Former Lloyd's N.A. Head Finds Good Fit With Navigators

Although there were other opportunities, she said she chose Navigators "because of the leadership style of Stan Galanski, the dynamic, creative company that Navigators has become, and the growth potential it has for the future." (Mr. Galanski is chair of Navigators Management Company and president and chief executive officer of The Navigators Group Inc.)

"The company offers an environment that fosters growth and collaboration," she said, noting that her connection with London and Lloyd's is still very much intact. "We have one Syndicate–1221. And London, outside the U.S., is responsible for about 40 percent of our business."

At Navigators, she said there is a renewed focus on geographic regions to gain better connectivity with underwriting lines.

"We're changing the infrastructure from the way it has been done historically, because now we've grown so significantly that to have the servicing, collaboration and relationship, it's important for us to have a regional focus"–which, she noted, is also what clients have asked for.

Meanwhile, the organization is examining its processes to determine future directions. While this can be daunting, she said, "my philosophy is, we have to commit to action and execute one thing at a time. Because there is so much to do, everyone must prioritize to determine what is most important."

Navigators is "looking at where we were historically, understanding where we are now," she said, while looking at 2010 as an "extraordinarily pivotal year–I call it a foundational year–to build the platform for the future."

A key focus of the company, she said, is top-notch customer service–particularly in assuring quick response time "from the inception of the underwriting piece through loss mitigation and claims management," she said. The process needs to be clear and transparent, "and it's the responsibility of the organization to make sure the client understands that," she added.

Service and relationship-building go hand in hand, she said, explaining that a great relationship with clients "is no longer about playing a round of golf and having a great dinner. What it's really about is making sure the person at the other end of the phone knows how they will be helped."

And at the end of the day, Ms. Lowery-Biggers said, what's driving the industry is competition, "so added value is the only thing that's going to maintain those relationships in those peaks and valleys."

With such fierce competition, she observed, "all these factors are pieces of the puzzle that will put individual firms at the next level."

But because there is a lot of capacity in the market these days, "when things start to change, the question is, what are the core competencies that will keep the relationship in place?"

As an industry, she warned, everyone needs to be aware of what is considered to be profitable business, "versus just bringing in revenue. Prudent underwriting is more important today than it ever has been."

She emphasized that "it's all about prudent underwriting and maintaining a philosophy of profitable long-term business, not immediate revenue gratification and that's what we're going to stick to."