FM Global

Commercial property insurer FM Global appoints new chief officers of underwriting and client experience

Tue, 31 Aug 2021 13:30:00 GMT

JOHNSTON, R.I., USA—FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial property insurers, has moved two of its senior leaders into new roles.

Lyndon D. Broad has been appointed senior vice president, chief underwriting officer and will manage the company’s underwriting and reinsurance functions. He previously was operations senior vice president of FM Global’s Boston operations. He succeeds Randall E. Hodge who was recently promoted to executive vice president, staff insurance operations.

Broad joined the mutual insurance company in 1995 as a loss prevention consultant in Brisbane, Australia. He then undertook various roles in Seattle, Melbourne, Singapore and the United Kingdom before returning to Melbourne, Australia as claims manager. Broad went on to head FM Global’s middle market unit, AFM, in Sydney before being appointed vice president and manager of FM Global’s Australian operations.

Broad has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia, and a diploma of loss adjusting from the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF).

David M. Johnson has been named senior vice president, chief client experience officer and will oversee client experience, market relations, marketing and the company’s business risk consulting group. Most recently, he was operations senior vice president of FM Global’s Atlanta operations.

Since joining the company in 1990, Johnson has held various positions in FM Global’s Seattle branch office, Dallas operations, Stockholm branch and Singapore. A specialist in forest products risk management, he started his career as a loss prevention consultant and moved on to assume numerous engineering, client service, operations and management roles of increasing responsibility including regional senior vice president and manager of FM Global’s Asia operations.

Johnson, who holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Montana State University, succeeds George J. Plesce, who recently was named executive vice president, U.S., Latin America and sales.

About FM Global
Established nearly two centuries ago, FM Global is a mutual insurance company whose capital, scientific research capability and engineering expertise are solely dedicated to property risk management and the resilience of its client-owners. These owners, who share the belief that the majority of property loss is preventable, represent many of the world’s largest organizations, including one of every three Fortune 1000 companies. They work with FM Global to better understand the hazards that can impact their business continuity in order to make cost-effective risk management decisions, combining property loss prevention with insurance protection.

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Mitigating flood risks in the era of climate change

Corporate Risk and Insurance — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 04:00:00 GMT

While it’s not possible to explicitly say that climate change was the cause of recent damaging floods in Belgium, Germany and China, it’s likely that a changing climate is affecting the probability of these events occurring, says FM Global's Paolo Larentis.

Latest podcast episode: The U.N.'s new climate change report ⁠— What you need to know

Wed, 25 Aug 2021 15:13:00 GMT

A major United Nations report synthesizing the latest climate science just came out and it’s been billed as a “code red for humanity.” But what’s actually new? And how should global organizations respond to ensure their resilience and business continuity amid intensifying extreme weather events? Lou Gritzo, FM Global's vp and manager of research, provides business leaders a fresh lens for taking action.

Listen to the latest Resilience Is A Choice podcast and past episodes at www.anchor.fm/fmglobal and on major podcast platforms.

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Proven fire protection from the lab

International Fire Protection Magazine — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Often business leaders struggle to envisage risk unless they have experienced an incident first-hand. The FM Global Research Campus is just one way of countering this thinking.

Four ways accurate values improve the dialogue between policyholders and insurers

Risk & Insurance — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 04:00:00 GMT

For the past several years, industry-wide insured losses have shown a wide variance between reported insurance values and the values measured at the time of loss. FM Global's Jeff Beauman discusses this alarming trend and why accurate insurance values are needed.

Three paths toward climate resilience

Forbes — Wed, 18 Aug 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Lou Gritzo, FM Global's vp and manager of research, shares his perspective on the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report and how to reach widespread resilience against climate risks.

Future proofing airports

Strategic Risk Asia Pacific — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Australia’s airports are increasingly diversifying their property holdings in a bid to confront falling revenues. FM Global senior account engineer Terence Lee discusses the need for airports to closely consider the new risks to their operating environments and how to manage them.

Don’t overlook operational cyber attacks — They can be just as costly as a data pilfer

Risk & Insurance — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 04:00:00 GMT

As cyber hackers increasingly concentrate on operating technology, FM Global cyber expert Wade Chmielinski explains once hackers are into your system, they go for the back-ups first before shutting down operations and asking for big bucks to return to normal.

The climate change crisis is already here, but there’s still a chance to prevent the worst

Quartz — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 04:00:00 GMT

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has just been released and FM Global's Lou Gritzo says it likely is going to be a point of departure for companies to start looking at their businesses in a very different way.

Kevin S. Ingram

Wed, 04 Aug 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Kevin S. Ingram is senior executive vice president and chief financial officer at FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial and industrial property insurers. Based in Johnston, Rhode Island, USA, Ingram is responsible for all finance and risk management operations at the company in addition to other corporate functions.

Previously, Ingram served for several years as senior vice president of corporate services where he oversaw the company’s business risk consulting, business risk management, analytics, and business process improvement.

Before that, for more than 20 years, he held various finance positions including treasurer, controller and vice president of financial services.

Ingram joined FM Global, after working as a senior manager in the insurance audit group at Ernst & Young, LLP in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. He is a certified public accountant (CPA), as well as a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Illinois CPA Society.

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FM Global shares five ways businesses can protect their operations from wildfire as risk persists

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 16:32:00 GMT

JOHNSTON, R.I. USA—As the Western U.S. endures record heat and severe drought often associated with a changing climate, the risk of wildfires to a business’s property and equipment is greater than ever. Now is the time to be vigilant about protecting them before it’s too late.

FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial property insurers, recommends businesses prioritize five actions now to reduce the risk of business interruption and loss from wildfire:

1. Clear Vegetation
Remove vegetation close to buildings, including lower and overhanging branches, shrubs and fallen limbs beneath trees. Even lawn mowing helps. Check gutters and vents for pine needles, dust, lint, dry mulch and leaves.

2. Remove Vulnerable Outdoor Storage
Stow all unsecured plastics and wood, including trash cans, outdoor furniture and debris. Yard storage can be placed into metal shipping containers. Safely store or relocate ignitable liquids. Also, look for combustibles in unexpected places like crawl spaces.

3. Secure the Building Envelope
Close openings, such as windows, doors, roof vents and skylights. Cover vents with wire mesh to prevent flying embers from entering the building.

4. Prepare for Operation Shutdown
Plan for safe shutdown of operations and prepare for loss of utilities. Keep fire protection equipment in service; it’ll help safeguard the facility should any embers find their way into the building. Prioritize actions to ensure safe cessation of the most hazardous processes, such as those using ignitable liquids or flammable gases. Conduct computer back-ups. It’s not just fire that can damage property; smoke particles can, too. Consider shutting down HVAC systems to help safeguard computer equipment and sensitive occupancies.

5. Protect Business Continuity
For businesses, continuity is a priority. Prioritize risk mitigation in the context of the business’ most important cash flows. Have a plan in place for keeping business running as usual, accounting for the fact that employees may be affected differently by outages depending on where they live. Understand the value of both an emergency response plan (how to react to potential disaster) and a business continuity plan (how to sustain operations amid a potential disruption) prior to an emergency.

“It’s important to assess all of these risks well ahead of an imminent wildfire threat,” said Katherine Klosowski, FM Global’s vice president and manager, natural hazards and structures engineering, “Wildfires move quickly. When the flames are close, it’s often too late.”

Businesses are often lacking climate resilience. In a 2020 survey of the world’s top CEOs and CFOs, commissioned by FM Global, three in four respondents admitted that their companies are not fully prepared for the adverse financial impact of a changing climate, with 76% saying their organizations are somewhat to significantly exposed to climate risk. Wildfires were cited as one of the top three climate-related exposures that “concern their companies the most” and “could most negatively affect their financials.”

To learn more about how to make commercial properties more resilient to wildfire and other climate-related risks, visit FM Global’s natural hazards tool kit.

About FM Global
Established nearly 200 years ago, FM Global is a mutual insurance company whose capital, scientific research capability and engineering expertise are solely dedicated to property risk management and the resilience of its client-owners. These owners, who share the belief that the majority of property loss is preventable, represent many of the world’s largest organizations, including one of every three Fortune 1000 companies. They work with FM Global to better understand the hazards that can impact their business continuity in order to make cost-effective risk management decisions, combining property loss prevention with insurance protection.

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FM Global’s Andrea Garske named to Insurance Business Australia magazine’s ‘Elite Women’ list

Insurance Business Australia — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Andrea Garske, vice president, operations claims manager at commercial property insurer FM Global, has been recognized as one of the foremost female leaders in Australia’s insurance industry by being named to the 2021 Elite Women in Insurance list.

Commercial property insurer FM Global expands its executive leadership team

Thu, 22 Jul 2021 14:00:00 GMT

JOHNSTON, R.I., USA—FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial property insurers, is making key changes to its executive management team, as it moves seasoned leaders within the company into newly created roles.

Bret N. Ahnell, chief operating officer

Bret N. Ahnell, executive vice president and a 34-year veteran of the company, has been named chief operating officer and will run insurance operations globally. He has previously managed FM Global’s staff operations and most recently its Americas operations. He joined the company in 1987 as a loss prevention consultant in Los Angeles, California, USA, and advanced to hold various positions, including district manager and operations manager. Prior to his current role, he was senior vice president, Western division manager. Ahnell holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arizona in mechanical engineering and has a CPCU designation. He will report to Malcolm C. Roberts, who was recently named president, effective Aug. 1, 2021.

Kevin S. Ingram, sr. executive vice president and chief financial officer

Kevin S. Ingram, executive vice president and chief financial officer, a 31-year veteran of the company, has been promoted to senior executive vice president and chief financial officer. He will continue to oversee all finance and risk management operations at the company in addition to other corporate functions. He began his career in 1990 as an associate controller in the company and has held various positions including treasurer, finance director and senior vice president, finance. Ingram joined the company after working as a senior manager in the insurance audit group at Ernst & Young, LLP in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, and is a certified public accountant (CPA). He will report to Malcolm C. Roberts, president, effective Aug. 1, 2021.

The following appointments will be effective Sept. 1, 2021:

Deanna Fidler, executive vice president, chief administrative officer

Deanna Fidler, senior vice president, chief human resources officer, will become executive vice president, chief administrative officer, based in FM Global’s corporate offices in Johnston, Rhode Island, USA. Fidler will oversee human resources, diversity and inclusion, strategy and business enablement, technology, and the FM Global Academy. Fidler joined the company in 2018. Previously, she was chief human resource officer for T. Rowe Price in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, where she was responsible for diversity and inclusion, associate communications and corporate social responsibility. She also held leadership roles at Aetna, including chief human resources officer, head of talent management and head of HR business partners. Fidler holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business from the University of Central Missouri. She will report to Malcolm C. Roberts, president.

Randall E. Hodge, executive vice president, staff insurance operations

Randall E. Hodge, senior vice president, chief underwriting officer, will be promoted to executive vice president, staff insurance operations. Hodge, a 31-year veteran of the company, will be based in FM Global’s corporate offices in Johnston, Rhode Island, USA, and have oversight of underwriting and reinsurance, engineering and research, FM Approvals, claims, client service and marketing, as well as data analytics. Hodge joined the company in 1990, and has served as field engineer, group manager field engineering, account manager, assistant client service manager, client service manager and Atlanta operations manager. Prior to joining FM Global, Hodge worked for The Walt Disney Company. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from California State University (California, USA), and is a Professional Engineer (P.E.) in fire protection engineering. Hodge will report to Malcolm C. Roberts, president.

George J. Plesce, executive vice president, U.S., Latin America and sales

George J. Plesce, senior vice president, chief client experience and sales officer, has been named executive vice president, U.S., Latin America and sales, with oversight of regional insurance and engineering operations and global business development. He will be based in FM Global’s corporate offices in Johnston, Rhode Island, USA. A 30-year veteran of the company, Plesce joined the company in 1991 as a senior account representative in FM Global’s office in Malvern, Pennsylvania, USA, where he held various positions in sales. He also served as vice president, client service manager and as vice president, operations manager for Washington, D.C., USA, operations. Plesce holds a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Juniata College in Pennsylvania. He will report to Bret N. Ahnell, chief operating officer.

In addition to these appointments, James R. Galloway continues as executive vice president, with oversight of FM Global’s international operations and AFM, a division that provides commercial property insurance for the middle market. He also assumes responsibility for FM Global’s Canada and specialty industries division. He will report to Bret N. Ahnell, chief operating officer.

About FM Global
Established nearly 200 years ago, FM Global is a mutual insurance company whose policyholders share the belief that the majority of property loss is preventable and represent many of the world’s largest organizations, including one of every three Fortune 1000 companies. They work with FM Global to better understand the hazards that can impact their business continuity in order to make cost-effective risk management decisions based on the company’s scientific research capability, engineering expertise and insurance protection.

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Asia: FM Global announces senior operations appointments

Asia Insurance Review — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 04:00:00 GMT

FM Global has named Tan Hian Hong to the role of vice president, division underwriting manager, Asia operations, based in Singapore, while Hamish Ravindran moves up to take on the role of vice president, client service manager, Asia operations.

Remote engineering here to stay: FM Global

Insurance News — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Australian businesses will continue to use remote engineering virtual site visits to manage risk exposure even once the acute risk of COVID passes, FM Global says.

Sharp rise in lower tier catastrophe claims triggers policy changes, mitigation strategies

Business Insurance — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Risk managers are changing how they prioritize risk improvements and budgeting for those improvements, according to Amy Brown, staff vice president, manager for natural hazard underwriting, at FM Global.

Commercial property insurer FM Global appoints Malcolm C. Roberts as president

Thu, 08 Jul 2021 04:00:00 GMT

Malcolm C. Roberts, FM Global

JOHNSTON, R.I., USA—FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial property insurers, today announced that Executive Vice President Malcolm C. Roberts has been appointed president and elected to the company’s board of directors, effective Aug. 1, 2021. He will succeed Thomas A. Lawson as chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1, 2022.

Roberts joined the mutual insurance company in 1995 as a loss prevention consultant in London after working as a chemical engineer. He has held a variety of management roles within the company across the globe and was appointed to his current position in 2018. As president, he will be responsible for the strategic and operational direction of the company, which insures nearly US$10.2 trillion in business property in more than 130 countries.

Lawson will retire on Dec. 31, 2021, after 42 years with the company and will remain chairman of FM Global’s board of directors. He became CEO in 2015. Since that time, Lawson has helped the company grow from US$5.6 billion to US$7.4 billion in annual revenue and from US$11 billion to US$18.4 billion in policyholders’ surplus.

“This is an exciting step in the future direction of the company,” said Lawson. “Malcolm has the right balance of leadership skills and vision, intrinsic understanding of our corporate culture, comprehensive insight into our clients’ complex needs as well as extensive industry knowledge and experience. That, combined with FM Global’s enduring business model solely focused on property risk management and the resilience of our policyholders, will ensure the continued success we share with our client-owners.”

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Girding up for adaptive living

The Business Times - Singapore — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 04:00:00 GMT

FM Global shares insights into some of the most important changes cities should make to be resilient to future shocks.

The benefits of using the 2021 FM Global Resilience Index

Reuters 'Future of Insurance' Conference — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 19:02:00 GMT

How can you better ensure the resiliency of your supply chain against the next major disruption? Eric Jones, vp and manager of business risk consulting at FM Global, explains how the FM Global Resilience Index can help.

FM Global’s 2021 Resilience Index shows shift in top country, Hong Kong growing less resilient, Ukraine improving

Spend Matters — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 04:00:00 GMT

FM Global's newly released 2021 Resilience Index is a tool meant for senior executives to assess the resilience of 130 countries around the world to make decisions about risk factors and global supply chain planning.