Season 2 Episode 16
Season 2 Episode 16
Chris Howard is the Head of Accident and Health (A&H) for the Life, Accident, and Health business in Zurich North America. In this role, he is responsible for driving engagement with the market to establish Zurich as the major provider in the U.S. of accident and injury insurance, as well as supporting efforts to build Zurich as the top global provider of multinational A&H coverage. The A&H portfolio includes products for Accident (corporate, student, participant, travel, occupational, voluntary benefits, and affinity markets) and Health (medical stop loss, provider excess, and supplemental products intended to offset major medical plan deductibles). A&H offers market-leading propositions for both the large corporate and middle-market customer segments.
Howard joined Zurich in 2020 from WNC Insurance Services where he was president of the Accident and Health division. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Consumer Solutions and Affinity Markets at Chubb where he was responsible for production, underwriting, operations, and servicing of association, financial institution, and employer-based accident and supplemental health distribution channels and a direct-to-consumer platform. Prior to that, he held leadership positions at Cross Country Automotive Services, Balboa Insurance Group, and the Assurant Group.
Howard holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism from Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.
In this episode, host Ryan Eaton has the pleasure of welcoming Chris Howard, Head of the North American Market for Zurich, a multi-national insurance company spanning over 50,000 employees. As someone who has worked for such a large company, Howard brings valuable insight into how big corporations market their products.
How do large insurance companies maintain relevancy and consistency? How should a company diversify products for a globalized approach? Howard dives into the ins and outs of what large-scale insurance companies implement in order to run smoothly.
The business environment is changing, making it less predictable and unstable than ever before. As Howard points out, staying relevant within giant property and casualty companies is one of the biggest challenges.
Aside from the recent pandemic, big insurance businesses have historically been resistant to catastrophic losses. Chris emphasizes that this success often comes from detecting changes in the external environment and focusing on the stability of earnings amid change.
To continue to grow our business, we must create relevance on a daily basis, gain the resources, and fight for investment. This is the challenge we face.
Market share is now widely recognized as one of the most important factors determining business profitability. Most organizations consider a variety of factors when building, producing, and selling products and services.
However, a company’s success is influenced more by the value of the prices and services offered to its customers. Howard emphasizes that helping clients achieve their goals is at the core of his team’s mission when it comes to growing its market.
Finding markets that are more opportunistic and creating a level of energy is the direction that our team is focusing on now.
In the model of big companies, technology has played a significant role. Digital online platforms and mobile applications that enable instantaneous matching of supply and demand have enabled the gig economy. Regardless of the size of a business, Chris sees it as a huge opportunity for all.
Furthermore, it would be a grave mistake to ignore the challenges that have arisen while embracing an all-electronic infrastructure. According to Howard, their goal is to become a paperless company by 2030, achieving zero emissions.
As the economy changed, we diversified, lifted, and shifted.
The continued success of a business depends heavily on gaining market share. There are many opportunities at hand for a company big or small to increase its market share and not just to maintain it.
In order to build a strong market, every company must understand the value it can offer. Persistently seeking out diversification, adapting to external changes, and pursuing market shares are all aspects of how a large company can maintain relevancy and consistency.
Be sure to tune into next month’s episode as we continue our discussions with the best leaders in the industry.
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