5 Thoughts With Stu
Updates from Western National's President & CEO Stu Henderson
1. Third Quarter Results
Through September 30, 2019, written premium for our Group (not including affiliate Michigan Millers) is at $544.6 million—which puts us slightly behind goal and with some ground yet to make up in the remaining months of the year (due in part to a challenging year for losses and storm activity). Our loss ratio is 57.6% (vs. goal of 56.3%), our loss adjustment expense ratio is 10.7% (vs. goal of 10.2%), and our underwriting expense ratio is 28.1% (vs. goal of 28.3%)—adding up to a combined ratio of 96.4%. While that’s not a bad place to be, it will take the continued hard work of our employees and agency partners over the remaining weeks of 2019 to meet our annual goals.
2. Plans to Replace Our Policy and Billing Administration Systems
To continue improving the experience for our customers, we are in the early stages of replacing our policy and billing administration systems. This project, which we are working on in partnership with Guidewire, will allow Western National to ultimately create more user-friendly solutions to meet our group’s technical needs — notably, replacing our policy management system, our billing system, and the quoting and inquiry areas of AgentsOnline. While it is a large-scale and long-term project, we’re making good progress on the planning phase so we can hit the ground running in 2020. We’re excited about the ways these efforts will benefit our agents and employees. We’ll keep you updated on this initiative in the months ahead — stay tuned!
3. Patricia M. Harris Appointed to Senior Management Team as Senior Vice President
I’m pleased to announce the appointment of Patricia (Pattie) Harris as Senior Vice President and as the newest member of our Group’s Senior Management team. Pattie joined Western National in 2014 as Vice President of Personal Lines, after over 20 years of progressively more responsible roles in Underwriting, Sales, Customer Service, and management at Minnesota Fire & Casualty, Farmers Home, and General Casualty/QBE. Since joining our Group, she has taken on the added responsibility for Data Management, and most recently for all Product Development teams. I have found myself seeking Pattie out for opinions and guidance on many issues over the last several years, so it only makes sense to bring her talents directly to the team who will decide the future of our companies. I look forward to Pattie’s contributions for many years to come.
4. Western National Recognized with Platinum +Green Wellness by Design Award
Western National received the 2019 Wellness by Design Award from Hennepin County for excellence in worksite wellness. The award recognizes employers that demonstrate accomplishments in management support, wellness infrastructure, communication, and programming directed at improving employee health. A “+Green” designation is awarded to companies that minimize their impact on the environment. Our employee wellness program, which we’ve titled Western Wellbeing, is a key initiative across our group of companies. Click here to watch a video and learn more.
5. Thank you for your partnership!
As we approach Thanksgiving, I’d like to take a moment to say thank you to you, our agency partners, for another year of hard work and partnership in the service of our mutual policyholders. We’re proud to partner exclusively with Independent Insurance Agents. (We love to share our blog post about the benefits of working with an Independent Agent on social media!) I look forward to a strong finish to 2019 and another year of productive partnership in 2020. I hope you and your families enjoy a warm and safe holiday season.
