Growth Mindset
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Wednesday, October 05, 2022

Growth Mindset

By Mark Lawrence

It’s been a little while since I’ve written a blog post, and I wanted to provide an update on HM Insurance Group. Over the past two years, we have grown our Stop Loss premium by about 30 percent. After our July 1, 2022, effective date policies went in force, we exceeded $1 billion in annualized Stop Loss premium – a milestone we’d not previously achieved.

From my perspective, it never makes sense to grow for the sake of growth, but we do it thoughtfully – by building on our strengths and adding value for the brokers and employer groups we serve. There are a number of reasons we have grown over the past few years, and I would like to talk about a few of them here.

Our Partnerships

Some of our growth reflects the success we’ve enjoyed with partners who have aligned with our strategy and the way we do business. When our goals line up, it becomes easier (although it’s never easy) to build a successful partnership and grow our business together. This has been a focus of our team and an important part of our progress over the past several years.

Our Reputation

Charlie Munger, who’s been Warren Buffett’s partner in running Berkshire Hathaway for many years, said, “Remember that reputation and integrity are your most valuable assets – and can be lost in a heartbeat.” We run HM Insurance Group with that concept in mind. We are a fast, accurate claims payer with a broad Stop Loss contract – our clients can have confidence in that. Brokers and employer groups see the value we bring to the marketplace, and the longer you’ve been in this business, the more valuable that approach becomes.

Our People

Our regional sales directors and account managers do a great job of meeting brokers in their markets, understanding client needs and providing creative solutions. And while those client-facing roles are important, HM Insurance Group consists of 325 employees, all of whom are committed to solving problems for our clients. I hear stories a couple of times a week about employees from all parts of the company – Underwriting, Sales Support, Claims, Systems, Billing, etc. – going out of their way to creatively resolve issues.

The Choice

We compete in an open market, and clients have options. That’s why we work every day to deliver financial risk protection our clients can count on and a partnership our brokers can trust. We enjoyed somewhat higher persistency in 2021 and 2022, which has created more growth than in prior years. It’s gratifying when our clients select us several years in a row. To our broker partners, thank you for your partnership and for placing business with HM. We work hard every day to make sure we do what it takes to earn your business.

The Importance of Growth

We do exist in the real corporate world, so growing our premiums in certain dollar or percentage terms is part of our goals as a company. More importantly though, growth that sticks with us over a number of years demonstrates confidence in what we do for our partners, brokers and employer groups and is an indication that our value proposition is accepted in the market. That’s a great thing, and it makes me proud to be a part of HM Insurance Group.

 

P.S. – On a personal note, this is the first blog post I’ve written as a citizen of the United States. On September 13, 2022, I took the Pledge of Allegiance and became a U.S. citizen. For those of you who don’t know, I was born and raised in the province of Saskatchewan in Western Canada. I moved to the Boston area in June of 1998, and other than a brief two-year stint back in Canada, I’ve lived and worked in the U.S. for 23 of the past 25 years. September 13 was a great day, and I found it to be very emotional. (It’s hard to describe, but it just feels different being a citizen.) My family, friends and colleagues have all been incredibly supportive. I’m thrilled to be a citizen of the United States of America.  

Why HM


A strong, experienced carrier, HM responds to market changes and works with clients to ensure their coverage needs are met through expert risk assessment and exceptional delivery of benefits.