“This is a marathon business, not a sprint.”

That is how William R. Berkley, chairman and chief executiveofficer of W.R. Berkley Corporation, explains the patience that heand the rest of the management team have exercised through a periodof 15 quarters when the specialty insurance organization reportedno growth on the top line of its financial statements.

During second-quarter 2010, gross written premiums finally rose5.6 percent at the Greenwich, Conn.-based firm–a jump mainlyattributable to 21 startup operations the firm launched in the pastfive years. The startups contributed $50 million–more thanoffsetting market-driven declines in existing business for thefirst time in two years.

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.