REFILE-HW Kaufman leadership lay out ambition to build 'a true global player'

By James Thaler

April 15 - (The Insurer) – HW Kaufman has set its sights on becoming “a true global player,” according to Jodie Kaufman Davis and Paul Greensmith, who detailed the firm’s international expansion plans and the opportunity to capitalize on ongoing disruption in London wholesale.

The pair of executives spoke to The Insurer TV at last month’s WSIA Underwriting Summit, where they discussed extensively HW Kaufman’s global ambitions and plans to replicate its success in North America and to export its family-owned culture internationally.

Last year, Kaufman Davis was appointed the company’s co-president, in addition to serving as vice chair of in-house A-rated carrier Atain and having oversight of MGU RB Jones.

Greensmith joined as international CEO in October after spending the previous four years with AIG as the head of global specialty.

“Our strategy is really to build our organization into a true global player,” Kaufman Davis said in the interview.

“We've been very successful in North America since 1969 when my grandfather founded the company, and over the years, we've made a number of global acquisitions,” she continued.

“We've invested tremendously in talent, technology and infrastructure, primarily in North America, and now we're taking that to the global level,” she explained.

Kaufman Davis touted HW Kaufman’s unique culture of being a family-owned business, which she expects to be a difference-maker in the build-out of the international business.

“We have a family feel that is really the core of our organization. And making sure that that transcends borders is really important to us, which is why we're really building our global team and creating opportunities,” she explained.

Greensmith echoed those comments and said the appeal of duplicating the firm’s success in North America led him to join the company last October.

“When somebody comes to you with private capital, a long-term view, and crucially, not only assets and a strong brand behind you, but good values – family values – that's very, very attractive,” he said, reflecting on his six month tenure with the firm so far.

The foundation of HW Kaufman’s international ambitions is centered around its broking and MGA operations in London, as well as a nascent business based in Dubai, with Greensmith acknowledging that the London MGA operation “probably requires the most work."

Nonetheless, Greensmith said his strong underwriting background will be an advantage of scaling the MGA business, while in broking it expects to capitalize on disruption playing out at competitor firms.

“The market is unlikely to get easier over the next few years. So, how do you win? What's your right to win? That’s a term I use a lot, (and) is really, really important. And in London, we're a meaningful size as a broker, but we're not huge, so we've got a lot of headroom to grow into.

“I still think if you can create the culture, the right technology platforms, the right partnerships – we obviously (have) one very big in-house partnership with Burns & Wilcox in North America – you can create a winning formula and grow plus, this is an incredibly stable, long term, family-based business.”

Greensmith refused to discuss the positioning of other London wholesale brokers in particular, but he did acknowledge that there has been “a lot of turbulence” among the cohort, driven by M&A and waves of talent moves.

“So, I think there is room for us to be different. And I think some of those big competitors will have some growing pains, and our job is to make ourselves as relevant as we can be, for our clients,” he observed.

He also highlighted the fact that HW Kaufman is no startup: “This is a very well-established group of businesses who have made a strategic decision, 24 months ago, to really do something different and something really exciting”.

“I can tell you that myself and the people in the business, in international business, I don't think I've ever worked harder, but I also don't think I've ever had more fun, which is great,” he said.

Kaufman Davis also said HW Kaufman benefits from name-brand recognition.

“The good news also for us is that although our London presence has been smaller and less substantial than our North American presence, we've been doing business in the London market since we began in the U.S. and Canada and then expanded to Canada,” she explained.

“We have a history of producing very successful underwriting results, a history of taking a long-term view to growth and relationship building, and that has been really key to assisting us and getting to where we are today, and that's heavily recognized by people that we're trying to attract to work for us and with us,” Kaufman Davis went on.

She also said that the international growth efforts would largely be organic, but didn’t rule out potential M&A.

“That doesn't mean that we've stopped looking. It's just not as big of a priority right now to kind of go and find acquisitions. We really want to make sure that we take what we have and amplify it, strengthen it, and make sure that we can absorb and integrate anything that we go out and buy,” she concluded.