Michael Klee, senior vice president of Mesirow Financial in Chicago, has been selected as chair of the Small Business Practice Group for RiskProNet International, Inc., a network of 29 independent insurance brokers in the United States and Canada.
Klee came into insurance through an unusual route: the California movie industry.
“I worked on production for feature films, doing everything from location scouting and casting to coming up with the numbers,” he said. “While insurance was required, ultimately it was just a number on a budget sheet. No one wanted to deal with it. I learned firsthand that price isn’t the best criteria to use for choosing a program.”
“In 1993 I decided to move back to the Midwest, where I grew up. While initially considering going into business with my father who had a life insurance agency, I instead chose property and casualty insurance. It seemed a great complement to life insurance,” Klee recalled.
Klee focused on small business. “I found there were a lot of frustrated business owners who were having difficulty controlling their costs or who worried that they didn’t understand their coverage,” he said. “I also noticed that properly written insurance can often mean the difference between catastrophe and success for closely held family businesses – mainly because the whole family seems to be employed at one place and the business usually makes up the predominant portion of their fortune and livelihood.
Klee joined Mesirow Financial in 1998, and today is senior vice president and head of production for the small business unit. “It’s been a wonderful opportunity,” he added.
“The entertainment industry background paid off after the career change,” Klee said. “I dealt with a lot of wealthy, powerful and famous individuals, and I quickly learned that they were just like me despite their prominence,” he added. “Today that lesson helps me work with demanding business owners on an equal footing. Sometimes the most challenging clients are the ones who turn out to be the most fun.”
Klee is looking forward to heading the Small Business Practice Group. “It’s a think tank for us to help each other pragmatically. We want to share our successes so that everyone can benefit. For example, some agents noted a lack of glamour in writing small business accounts as well as difficulty in motivating account managers. Our practice group recently shared great ideas on how to improve the outlook for small business teams.
“I love having the extra sphere of influence that RiskProNet gives us,” he continued. “This week I was able to help a California member with a workers compensation market in Illinois. Not too long ago I had to place an account in Canada, and B.F. Lorenzetti was there to help.”
Mesirow Financial is a major independent financial services firm offering investment management, investment services, insurance services, investment banking, consulting and real estate. For more information about Mesirow Financial, visit its Web site at www.mesirowfinancial.com.
RiskProNet International is headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif. and describes itself as an organization with combined revenues of $688 million. Each partner is an equal owner in the association, which gives its members the geographic diversity and shared knowledge base to serve clients with national, international or highly specialized exposures to risk. Total written premiums in 2004 were more than $6.5 billion. Through its partnership with the International Insurance Brokers Association, RiskProNet members serves clients with operations in more than 300 cities in 110 countries.For more information go to www.riskpronet.com
Source: RiskProNet
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Investment Funds File New Suits Over Lighthouse Insurance Collapse in 2022 
Progressive Gains as Drivers Shop Around for Auto Insurance—Again 
UnitedHealth Says Hackers Possibly Stole Large Number of Americans’ Data 
USAA to Lay Off 220 Employees 
