We reached out to risk managers and asked a couple of simplequestions: Who do you use, and why? Here's what they had tosay:

Carolyn Snow, director of risk management forHumana Inc. who is a member of the RIMS Board of Directors, saysHumana prefers AIG for its executive-protection andproperty-related coverage.

“When we find a company that provides us with good products andservices, we tend to stay with them,” says Snow. “We likedeveloping long-terms relationships where the companies really getto know us and understand our exposure.”

This relationship is paramount when market changes occur. Snowsays long-term relationships allow the managed health-care companyto work with insurers to moderate the impact of thechanges.

“If we can talk with underwriters that truly understand ourbusiness, or take the time to learn about us, then we can work outcoverage details and pricing,” she says.

Lori Seidenberg, senior vice president ofenterprise risk management for Centerline Capital Group, saysIronshore, C.V. Starr and Philadelphia Indemnity are some insurershandling Habitational exposures for Centerline, which provides realestate finance and asset management services for multifamilyhousing.

A member of the RIMS Board of Directors, Seidenberg saysCenterline's insurance choices “start with the carriers that haveappetite for our specific risk.”

“Once we have those identified,” she continues. “we makedecisions based on a combination of price, coverage andclaims-paying ability.”

Gary Pearce, vice president of risk management atKelly Services Inc., says the temporary staffing company has 14different carriers on its various insurance programs, with halfwriting more than one program.

Pearce says financial strength and cost competitiveness areimportant, but “the carriers with which we have our most criticalrelationships—such as Ace, XL, Beazley, Alterra, Chubb, Zurich andAllied World—have other common attributes: They have taken the timeto learn our story, the management is accessible and theyunderstand that we act as an extension of their underwritingfunction in order to deliver favorable underwriting results.”

Michael Liebowitz, director of insurance and riskmanagement at New York University, looks to Ace “a lot,” especiallyfor international General Liability (the school has multiple globalsites) and Environmental coverage.

“They have a great global footprint and their coverage hasbecome broader and more flexible,” says Liebowitz, adding that hecoverage NYU gets from Ace is a “good value for the money.”

Additionally, the university relies on Chubb for coveragerelated to its award-winning film program as well asfinancial-products lines.

Sarah Perry, risk manager for the City ofColumbia, Mo., says the city is self-insured but it relies “highly”on FM Global for its Excess Property insurance needs.

On a more limited basis, Columbia looks to Safety National forWorkers' Compensation.

For Liability, Columbia turns to the state's risk retentiongroup, as the city is part of the pool program. The RRG providesthe city with a good price, service and “incredible terms andconditions,” says Perry.

Columbia choice of FM Global is based on the fact the insurer ismember-owned and has extensive resources, capacity and service, sheadds.

The risk-manager interviews were conducted in conjunction with aFlaspohler Research Group/PC360-NUsurvey of hundredsof risk managers regarding their insurance-buying habits. Thatsurvey found that AIG was the top choice of insurance buyers forcommercial insurance. The survey also asked what would makerisk managers consider paying a higher premium to use a specificcarrier. Nearly 68 percent rank better terms and conditions as thetop reason. Superior service, lower retentions and innovativeendorsements were also popular answers.