Meet Kara Creel, VP, Excess Casualty E&S
Please tell us about your career journey and your path to Sompo.
I earned my bachelor’s degree in Risk Management and Insurance from Georgia State University, and immediately started working for a local MGA where I met my mentor. He counseled me to depart the MGA space and move to the company side preferably working for an E&S company in Excess Casualty, because those types of companies represented better opportunities for career growth. He introduced me to people he knew, and within 18 months I was working for Intestate Fire & Casualty Company, the E&S subsidiary of Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, in the excess casualty department. I spent 10 years at Intestate and then moved on to Navigators for 5 years, and I finally found a home at Sompo 6 years ago.
What advice do you have for prospective Sompo candidates?
I would tell a prospective candidate to not hesitate to take a position offered to them by Sompo. Sompo offers an employee the chance to continue to develop in their field of choice by subsidizing the cost of professional designations. Sompo is also a truly a multinational company, so if you want to experience living in another country, you have the opportunity with Sompo as we have offices across the globe. I have found that Sompo empowers their employees to take ownership of their work product and allows the employee to be in control of their carrier.
Tell us about an initiative at SI that you are most excited for in 2022.
The Excess Casualty Wholesale department has changed significantly over the past year. I am excited about our new leader, John Goodloe, and the new initiatives he is bringing to the team this year. I am really excited about us looking to possibly team with an MGU that has similar risk selection but can handle the smaller accounts that fall below our minimum premiums. This partnership would add meaningful growth to our portfolio over the coming years.
What is your idea of a perfect day outside of the office?
This is a tough question as there are many different activities that could fall under my ideal day. I would say that my dream day is a day where I wake up and there is nothing planned. The day just unfolds without a schedule or a to do list.
About Sompo
Sompo Holdings Ltd. is a global specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, headquartered in Bermuda. Through its operating subsidiaries, Sompo writes agriculture, professional lines, property, marine, energy, casualty and other specialty lines of insurance and catastrophe, property, casualty, professional lines, weather risk and specialty lines of reinsurance. Sompo companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Sompo Holdings, Inc., whose core business encompasses one of the largest property and casualty insurance groups in the Japanese domestic market. We maintain excellent financial strength as evidenced by the ratings of A+ (Superior) from A.M. Best (XV size category) and A+ (Strong) from Standard and Poor’s on our principal operating subsidiaries. Sompo’s headquarters are located at Waterloo House, 100 Pitts Bay Road, Pembroke HM 08, Bermuda and its mailing address is Sompo, Suite No. 784, No. 48 Par-la-Ville Road, Hamilton HM 11, Bermuda.
For more information about Sompo, please visit www.sompo-intl.com.