Growth appears to be the number-one priority for the firm, which it plans to achieve through acquisitions and by branching out its services for clients and building to meet their risk management needs.

Mr. Conboy noted that the firm formed Acordia Re last year to provide reinsurance and risk programs within property-casualty lines and recently announced the creation of a risk finance group. This group offers clients consultation and other insurance services to protect them from financial risks associated with corporate governance, errors and omissions, employment practices, and environmental liability.

This is part of a strategy–”a multi-prong approach,” he called it–that also involves Wells Fargos clients. Here, there is a “very aggressive cross sell program” that will prove “very rewarding in terms of new customers that we expect, for the balance of the year, will have a meaningful impact on our sales results.”

“We are clearly focused on the challenges and opportunities in todays market place,” he observed.

Acordia looks to remain working with its bread and butter client base, the middle market, but the dynamics of growth among its own long-time customers and the desire of others seeking alternatives to “the big three” are presenting newer opportunities for the firm.

“Clearly our footprint and focus is built in being a mid-market broker and we plan to continue there,” said Mr. Conboy. But creating these niche markets beyond the middle market, while not being “a material part of our business,” allows the firm to offer services needed for its “upper-end customers.”

However, Acordia is not necessarily looking to replace Marsh, Aon or Willis.

“I dont see the risk management revenue stream playing a different role at Acordia than it does today,” said Mr. Conboy. “What we are seeing is, because of the market dynamics of those customers that were once considered mid-market, that have grown either through acquisition or market dynamics, they have now elevated themselves to a new level. And because we have expanded our base and are now operating in some large metropolitan areas, there is an opportunity to expand that base. That is the area that we are looking to develop.”

In the current hard market environment, one he referred to as “a perfect storm,” Mr. Conboy said the firm is well positioned “with a great group of professionals” to deliver “new and creative ways” to address clients insurance exposure and the financial impact of insurance on their bottom line.

“I think the marketplace, right now, is the best marketplace [for Acordia],” he observed. “It may not be that for the customer, but certainly in terms of our business and our opportunities, and our ability to win new business, this is where we shine.”

In discussing the relationship with Wells Fargo, he said it has turned into “a very positive one.” Since Wells Fargo took over the firm, as in any acquisition, he said, “there were a few rub points” as the two firms “got to know one another.” But it has worked out to be a “positive” experience that has translated into turning the firms people into a “very pumped” sales force. One benefit of the acquisition is that Acordia will see its information technology transformed onto one platform over the next two years.

“On balance, it has been a very positive experience,” he said.

Today, Mr. Conboy is spending a lot of time “communicating, communicating” with Acordias people, which has translated into a lot of frequent flyer miles, he joked. But the essence of the firm remains the people, he noted.

“It may be an old line, but your people are your greatest asset,” he said.

For the future, there remain many projects he says he would like to see come to fruition, but to choose one as the most important “would be like looking at your children and saying which one you like better.”

It is important, he emphasized, that Acordia run as it has always run, as a decentralized firm with a keen entrepreneurial spirit that is “not micro-managed, maybe micro-watched, but not micro-managed.”

And, he added, he aims to see that the firms revenue grows to between $800-to-$900 million, from its last reported $600 million. “Thats not going to happen by internal growth,” he said.

“I spend 30 to 40 percent of my time in front of potential acquisition prospects,” he said. “I give them a phone directory of everyone in our company and tell them to call anyone to ask about our commitments and to ask how Acordia is run. I think that is a very strong testament not only to our people but to the culture and spirit of the company, and that is something that not too many of our competitors can say.”

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, April 21, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved. Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.