Victor CEO Charles Williamson on his plans for the enterprise

Charles Williamson, Victor Insurance coverage Managers CEO, sat down with Insurance coverage Enterprise to talk about how his diversified profession trajectory set him up for his function with the MGA and the way he intends to guide the enterprise into new alternatives.

Now Victor Insurance coverage Managers (Victor) CEO, Charles Williamson (pictured) began within the insurance coverage trade in 1988 and has held a wide range of senior management positions, together with at massive title insurers and what was on the time a brand-new enterprise.

The CEO has credited with the ability to put on numerous hats at completely different organizations — together with AIG and Crystal & Firm — for diversifying his skillset and shaping him into the chief he’s immediately.

“Throughout my 25-year profession at AIG, I had a wide range of assignments, beginning out in giant account casualty, then migrating into gross sales and advertising and marketing earlier than in the end shifting to private strains and client strains,” Williamson mentioned.

His final job at AIG was working the buyer enterprise for the Americas, which included prolonged guarantee accident held private strains, amounting to an eclectic mixture of underwriting experiences.

Williamson then departed AIG to turn into a retail dealer, spending nearly 4 years with Crystal & Firm to grasp the distribution facet of the enterprise far more intently. Following this beneficial expertise, his subsequent transfer was to create one thing totally new.

“I additionally co-founded an organization known as Vault, which was a private strains insurance coverage specialist, catering to high-net-worth clients — I used to be founder and CEO there for six years,” he mentioned.

When the chance to imagine the function of CEO at Victor Insurance coverage Managers emerged, Williamson noticed an opportunity to meld collectively his learnings to construct on a thriving enterprise.

“I’ve constructed a background round distribution on the one hand and underwriting on the opposite. The chance and Victor melded these disciplines collectively, and that simply felt proper for me,” he mentioned.

Victor’s independence, with backing from dad or mum Marsh McLennan, was additionally a draw.

“The autonomy to do my very own factor and construct a enterprise, primarily based on the technique that I laid out was thrilling,” he mentioned.

“It was a very good mixture of an impartial firm inside an enormous group.”

Having assumed the function of CEO on July 31, Williamson drew inspiration from former Apple CEO Steve Jobs when he began within the function.

“I considered a quote that Steve Jobs as soon as mentioned, the place efficient leaders don’t rent nice individuals and inform them what to do, however as a substitute, they rent nice individuals, and so they inform us what to do,” he mentioned.

“I want to be an enabler of actually good individuals, versus facilitating each single resolution or concept. It’s about enabling individuals to do and be their finest.”

Refining the main target

One of many essential priorities of Williamson’s management is to deal with the areas which are performing effectively and present nice potential.

“We’re taking a look at adjacencies and the way we may spin up a further enterprise pretty simply with the experience, techniques, capabilities and capital companions that we’ve got.”

Expertise is a key space of focus for Victor too, and Williamson mentioned he’s a proponent of taking a thought of strategy to funding.

“It takes administration time and a focus to construct the specs to check customized tech and validate it, which suggests they will’t focus our consideration on different issues,” he mentioned. “I’m difficult us to verify all the pieces we spend our money and time on is totally essentially the most impactful and that saying ‘no’ to one thing is OK.”

“There’s numerous whitespace”

As one of many oldest MGAs in America and the most important on the planet, Victor has developed key choices together with its flagship specialty applications enterprise, the nation’s largest stand-alone flood MGA, ICAT which makes a speciality of property disaster, in addition to its digital MGA, Victor Small Enterprise.

Altogether, the corporate handles round $4 billion in premium yearly.

Williamson is worked up to increase past Victor’s present choices and create new alternatives for shoppers, he advised Insurance coverage Enterprise.

“At the same time as massive as Victor is and as complete as our choices are, there’s numerous whitespace, which is basically thrilling for us,” he mentioned “We’re not likely in healthcare, we’re additionally not in building or actual property in an enormous approach.

“[There’s also] hospitality, transportation, power, the issues which are sort of basic MGA courses of enterprise.”

The corporate will deal with rising its skilled roster, with attracting the correct expertise set to be essential for ahead momentum.

“We’re actively taking a look at a wide range of acquisition alternatives”

Alongside extra natural areas of growth, Victor can also be banking on its acquisitive urge for food.

“We’re actively taking a look at a wide range of acquisition alternatives,” Williamson mentioned.

Whereas there are none which have met their standards but, the CEO pressured that behind the scenes, the search continues and so they hope to discover a good match.

“We’re again in that recreation, on the lookout for these acquisition alternatives that make us a greater purchase when it comes to product underwriting experience, techniques, platform distribution,” he mentioned.