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8 LEADER’S EDGE MARCH 2013

Ajit JainPresident, Reinsurance Division, Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway’s reinsurance division is considered the “jewel” of the empire and Jain’s genius in running it is legendary. Buffett once quipped that if he, Charlie Munger (Berkshire vice chair) and Ajit were adrift in a rowboat in a bad storm Ajit should be saved first.

Jain earned a BA in engineering in India. Classmates remember he never took himself too seriously and had a robust sense of humor.

Jain worked for IBM from 1973-1976 then moved to the U.S. where he earned a Harvard MBA. He joined McK-insey & Co. and returned to India in the early 1980s. In 1985, Buffett lured him away to work on insurance operations, a business Jain knew little about.

Many speculate he will succeed Buffett, but Buffett only says that the leading candidate is “straight as an arrow,” which fits Jain to a T.

Henry W. MarshBroker, Co-Founder Marsh & McLennan

Henry Marsh is what legends are made of. A Harvard grad, charismat-ic, innovative and a bit brash, he built a large book of business by working his social network. After reading in the society pages that AT&T’s CEO was going on a cruise, Marsh boarded the ship without luggage and took up a deck chair next to the executive. He got the account.

Early on Marsh realized he could act on the buyer’s behalf, rather than just as a seller. He helped pioneer the concept of risk management and designed the first comprehensive risk management plan for U.S. Steel. Marsh capitalized on the booming railroad sector and in 1923 joined forc-es with Donald McLennan, one of his fiercest competitors. Marsh bought Guy Carpenter that same year and revolutionized reinsurance broking by standardizing reinsurance contracts and evaluating loss histories. He served as chairman until 1935.

Donald R. McLennanBroker, Co-Founder Marsh & McLennan

Don McLennan was known as the “Ulysses” of business in Chica-go. McLennan’s career began at a Duluth, Minn., insurance agency that specialized in railroad accounts. McLennan was known for his deep knowledge. He established a standard for assessing risk and once spent 30 consecutive nights on a train inspecting railroad lines across the country. McLennan served as chief of non-war construction for the War Industries Board during WWI with approval power over construc-tion of all industrial plants.

In 1935, McLennan became chair-man of Marsh & McLennan. Seeing a new business opportunity when the Social Security Act of 1935 was enact-ed, the firm began offering pension consulting services to companies eager to learn how the new regulations would affect them. That set the stage for the aggressive expansion later in the century with the purchase of Putnam and then Mercer.

Fred BurnsChairman Emeritus, John L. Wortham Chairman, The Council 1993

Commitment to family, friends and community guides Fred Burns’ life. Colleague and friend Jim Pender (BB&T Oswald Tripp/former Council Chair) said he never regretted picking up the phone and asking Fred what he thought about an issue. “Fred has the unique ability to think clearly.”

After graduating from Rice in 1960, Burns joined American General Life Insurance and then John L. Wortham & Son in 1963. He became managing partner/chairman in 1985, a position he held until 2008, when he became chairman emeritus. Burns had the vision to combine professionalism with philanthropy by creating the Wortham Foundation, a non-profit supporting the arts and culture in Houston. Burns and his wife Pat lov-ingly restored the 1838 Menard House in Galveston and the 1856 Hutchings House. Burns is a director of the Univ. of Texas Medical Branches Develop-ment Board and Houston’s Memorial Hermann Healthcare System.

A CENTURY OF GAME

AS PART OF COUNCIL’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY, each 2013 issue of Leader’s Edge will list some of the most influential industry players and events during the last century. You may not endorse some of the selections, but all have had an impact on our industry. Selecting 100 Game Changers was no easy task. The Council expresses its appreciation for our members, carriers and others who nominated them. And a special thanks to Jack Bogardus, retired chairman and CEO of Alexander & Alexander and author of Spreading the Risk, for his help in identifying many of the pioneers. Send additional nominations to Coletta.Kemper@ciab.com.

Jain Marsh McLennan Burns McIntyre

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ceKathryn McIntyreFormer Publisher, Editor, Business Insurance

Many knew Kathryn McIntyre for her tireless reporting of an industry many considered boring. McIntyre loved both reporting and insurance. Laura Mazzuca Toops (editor Agent & Bro-ker) said “I remember her editing my stories, chain smoking and peppering me with questions. She also is a real “Dead Head.”

In 1974, McIntyre began reporting for the Lake Placid News then moved to Chicago to work as a stringer. She joined BI in 1977. After rapid promotion, she was named editor. In 1989, she was named Insurance Woman of the Year by the Profes-sional Insurance Women Assoc. and honored with the Harry and Dorothy Goodell Award, the Risk & Insurance Management Society’s highest honor. In 1992, she was appointed publisher and editorial director of BI. She retired in 2001 and moved to New Zealand to run a farm.

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MARCH 2013 LEADER’S EDGE 9

FORCES OF NATURE IN INSURANCE.E CHANGERS

William (Bill) GrahamChairman and CEO, The Graham Co. Education and Training Reformer

Bill Graham has been a leader in the brokerage community since joining his father’s Philadelphia agency in 1962. After acquiring the firm in 1972, Graham grew the agency from six employees with revenues of $300,000 to a team of 150 and over $38 million in revenues. He changed the game by creating a company rec-ognized as one of the best business-es to work for in Philadelphia.

Graham’s vision was to recruit tal-ented people and then provide them with world-class education and train-ing to develop the most outstanding insurance professionals. Breaking with usual industry recruiting prac-tices, Graham recruited attorneys, engineers, and accountants.

The firm was the country’s first brokerage to develop a formal Technical Development Department. This department has an unprece-dented seven full-time employees dedicated solely to providing training, continuing education, continuous improvement, and quality assurance to the firm.

Lori FouchéPresident and CEO, Fireman’s Fund

Named by Savoy magazine as one of corporate America’s most influential women, Lori Fouché has had a mete-oric rise to the top.

She joined Fireman’s Fund in 2006 as the head of marketing for specialty lines then became COO. Next was president of Commercial Insurance. In 2011 she was tapped as president and CEO, charged with turning around the company. In an interview with San Francisco Business Times, Fouché said she likes to pull together a team, point them in the right direction and work with them to inspire all of the company’s employees. Her favorite book is Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals about Abraham Lincoln leading through turbulent times.

Fouché holds a B.A. from Princ-eton and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She supports youth development and education, particularly for under privileged and marginalized groups.

Victor SchwartzLitigator and Reformer

The Legal Times of Washingtonnamed Victor Schwartz one of Wash-ington’s Top 30 “visionary” lawyers. Known as “the undisputed king of tort reform,” Schwartz doggedly pur-sued changes in the U.S. tort system.

Schwartz co-authors Prosser, Wade and Schwartz’s Torts—the most widely used torts casebook in the U.S. He is a partner with Shook, Hardy & Bacon and advises product manufacturers on liability prevention and litigation. Schwartz was chair of the Federal Inter-Agency Task Force on Product Liability and the Federal Inter-Agency Council on Insurance and principal author of the Uniform Product Liability Act and the Federal Risk Retention Act. He received the Secretary of Commerce’s Award for Professional Excellence. In 2012, the Univ. of Cincinnati College of Law, where Schwartz taught and was dean, established the Professor Victor E. Schwartz Chair in Tort Law.

Victor O. SchinnererPioneered Architect and Designer Coverage

Victor Schinnerer pioneered insur-ance programs for architects and designers. After moving to Wash-ington, D.C. in 1938, he founded an insurance brokerage with Norman Benzing and Howard Nordlinger.Eight years later he formed Victor O. Schinnerer & Co. In 1956, The Amer-ican Institute of Architects asked him to create an insurance program for architects. The result was a first-of-its kind, U.S.-based professional liability policy for the design industry. Schinnerer later diversified into specialty areas, expanding product lines for architects and engineers into property-casualty lines, as well as lines for other niche industries. Schinnerer served as president of the Metropolitan Washington Board of Trade, the D.C. Society for Crippled Children, chairman of the Washing-ton Convention and Visitors Council, director of the National Savings and Trust Bank, and a member of the Federal City Council, the Kiwanis Club and the University Club.

The GreenbrierILF Home for More Than 90 Years

The Council can’t celebrate its 100th without giving tribute to the Insurance Leadership Forum’s home for more than 90 years. Beginning in 1914, The Council met with industry leaders every year at The Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., except for the War years and after the terrorist attack of 9/11.

A National Historic landmark, The Greenbrier has hosted distinguished guests from around the world. The Council’s industry meeting attracts the who’s who of insurance, bringing together the top insurance brokers with the leading insurance execu-tives. Ted Kleisner (former Green-brier president and GM) said the attendees were “the most sophisti-cated and erudite group to ever stay at The Greenbrier.” Jake Wallace (former chairman emeritus of Willis) said, “The Greenbrier represented sincerity and all that’s good in the insurance industry—friendship, business relations and quality— everything you’d like to think your business is about.”

Graham Fouché Schwartz Schinnerer The Greenbrier

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