Meet Michael Borja, VP, Excess Casualty
Please tell us about your career journey and your path to Sompo.
Prior to entering the insurance industry and after graduate school, I worked as an environmental and mechanical engineer for almost 10 years designing and implementing systems that remediated hazardous materials and waste for commercial and industrial clients. My path into insurance began in 2001at AIG Environmental, Inc., as an underwriter and eventually as the Casualty Manager for the San Francisco Region, writing combined forms that included Site & Contractors Pollution Liability, General Liability, Umbrella and Auto Liability. While at C.V. Starr, I placed lead excess follow form accounts for Construction, Public Entity, and General Business. Prior to joining Sompo, I last served as Starr Indemnity’s National Practice Leader for Environmental Liability, writing the lines of business as I did at AIG including Worker’s Compensation. Now, years later, I continue to combine all my past experiences of risk analysis and marketing skills in what I do today here at Sompo.
What advice do you have for prospective Sompo candidates?
Here within our Excess division and throughout all Sompo, a prospective candidate is presented with the opportunity to work with experienced and seasoned underwriters from various background and specialties. Although I have been in the insurance business for over 20 years, I still learn something new every day when speaking with my colleagues in my unit and throughout the company.
Tell us about an initiative at SI that you are most excited for in 2023.
I have been working with Product Line System Specialist Carin Wilson in developing an intranet site for the Retail Excess Casualty Team. I am excited and proud of our recent release of the “Team Site,” accessible only to our unit via an intranet web browser link. The purpose of the site is to provide a single point of entry where our team members can quickly access key information versus multiple locations and folders located on a shared drive. The result of our work has developed into an intuitively based site that provides easy access points for individuals on our team to readily retrieve key materials from a centralized source. This will allow for a more streamlined process for our team to work efficiently and collaboratively within underwriting and operations, as well as for staff training.
What is your idea of a perfect day outside of the office?
Any vacation with my family and making s’mores with my kids in our backyard firepit. Also, playing and creating music are my ideas of a perfect day outside of the office.