Executive Outlook 2022: Barry F. Lorenzetti, President, BFL CANADA Risk and Insurance

Barry F. Lorenzetti, President, CEO and Founder, BFL CANADA Risk and Insurance Inc.

The current hard market, combined with the pandemic, has created an environment where insurance brokerage is defined more than ever by that special relationship with our clients. We are still a relationship business, and you cannot run it just from home. We’ve realized, more than ever, that the service teams’ expertise and industry knowledge built across the country is what makes the difference.

Despite COVID-19, the importance of staying committed to an overall growth strategy, open communication between senior executives, and course-correcting was at the heart of our daily operations. BFL CANADA Risk and Insurance Inc. ramped up recruitment during the pandemic while many of our competitors retreated and cut back on salaries.

Our main assets are our business model, our shareholders and employees. As a client-facing organization, we made the decisions to protect our existing culture and face the future with confidence by instituting a work-from-home hybrid model and a vaccination policy. As part of the larger Canadian business community, we want to promote this approach.

Going forward, we want to ensure the hybrid work model doesn’t challenge our business model and culture. Attendance at the office will become vital. Mentorship and ongoing coaching for our emerging leaders cannot be established working from home. We need to continuously build upon our culture and to never become the firm we left! Culture engagement, communication and guidance from senior executives and strategic alignment with key insurance partners will be critical. Talent and recruitment, training and promoting from within is key.

Firms that will be able to collaborate around the biggest growth opportunities, both using technology and in-person meetings, will be the most successful in this new market cycle. Continuous improvement in data gathering and analytics will result in more automation and online opportunities.

See all the 2022 Outlooks here.