Thomas Edison Was Right

My two favorite Thomas Edison quotes have a lot in common with each other:

1. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” 2. “Just because something does not do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless”

The idea of creating the Cover Holders And Risk Takers (CHART) Exchange was birthed in late 2014 but could not be executed until 2015 due to a non-compete clause from our sale of the Target Markets Program Administrator’s Association (TMPAA) in December 2009 to a more well-funded perpetuation partner.

Since only four London operations with domestic paper were permitted to join TMPAA we saw an opportunity for the other 89 syndicates to be able to enjoy a more direct dialogue with U.S. Program Administrators. of holding an event in Philadelphia called “The Declaration of Interdependence” in October 2015. Some of the essential elements of our first meeting follows:

1. Limit attendance to 300 and test the concept. 2. Decision-makers only and direct dialogue 3. 100+ program administrators that possessed current books of business. 4. Representatives from at least 15 syndicates 5. Limited number of specialized vendor partners with distinct

London strategies 6. The theme of “Interdependence” – we all need each other in order to prosper. 7. Limited London Broker participation (3 firms) to promote new business only.

No attempt to proselytize the movement of any existing

London business to a different

Broker. 8. Workshops and activities on the central theme of new business to London. This included a

“Shark Tank” contest with

a $1,000 prize for best new program idea. 9. Guarantee at least 10 pre-set appointments for every London underwriter in attendance. 10. Survey every attendee postevent to see what transpired, what could be improved, and ensure the “new business only” theme was respected.

Some of the major obstacles to pulling off our first event include:

1. Expenses. The entire expense burden was borne by our agency and TPA partner Wilson

Elser. 2. The London Brokerage community was not very keen on not being invited as we were viewed as disrupters. “CHART is trying to take our business”.

INAUGURAL EVENT Our team embarked on a strategy Glenn W. Clark, CPCU Publisher & Earliest Adopter

3. Lloyd’s corporate management reaction was tepid, not wishing to upset the status quo. 4. Recruiting syndicates to attend was harder than expected. London Brokers are the “hunters”, bringing opportunities to the syndicates.

We personally met with over 30 syndicates to deliver our message. 5. Disinformation generating from other U.S.-based association groups (CHART trying to appoint all retailers to Lloyd’s, etc.) 6. Cost model – In the U.S. model, carriers willingly pay for you to aggregate prospects (it saves thousands in expense). London syndicates were used to a much different dynamic (business brought to them) and less practiced at “hunting” for their own appetites.

EVENT RESULTS Three years of meetings (1 in Philadelphia, 2 in Baltimore) yielded a diverse array of outcomes:

1. No doubt…we all had a great time, made new connections, and learned a lot. 2. Over $125 million worth of program business moved to

London in our first two years. 3. Individual London Brokers obtained new clients they never would have met without CHART. 4. Specialized vendors made connections to promote their

London strategies. 5. 50 agencies attended our

CHART Goes to London (CGL) pilgrimage. 6. Other associations admitted

London syndicates as full members (even if they did not have U.S. paper), somewhat preempting our limited attendance model. 7. Our team was not able to make events commercially viable for ourselves and our domestic vendor partners. SIGN-OFF ON CHART E-MAGAZINE This will be the final issue of CHART E-Magazine. The costs to staff, write articles, solicit content, and publish have increased to the point where we need to pare expenses in order to focus on our active clients.

The e-magazine was issued to over 100,000 subscribers at no cost to them for over four years.

We thank you for your subscription and wish each of you continued success in the future. Hoping that you are able to see yourself in another Edison quote:

“I never did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun”

CHART 2.0 In 2019 we launched a “virtual” version of the CHART Exchange termed CHART 2.0.

CHART 2.0 enables us to help U.S. program managers connect with London via an e-magazine, program questionnaires, committed vendor partners, and multiple Brokers who specialize in the classes of business the agency specialist is seeking. All of the functionality of CHART 2.0 is contained in an e-brochure that can be accessed by clicking here. Our CHART connections from the past six years have resulted in a financial model that works for all of our partners.

Glenn W. Clark , CPCU CHART’S Earliest Adopter