Championing your peers is one of the three pillars on which Kayo stands. We often hear stories from the Kayo Community of relationships built around this concept, so we were thrilled to kick-off 2021 by sitting down with Emily Quinlan, Jennifer Grett, and Trish Watson, three colleagues with Alliant to learn more about their practice, how they champion one another regularly, and what they’re predicting for the year ahead. 

TELL US ABOUT YOUR ROLE IN PRIVATE EQUITY

We are an insurance advisory firm that works on clients from diligence to divestiture. Each of us lead teams and are personally involved in every step of the process.

HOW DID YOU MEET ONE ANOTHER? 

We met by working together at Alliant in three different states: Washington, Colorado, and California.

WHAT’S ONE THING YOU ADMIRE ABOUT THE OTHER TWO?

Emily: The thing I admire most about Trish and Jennifer is that they are smart, diligent, and support women without competing. They embody the saying “a rising tide lifts all boats” so from our first conversation forward it has been a true collaborative approach internally and externally to ensure we are providing the best service to our clients.

HOW DID COVID 19 IMPACT RISK MANAGEMENT / INSURANCE? 

Covid 19 played into a hardening market, but it is not the sole cause. It is shifting the Executive Liability market as there are an increased number of D&O claims (partly driven by bankruptcy) and EPL claims (partly driven by perceived discrimination around layoffs, potentially requirements of vaccines, etc.). We anticipate that moving forward we will see more explicit Covid exclusions across the board on P&C policies but – like many effects of this pandemic – this is still evolving daily as more information becomes available.

WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU ARE PROUD OF FROM THE PAST YEAR?

Emily: I am proud of our direct team and overall company with how we seamlessly adapted to the roller coaster of 2020. Internal and external teams increased communication to ensure we were not missing anything even though we were not seeing each other on a daily basis. We had grace with each other, our clients, underwriters, etc. knowing we were all acclimating to a new way of life – temporary or potentially forever shifted.

WHAT MAXIM GUIDES YOU?

Treat each client and make recommendations like you own the company. You wouldn’t recklessly leave something underinsured or carelessly pay for insurance you do not need if it was your dollar on the line, so be thoughtful and strategic with recommendations of risk management and the insurance program as if you were the one paying the bills.

WHAT’S THE BEST COMPLIMENT A CLIENT HAS GIVEN YOU?

The best compliment I have received is that we have proven ourselves time and time again that they completely trust our guidance both in the diligence process and in the post-closing risk management of their portfolio companies.

MAKE AT LEAST ONE PREDICTION FOR 2021…

 It is going to be better than 2020!

Trish, Emily, and Jennifer are all featured Guides in The Kayo Guidebook. To learn more about The Guidebook, click here.

About The Team:

Trish Watson is a Vice President at Alliant. She takes great pride in creating effective and strategic offerings for Private Equity Firm clients and their portfolio companies. Exploring alternative funding arrangements, driving employees to quality providers, and adopting transparent Rx programs are, in our view, the starting point for any good benefits program. Our programs typically save our clients 15% on their health and welfare spend, which equates to a 4-6% EBITDA lift, in many cases. Cost savings opportunities can be analyzed side by side during due diligence of a target, post close, or pre-exit to maximize the multiple.

Emily Quinlan is a Vice President at Alliant. Emily has been advising on risk management programs since 2008 for private equity firms, family offices, and portfolio companies. She advises on all aspects of a company’s risk management program with a primary focus on the Property & Casualty insurance placement and Risk Solutions to help reduce loss frequency and mitigate future losses.

Jennifer Grett is a Vice President of Alliant. Over the past 13 years, Jennifer has been laser focused in the private equity industry. As an insurance broker, Jennifer assists companies reduce their employee benefits spend while being strategic in the how we structure the benefits and retirement. Jennifer helps to place property & casualty insurance, provides private equity insurance diligence services, reps & warranties, cyber, D&O and much more over a specialty industries and sub-industries. Heavily focused on Manufacturing & Industrials, Distribution & Logistics, Construction, Hospitality, Healthcare, Technology, Consumer and the Cannabis space.

About the Firm:

With a history dating back to 1925, Alliant Insurance Services is one of the nation’s leading distributors of diversified insurance products and services. Alliant is a top 10 national insurance broker and the largest specialty broker with 100+ offices and 4,000 employees. Alliant is among the fastest-growing insurance brokerages in the industry. Although our organization is in the midst of significant growth, we remain true to our guiding philosophy, seeking out likeminded companies and professionals who strive to excel and live to serve.