IT'S ALWAYS exciting to participate in the growth and expansion of an organization. I received that opportunity last year when I joined the Insurance Services Division of Mesirow Financial as vice president of its new management liability unit, which is responsible for marketing directors and officers, employment practices liability, fiduciary liability and various other forms of professional liability insurance.

Although the management liability unit has not yet been functioning for a full year, we expect to generate approximately $1 million in annualized revenue within the next year or so. More than two-thirds of that business is coming from privately held companies, while the rest is derived from publicly owned businesses. Most of our clients are middle-market companies with fewer than 1,000 employees. They are engaged in a variety of work, including manufacturing, wholesaling and distribution. We also count several very large retailers among our clients. In regard to publicly owned companies, Fortune 1000 clients are not our niche-although we do have the experience to handle clients with market capitalizations of $2 billion or more. Annual D&O/EPLI premiums for our privately held clients average roughly $15,000; those for the publicly owned accounts are all over the map.

Mesirow Financial's philosophy is focused on total-account selling. Our goal is not to be everything to everybody. Instead we want to be many things to a small and growing number of clients. Indeed, a prime reason for the creation of the management liability unit was to expand Mesirow Financial's expertise, market affiliations and product line to meet the management liability insurance needs of clients who already turn to us for their standard property-casualty or employee benefits coverages.