Early in his insurance career, Mario Vitale had a key encounterwith a supervisor that inspired his ascent through the ranks at hisfirst employer and beyond.

While newly employed in the Property department at the HomeInsurance Co., Vitale was a young gun mapping risk exposures andaggregating which policies were written on a particular structure.It was boring, tedious work in a dismal setting, but he excelled atit.

“In those days, they had very long rows of grey desks, and theyoungest trainee would always sit in the front desk — and the mostexperienced person in any product line or function sat in the backand they could watch,” he recalls. “If somebody left or died, you'dmove back a desk. That's just the way it worked. It was very, veryuniform.

“I did this for two weeks, and I completely, absolutely nailedthis job,” he says. “So I take the long walk down to the supervisorof the department. I said, 'Mr. Swystun, this is a great job, I'velearned it. What's my next assignment?'”

Vitale leans forward in his chair to deliver the punchline.

“He looked me in the eyes and said to me, 'You've got to bekidding. First of all, I did that job for 20 years, andyou're asking for a promotion to do something else after two weeks?Who the hell are you? What are you trying to be, president of thecompany?'”

Vitale smiles, continuing the story in his spacious,well-appointed office at Aspen Insurance. “He says, 'You're nevergoing to be president. There's never been an Italian president ofan insurance company in the history of our business, so you don'thave a chance. So cool your jets, don't be so excited about thejob. Go back and card some more risks.'

“That's a pretty depressing conversation to have,” he laughs. “Iwalked back to my desk and I sat down and thought, 'I've got to dothis job for another 20 years, and I'm not going to get a promotionbecause I'm Italian-American.'

“So I decided, I'm going to prove him wrong. Someday I'm goingto be president of an insurance company.”

That same tireless work ethic, which he has not lost afternearly 40 years in the property and casualty industry, has servedhim well. It led to executive positions at Willis and Zurich, amongseveral others, before his appointment as CEO of AspenInsurance.

“As I started to get promoted along the way, I'd call Mr.Swystun,” Vitale says. “He'd go, 'Smartass.'”

Hearts and minds

Born and bred in Brooklyn, N.Y., Vitale is the product of aworking-class family. At age 10, he was already cutting lawns,working in restaurants and supermarkets, and learning the value ofa hard-earned dollar.

At St. John's University College of Insurance in New York City,he found his way into the insurance business through a work/studyprogram in which he was sponsored by the Home Insurance Co. It paidfor two-thirds of the student's education and books, an appealingprospect to someone who knew he didn't want to become saddled witha student loan. Plus, in those days, if he stayed with the companyfor two years after graduation, Vitale would be reimbursed for theremaining third. The deal was sealed.

Around 1975, the concept of risk management was just starting togain traction in the insurance industry. Vitale, who was adept atmath and originally considered a career path in actuarial science,shifted his focus to risk transfer and mitigation.

“This industry was and is a lot more interesting, a lot morespecialized and a lot more fun than most people think,” he says. “Alot of people dropped out. But I was hooked from day one.”

Vitale was commercial lines supervisor of property and casualtyfor the Home Insurance Co.'s Melville, N.Y., office at age 29 whenhe learned that the position overseeing all underwriting forcommercial lines in the North Haven, Conn., office was open. Theresults in North Haven at that time, he explains, were such that noother Home executive would touch the job, as it was regarded as alosing position.

Where some see only potential for failure, others see goldenopportunity.

“I raised my hand for the job,” Vitale says. When his bossesfinished laughing, he adds, “they said, 'If nothing else, no onewill try harder.'” They put him in charge of both personal andcommercial lines.

“I walked in there and I had three strikes against me,” herecalls. “I'm only 29 years old; everyone who worked there wasolder than me. Two, I'm a New Yorker in North Haven, Conn., rightin the center of the state. And three, I was a Yankee fan, and theywere all Boston Red Sox fans.”

Undaunted, he walked in determined to win hearts and minds andrallied the staff. “Over the next two to three years, it was amagical experience,” he says. “When I got there, they thought theonly reason I was there was to close the office. I had to tellthem, 'No. This is your chance at turning things aroundand making something of it.'”

Related: Lloyd's CEO Inga Beale talks shared global threats,evolving processes

The key to achieving that end was clearly communicating goals tothe staff, in order to reverse the office's fortunes. Becauseeveryone had to walk in and walk out of the same door, Vitaleconstructed a large communications board that clearly illustratedwhat the office's goals were on a monthly basis and targets forrevenue (premium), expenses and the like. “You couldn't walk in orout the door without seeing how far along we were on achieving ourobjectives,” he says.

It worked. “In general, I found that people would rise to theoccasion,” he adds. “If they believe in themselves and they believein the team, they would give their all. There was no reason why weshouldn't be successful, if you have the right players.”

Continue reading …

Leading from the front didn't hurt, either. “Iwas the first person to open up the office in the morning and I wasthe last person to leave,” he says. “If somebody came back to workafter dinner or on a Saturday or Sunday, they always saw methere.”

Some employees had to go, replaced with ones who wanted to bepart of a team that was focused on winning. It was one of his firstsuccessful experiments in team building. Vitale understood, as hedoes today, that insurance is about selling a relationship — apromise, not a product.

“The nature of our business is, it's not the product that is sounique, so proprietary or so special,” he explains. “It comes downto people, the process, and the service that you give. If you havegood service levels, people will come back for more. It's a peoplebusiness — which is why I like it. People do business with peoplethat they like doing business with, so we surrounded ourselves withgood people, good attitudes.”

In the end, Vitale turned things around in Connecticut. “We mademoney,” he says. “Everybody was really excited, and I was just atthe peak of happiness. I was embedded in the community and I washaving the time of my life. And then they said, 'OK, good job. Nowwe're going to move you to New York.'”

Getting hardcore

Vitale was named head of commercial lines for the Home InsuranceCo.'s then-Manhattan office at 80 Pine St., a move that he nowconsiders a transition into a war zone.

“This is where the toughest brokers, the toughest business, thehighest stakes were,” he says. “The first day I walked in,everybody was incredibly aggressive. The brokers, the underwriters,everyone.” Vitale relates how one broker, when meeting withunderwriters, would sit in a chair next to his desk and cross hisleg to show he meant business. “He was a big, tall guy, and he hada gun in an ankle holster,” he marvels. “I quickly figured out histhing was to try to intimidate the underwriters to write bad risksthat he was bringing them.”

That was just the beginning. “There were people cheating, theyweren't paying their claims, they were sending bad risks, they weremanipulating the applications and saying there were no losses andthere were losses … it was hardcore stuff,” he adds.

It was baptism by fire, but after a year spent weeding out thebad seeds, in 1985 Vitale was granted the opportunity to forge abrand-new specialty operation in Chicago. He was given a cleanbalance sheet and was challenged to build a nationwide casualtyoperation starting from scratch — no legacy book, no underwriters,zero.

“Just start it up,” he says of his boss' instructions. “Go hireyour own underwriters. You can hire from inside or outside thecompany. Take our best and brightest and create a brand-newventure, and market it within the Home umbrella.

“That was probably some of the most fun I ever had, because upuntil then, I was fixing and maintaining but not trulybuilding,” says Vitale. “This was a chance to buildsomething, and it stayed with me the rest of my career. I lovepicking the players that are going to be on my team, but also theprogress when you harness the energy of that team and give themgood direction and support what they can do.”

Commuting out of O'Hare Airport became standard practice mostdays, he recalls — and as taxing as that could be at times, it wasstill enjoyable for a person of Vitale's energy. Along the way,some important business lessons had begun to crystallize forhim.

“As you start to rise in an organization, you start to learnthat from a business standpoint, your job can be broken down intothree categories,” he relates.

“They can be broken down into: Your job is building, fixing ormaintaining a business — and the higher you climb in anorganization, the more your job responsibilities include an elementof all three. But one has to be predominant. And the predominantone for me, starting with this particular venture, was buildingsomething.”

Then, a funny thing happened: Other companies began courtingthis dynamic self-starter from Brooklyn.

“I'd been with the Home Insurance Company, technically speaking,from 1973 as a work-study student until 1986, and all of a sudden Ihad suitors,” he says. “That had never happened to me before. Upuntil then, I'd never even dreamed of leaving.

“Then all of a sudden you get to a point in time where you stopfor a second and say, 'Let me listen to one of these offers,'” headds. “They said, 'How'd you like to be president of your ownoperation? President of Reliance Risk Management, Philadelphia,Pennsylvania.'”

“President?” he beams. “Well, let me think about that.”

Vitale knew the first person with whom he'd share thatnews.

Unlikely allies

At Reliance, Vitale went from selling millions of dollars' worthof business to selling hundreds of millions to billions. It alsoled to international experience, as part of the carrier'sacquisitions in those days included trips to Europe and Asia. Theexperience further honed his skills as an international player.

Related: AIG's new Commercial Insurance leadership teamrevealed 

It was a 13-year run during which he also developed and launchedtraining programs, brought in some of the brightest trainees fromthe best schools, and provided them a solid foundation for theirinsurance careers. Among them: Marsh President and CEO PeterZaffino; Anna Machalska, vice president of excess casualty for ACEGroup; XL Catlin Vice President/Underwriting Manager MichaelSimone; Willis Executive Vice President, National Practice LeaderMark Rusas; and Russell Brown, Aspen's senior vice president/headof U.S. distribution.

While Vitale was still with Reliance in 1998, several P&Cinsurers with a common goal joined forces in a way that might neverhappen again. At that time, Willis was struggling, its share priceconsistently underperforming. It made the brokerage a primeacquisition target for dominant players Aon and Marsh.

Continue reading …

“It was quickly looking like a world that was going to bedominated by two brokers,” Vitale recalls. “The entire insuranceworld at that time was determined not to have the fate of theirdistribution controlled by two 800-pound gorillas.”

U.S. leveraged-buyout specialist Kohlberg Kravis Roberts &Co. purchased Willis on behalf of a consortium called TrinityAcquisition PLC, which was formed by British insurers GuardianRoyal Exchange PLC and Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance GroupPLC, along with U.S.-based insurers Chubb Corp., Hartford FinancialServices Group Inc. and Travelers Property Casualty Corp.

Once KKR had successfully kept Willis independent, at least forthe time being, new leadership was needed. Hard-charging formerCitibank North America CEO Joe Plumeri was appointed chairman andCEO, charged with the task of turning the ship around.

In November 2000 Vitale joined Willis as executive vicepresident of group sales and marketing of Willis Group HoldingsLtd. “Plumeri said, 'I'll teach you how to run a publicly tradedcompany, and you teach me insurance,'” says Vitale. Plumeri wouldgo on to serve as Willis' CEO until the end of 2012.

Under Plumeri's leadership, by the following June (2001), Williswas brought public in an IPO and its stock price—as well as its netincome—soared over subsequent years. Vitale served as chairman ofWillis Risk Solutions from September 2002 to January 2003, afterwhich he became CEO of Willis North America Inc. until October2006.

“It was hard-working years,” Vitale says. “It was when I learnedhow to be an insurance broker, about how you never rest until yourclient is satisfied. I found a new definition of working hard andworking long hours to keep your client happy.”

By 2006, Vitale realized that he was ready to get back to thebusiness of creating something. “The reality of the situation is,sometimes you only have one blood running through your veins, andfor me it was building something; I wasn't a broker at heart. So Iwent back to building insurance companies.”

Chaos theory

When talking with Vitale about his career, a pattern emerges: Achallenge is made, and accepted; years of hard work follow; and thegoal is met, every time. That requires deep love for the work — orat the very least, a serious commitment to seeing one's planthrough.

Personal relationships suffer, a point about which Vitale has noillusions. “I really feel bad for any man or woman that has thatchallenge,” he says. “Along the way it does destroy some personalrelationships and it's no question that somebody has to suffer, butthe truth is that is the way I lived my life. Somewhere along theline you just do what you have to do,” he adds. “If you have a goodhead on your shoulders and you weigh all the options, usually youcan do pretty good things. But work/life balance is not easy. Itwasn't easy in the '90s, and it certainly isn't easy today,either.”

Photos of his family, which includes a son and two daughters,adorn his desk at Aspen's 57th Street and Madison Avenue office. Onthe opposite wall are shelves stocked with sports memorabilia,among his prized trophies a baseball signed by National League MVPand 10-time All-Star Steve Garvey; Tony Dorsett, Eli Manning andArchie Manning-autographed footballs; and a pair of boxing glovessigned by George Foreman.

“These are not sports that I participate in anymore, I'm aspectator,” Vitale says as he regards the display. He'd ratherkayak, bike or take his Vespa out on a Sunday drive. He works withtwo trainers (with very different focuses, one much harder-nosedthan the other) to stay in shape. He appreciates art, which hecollects; a new movie or a good book is usually within hissights.

Mention balance between work and play, however, to Vitale and heoffers a glimpse into what makes him tick.

“Some people approach their job as being really hard work, it'stough and difficult and depressing, and it's a drag,” he says. “Iknow people who hate to get up in the morning and go to work, andthen they really need to find a lot of [other] things to balanceout their life. I don't have that problem. The truth of the matteris, I don't look at myself as needing a lot of balance. I enjoywhat I do. I'm quite passionate about it.”

Related: Meet the winner of NU's 2015 Excellence in CyberSecurity Risk Management Award

Vitale offers as an example his next professional stop, ZurichFinancial Services, where he was CEO of Global Corporate, withresponsibility for all of Zurich's corporate business in NorthAmerica in addition to Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and theMiddle East.

“When I was with Zurich, I pretty much had the dream job that Iwanted,” he explains. “I had a dream team that I had hand-picked. Iwas running a fully integrated business of all products andservices for large-account customers around the world, with 6,500employees working for me. It was the most profitable business thatZurich had in 2009 and 2010, of all the Zurich businesses. Peoplethought I had lost my mind when I decided to [leave].

Continue reading …

The problem was, for someone who finds his greatest enjoymentpushing the stone up the hill, sitting atop the peak didn't keepVitale fulfilled.

“There were several things that helped me make that decision,but one of the most important ones was that I wanted to build,” hesays. “I found myself with this big wonderful job where my maintask was to come in and maintain that position. There wasn't enoughchaos; there wasn't enough challenge.”

Underwriter's paradise

In 2011, Vitale discovered what he was looking for when he beganspeaking with Aspen Insurance, which he calls “an underwritingcompany built by an underwriter” — former Lloyd's of London brokerChris O'Kane, who has served as group CEO and a director since hefounded Aspen in 2002.

If it was action he wanted, Vitale had found it. On his firstday on the job in February 2011, he was greeted with the sameintense pace and tone that characterized many of his early years inthe business.

“I didn't want to get in too early that first day, so I got inat 9 o'clock and there were already two people waiting at my door,”he says. “They said, 'We need to see you. We have a problem.' Ihadn't even put my briefcase down. It didn't slow down, and it wentuntil like 8 o'clock that night, problem after problem wasrevealed.”

Vitale went back to his corporate apartment that night wonderingif perhaps this role wasn't for him, but the next morning, herallied. “I viewed it as a challenge,” he says. “It was a challengeto build the business and a challenge to fix it. I said to myself,'If there wasn't so much to do, they wouldn't need you. I can dothis,' and I never looked back.”

As CEO of Aspen's Global Insurance business, Vitale oversees itsworldwide property and casualty, marine, energy, construction,aviation, railroad and financial and professional business, and hasexecutive oversight for the U.S. platform as chairman of theinsurer's Insurance U.S. Executive Board.

Five years in, Vitale is encouraged by Aspen's progress, butknows its full potential has yet to be realized. Its recentyear-end results saw growth in its property and casualty andfinancial and professional lines sub-segments offset by a declinein the marine, aviation and energy sub-segments. He cites thedevastating floods in the U.K. as one particularly heavy loss thathad to be absorbed.

Yet Vitale keeps his eye focused several moves down the line: Hehas a five-year plan he's intent on executing. “We need to staywithin our specialty business and specialty products, to do what wedo well in the U.K. and the U.S. and do it more globally,” he says.“The only way to do that is to have global product leaders in manyof our product lines.”

To that end, in January Vitale brought aboard William McElroy,who is now Aspen's global head of environmental; London-basedOliver Brew, who has been named executive vice president and globalhead of cyber risk and head of international professionalindemnity; Bruce Eisler, global head of professional liability; DonHarrell, global head of marine and chief operating officer ofinternational operations; and Tim Kania, Aspen's new global head ofenergy and construction. All except Eisler most recently worked forLiberty International Underwriters (LIU).

Any migration of talent of that number — which has happenedbefore with LIU, in Aspen's case — tends to spur legal action,something Vitale can't discuss.

“I think people just want to work for people they can follow,”he says. “Going back to my North Haven, Conn., example, if youdon't have a defined goal and a good communicator in front of you,then people get confused and they start worrying about their jobsand can become easily distracted.

“We want people who know what their job is, who are happy hereand want to stay here and develop themselves and finish out theircareers here. Not everybody can do that, but the reality of thesituation is, if you start with that kind of mentality you willattract better talent.

“We like what we see,” he adds. “I still believe the best is yetto come.”

Related: A look ahead: What 2016 will bring for the P&Cindustry

Have you Liked us onFacebook?