An Industry Icon

Recently I had the opportunity to interview IBA West vice president and CEO Jerry O’Kane, who is looking forward to a well-deserved retirement on Aug. 31. O’Kane shared with me the many achievements of his remarkable career, as well as some of the disappointments, and how he dealt with them.

But after talking with several people about O’Kane’s successes, it soon became clear to me just how much of an impact O’Kane has had on the California insurance marketplace over the past 22 years. I think former IBA West president Bud Wilson said it best: “Every agent in the state of California owes Jerry O’Kane a tremendous economic debt.” But it’s not just an economic debt, and I’m sure that Wilson would agree with me. If there was ever an advocate for agents and brokers, it was Jerry O’Kane.

Beyond O’Kane’s feat of opening up State Fund’s market to independent agents and brokers, he continues to have a visible presence on the forefront of the workers’ comp marketplace. As you may have noticed, our cover photo features O’Kane posing with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. This valuable photo op was the result of many minutes, hours and days working to lobby the governor’s office for a workers’ comp solution. The IBA West fought hard for workers’ comp reform and will continue to do so on behalf of agents and brokers.

So I hope you will take the opportunity to turn to page 23 and find out what kind of impact O’Kane has had on California’s insurance marketplace. Also, on page 65, O’Kane himself shares with us his thoughts on Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi’s push to persuade State Fund to reduce agent and broker commissions.

As always, I welcome your thoughts on O’Kane’s career, or any other insurance issue for that matter. E-mail me at cbeisiegel@insurancejournal.com.

Thanks for reading.