Meet Maryann DelRio, Vice President Excess Casualty
Please tell us about your career journey and your path to Sompo.
I started in the Insurance industry in June 1991, as a trainee at Aetna Property & Casualty. They had a rigorous training program that I continue to be grateful for to this day. After completing their program, I was a multiline casualty underwriter, writing package policies for small business. I left Aetna to join Crum & Forster and this is where I began to specialize in Excess Casualty. After Crum & Forster, I joined Reliance National, writing middle market to large excess casualty. Unfortunately, Reliance National lost their rating and ceased writing business. That’s when I joined AIG’s Commercial Excess team, writing larger middle market excess. Soon after I joined that team, I was asked to help start up the small business unit in Berkley Heights, New Jersey. This was also my first opportunity to run a team of underwriters. I left AIG to join XL’s Excess Casualty team, where once again I wrote middle market & large excess. I found I wanted to focus on lead umbrella, so I took advantage of an opportunity to work for Travelers, and initially ran the New York metro team. I was later given the opportunity to rebuild the Northeast team, which was a challenge I enjoyed. After Travelers, I found another startup opportunity with Torus National. I started the Eastern Regional team and was the 33rd employee of the company. Startups can be a little risky, and Torus was sold. This was when I was provided the opportunity to join Sompo. Patricia Calderon was running the Eastern region at the time. Patricia and I met when we both worked at AIG and we remained friendly through the years. I jumped at the chance to work with Patricia again. Not long after I joined the team, Patricia was promoted to Business Unit Leader and I was given the opportunity to run the Eastern team. And here we are!
What advice do you have for prospective Sompo candidates?
Having experienced working for several companies, this is a very unique culture. It’s a strong culture of collaboration, opportunity and entrepreneurship. Embrace it.
Tell us about an initiative at Sompo that you are most excited for in 2022.
I am excited about One Sompo! It’s an opportunity to further collaborate with other members of the team and increase my internal network. I’m looking forward to the opportunities this brings.
I am also excited about our Diversity & Inclusion initiative. Having been a member of the Association of Professional Insurance Women for several years, it is important to me that women are supported in the workplace. I was grateful to participate in a recent focus group conducted by the Sompo Inclusive Diversity Council discussing women’s experience in the workplace at Sompo.
What is your idea of a perfect day outside of the office?
My perfect day would start with a good walk on one of the many rail trails found around my home in New York’s Hudson Valley. Then, enjoying a relaxing rest of the day with my husband, our dog, family members and friends.