

By

Bill Pieroni

14

T

he ACORD Global Insurance Stock Index

tracks the performance of more than 200 of

the world’s largest publicly traded insurance

carriers, with results updated quarterly.

The first quarter of 2023 showed some

interesting results: The global insurance industry

delivered positive year-over-year growth of 2.9% in

the midst of an overall global equity market decline

of 9.1%. What can the capital markets’ perspective

tell us about our industry?

Stability Plus Growth

Insurance has proven to be an extremely stable

industry over the long term. The publicly traded

property/casualty sector, for instance, has proven to

be about 20% less volatile than the general markets in

recent decades. Amid a challenging macroeconomic

climate and unprecedented global change, we may be

seeing a flight to stability in global markets, making

insurance an attractive option for investors.

Best’s Review

columnist

Bill Pieroni

is president

and CEO of ACORD. He can be reached at

bestreviewcomment@ambest.com

.

BEST’S REVIEW

•

AUGUST 

However, sustainably attracting capital also

requires growth and profitability. The insurance

industry has been demonstrating high performance

across both of these areas. How, you may ask, has

such a mature industry achieved these levels of

growth in recent months?

One answer is likely to be increased awareness of

risk, driven by a highly unfortunate circumstance—

the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only was there a

substantial surge in life insurance uptake in the

wake of the pandemic, but many individuals and

businesses became painfully aware of the limitations

of their existing policies. Well-publicized cases

reinforced the need for thorough coverage. Business

owners and risk managers began to look more

closely at their business interruption insurance,

increasing demand for products that will protect

them from future shutdowns, supply chain failures

At Large

3 Ways To Deal

With Talent

Shortage Head-On

16

By

Kimberly Kennedy

Partner-carrier resources can

increase agency efficiency and

effectiveness.

B

usinesses across the U.S. continue to deal

with talent shortages, and independent

insurance agencies are no exception. A

smaller candidate pool coupled with a record

number of retirements have made hiring and

retaining professionals particularly challenging for our

industry, which leaves agency teams working overtime

to keep up with customers’ increasing requests and

expectations in this dynamic environment.

Considering these pressures, many agencies are

rethinking their operating models, identifying more

sustainable ways to operate their businesses and

creating the critical capacity their employees need

to focus on profitable growth-generating activities,

while also serving customers’ needs.

For agents looking to make the most effective

use of their valuable human capital, consider taking

these three steps:

1. Enroll in carrier service centers.

One of the biggest misconceptions around carrier

service centers is that agents will relinquish their

relationships with customers, but agencies that have

worked with capable service centers have found the

opposite. Having a larger team of insurance experts

on hand improves customer experiences and frees up

agency staff’s time to build deeper relationships with

both current and prospective clients. The Hanover’s

internal data show agents enrolled in the company’s

service center have 42% higher premiums per CSR

Best’s Review

contributor

Kimberly Kennedy

is chief operating officer, personal lines, The

Hanover Insurance Group. She can be reached at

bestreviewcomment@ambest.com

.

BEST’S REVIEW

•

AUGUST 

than unenrolled agents. By handling all manner

of customer inquiries and conducting full account

reviews, carrier service centers augment agencies’

customer consultation, freeing up their people to

conduct more proactive outreach to retain and

develop their best accounts.

2. Leverage technology to meet customers

where they are.

As agencies settle into hybrid work environments,

integrating in-office and virtual servicing, some

are recognizing the limitations of their phone

systems and are investigating ways to best serve

their customers. Investing in call routing and

recording solutions that result in the most positive

experiences possible for clients is more critical than

ever. Experienced carriers have so much operational

knowledge to share with their partners, and top

Risk Adviser