SPECIAL REPORT
TOP SPECIALIST BROKERS
MATTHEW CARPENTER Executive vice president AMWINS BROKERAGE OF THE MIDWEST Specialty: Product recall
Matthew Carpenter has specialized in product recall insurance for the past nine years. It’s a tricky niche: New buyers are often reluctant to purchase it, and they often don’t understand that product
SCOTT SHAPIRO Vice president RT SPECIALTY Specialty: Professional lines – D&O
Scott Shapiro is a vice president on Team Reiner/Richmond within RT ProExec Chicago, where his focus is public and private D&O. Shapiro began his career at AIG in 2007, starting as an intern and
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contamination and recalls are major risks or realize the valuable protection afforded by these policies. Carpenter and his team take frequent misunderstandings as an opportunity to educate prospective clients about the high severity of the risk and the financial benefits a product recall policy can provide. They also review current product recall placements to gain insight into coverage gaps and find opportunities for improvement. “We are the only wholesale brokerage team in the country that specializes exclusively in product recall coverage,” Carpenter says. “We spend every minute of our professional lives learning, advancing and practicing our craft. Others may have some product recall focus, but they are doing other things, too.” Carpenter constantly finds new ways to improve his knowledge and abilities, understanding that to offer true value and real specialization, you must read policy wordings, write every day, develop new systems, speak with industry experts, participate in industry events and brainstorm new ideas.
finishing as a senior underwriting specialist when he left in June 2019. After more than a decade of service to AIG, Shapiro realized his favorite aspect of the insurance industry was making deals and working directly with clients, prompting him to move from underwriting to the brokering side. He has been able to use the knowledge he garnered from underwriting – including niche D&O placements for bankruptcies, multinational placements, IPOs, and all things D&O, EPL, fiduciary, crime, and K&R – and apply it to his current role as an RT broker. “The biggest differentiator from the competition is our team,” Shapiro says. “We are the hardest-working and most dedicated people in the wholesale insurance industry, and we do not stop until there is a solution for every deal – even if that means working around the clock. We are extremely collaborative and full of knowledge across all executive liability lines of coverage.”
LEKHA ZAVERI Assistant vice president NIF GROUP, A JENCAP COMPANY Specialty: Construction
“When most New York City businesses shut down this year due to COVID-19, we received hundreds of requests to cancel insurance policies,” Lekha Zaveri says. “New York State mandated that finance companies couldn’t cancel policies, but E&S carriers weren’t subject to the same rules. I had to leverage my relationships with the carriers, finance companies and agents to keep their policies active and in good standing.” This is just the latest example in Zaveri’s long history of keeping clients happy. She began her career as a standard lines underwriter nearly 40 years ago; while working for AIG and CNA, she racked up experience in admitted package markets and monoline casualty insurance. After transitioning to a large multiline wholesaler as a marketing representative, Zaveri wanted to make a bigger impact with agency partners. She worked with top producers in construction, hospitality and real estate to learn the ropes and became a producer in 2012. Over the past nine years, Zaveri has been a fast-paced, hard-working, expert broker, and the book of business she’s accumulated is a reflection of that. She works with her retail agents in a true partnership by examining the coverage needs of the insured’s operations and reviewing their existing program to try to market their accounts competitively.
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