Josh Clifton

Chicago, October 11, 2021 – Tokio Marine Highland, a leading property and casualty underwriting agency, announced today it has successfully launched fine art insurance for personal and commercial risks, further enhancing its broad suite of specialty risk management solutions.

Christiane Fischer was appointed President of the Fine Art Division, responsible for providing strategic leadership and delivery of the company’s custom insurance solutions for the fine art market, including art dealer, exhibition, museum, and private and corporate collection coverages. An experienced authority on fine art insurance, Fischer previously served as President & CEO at AXA Art Insurance Corporation from 2004 to 2019, growing the company into a market leader during her tenure.

“Christiane’s reputation and deep expertise are highly respected in the fine art world,” said Pat Blandford, Chief Executive Officer of Tokio Marine Highland. “Her leadership and the team she is building will position Tokio Marine Highland at the forefront of the fine art insurance space. Our legacy has been built on serving niche, specialty insurance markets, and this new product line is a perfect complement to the innovative products and services our customers have come to know and expect.”

“I am very passionate about the fine art insurance world and I’m eager to join an organization in the midst of an exciting transformation,” Fischer said. “We look forward to providing brokers with custom solutions to meet the complex needs of their clients, and offering top-notch service and hands-on claims management. We have a highly qualified team who share my commitment in providing the best fine art insurance experience in the industry.”

Fischer is a member of the board of trustees of the Isamu Noguchi Museum of Art, the International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR), the Conservation Center, the Conservation Council of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the National Jewelry Institute.

Founded in 1962, Tokio Marine Highland (formerly WNC Insurance Services) is a wholly owned company of Tokio Marine Kiln, one of the largest carriers in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market, rated A+ by Standard & Poor’s for financial strength, and a member of the Tokio Marine Group.

About Tokio Marine Highland

Tokio Marine Highland is a leading property and casualty underwriting agency that offers distinct specialty risk management solutions, including private flood, construction, fine art, specialty property, real estate investment and lender-placed insurance. Tokio Marine Highland also includes Precise Adjustments, a wholly owned subsidiary that provides industry-leading claims capabilities.

Founded in 1962, Tokio Marine Highland Insurance Services, Inc. (formerly WNC Insurance Services, Inc.) is a wholly owned company of Tokio Marine Kiln, one of the largest carriers in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market, rated A+ by Standard & Poor’s for financial strength, and a member of the Tokio Marine Group. Tokio Marine Highland’s home office is located in Chicago, IL, with operating centers in Dallas, TX, Irvine, CA, Miami, FL, Naperville, IL, and South Pasadena, CA.

For more information, visit our website at www.tokiomarinehighland.com.

Media Contact:

Joshua Clifton
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
312-736-2351 (office)
773-230-1304 (mobile)
joshua.clifton@tmhighland.com

Chicago, October 4, 2021 – Tokio Marine Highland is featured in the October issue of FinTech Magazine, a “digital community” for the financial technology industry. In this exclusive interview, CEO Patrick Blandford discussed the company’s rebrand, digital transformation, and cultural alignment. The following is an excerpt of the feature. View the full article by visiting the FinTech Magazine website.

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A mainstay in U.S.-based property and casualty underwriting (P&C), Tokio Marine Highland has nurtured a storied industry reputation based on the breadth and quality of its specialty risk management solutions, such as private flood, construction and lender-placed products.

Originally founded as WNC Insurance Services in 1962, Tokio Marine Highland recently opted to rebrand in order to capitalize on the brand prestige of its parent company Tokio Marine Kiln (itself part of Tokio Marine Holdings), which completed its acquisition of WNC in 2018. “It’s really enhancing the reputation that we’ve already built as WNC,” explains Joshua Clifton, Vice President of Marketing and Communications. “We see this as a great opportunity to enter new markets, attract talent, and seek new acquisitions and capacity partners.”

At the helm guiding the company through this exciting time is Patrick Blandford, CEO, who originally joined in 2004 as a board member and took on the CEO role in 2018. Characterizing his role as assembling the best team possible and overseeing Tokio Marine Highland’s overall performance, Blandford emphasizes that achieving the dual objectives of digital transformation and “to be a good company” (the official Tokio Marine philosophy) remain his top priorities. “I saw [at Tokio Marine Highland] the opportunity to preserve a very strong entrepreneurial culture, but one that is backed by the strength and resources not only of Tokio Marine Kiln but also the broader Tokio Marine Group. This has been the most rewarding challenge of my career so far,” he says.

In this new market, “the experience” of a company has become a strong metric for quality and competitive differentiation. Kiran Achen, CIO, believes that driving Tokio Marine Highland’s wholesale digital transformation will be crucial for pursuing this new focus; advantages gained elsewhere will be fleeting. “For me, the insurance industry is the last frontier that hasn’t yet been disrupted. There is now an opportunity for carriers like us to partner with insurtechs, hire the right talent, and actually disrupt the industry from within.”

Tokio Marine Highland’s digital transformation journey began in earnest in early 2018. The first step, according to Blandford, was shaping the leadership team and assembling resources in order to create a foundation of expertise and technical infrastructure. Unlikely assistance came in the form of COVID-19, which, despite its obvious negative impact, actually helped concentrate the company’s efforts. “I think of 2020 as the year that we turned the corner,” he states. “The unfortunate environment enabled us to spend less time-fighting fires and more time bringing our larger team into the transformation efforts.” Centering the change around robust data-driven insights, exceptional client interfaces and automated operations, Chief Analytics Officer Nirav Shah and Achen state that a special emphasis was placed on the cloud, low-code/no-code platforms, open-source, smart systems, AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning).

“We’ve rolled out a new digital platform housing our difference in conditions (DIC) product,” says Tim Reilly, Senior Director of Digital Distribution. “Essentially, this platform enables straight-through processing for earthquake and landslide coverage. We’re also in the middle of a soft launch for our new flood product, which will be housed on the same platform.”

About Tokio Marine Highland

Tokio Marine Highland is a leading property and casualty underwriting agency that offers distinct specialty risk management solutions, including private flood, construction, fine art, specialty property, real estate investment and lender-placed insurance. Tokio Marine Highland also includes Precise Adjustments, a wholly owned subsidiary that provides industry-leading claims capabilities.

Founded in 1962, Tokio Marine Highland Insurance Services, Inc. (formerly WNC Insurance Services, Inc.) is a wholly owned company of Tokio Marine Kiln, one of the largest carriers in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market, rated A+ by Standard & Poor’s for financial strength, and a member of the Tokio Marine Group. Tokio Marine Highland’s home office is located in Chicago, IL, with operating centers in Dallas, TX, Irvine, CA, Miami, FL, Naperville, IL, and South Pasadena, CA.

For more information, visit our website at www.tokiomarinehighland.com.

About FinTech Magazine

FinTech Magazine is the “digital community” for the financial technology industry. FinTech Magazine covers banks, challenger banks, payment solutions, technology platforms, digital currencies and financial services – connecting the world’s largest community of banking and fintech executives. FinTech Magazine is published by BizClik Media Group, a U.K.-based media company with a global portfolio of leading industry, business and lifestyle digital communities. BizClik’s portfolio includes Technology & AI, Finance & Insurance, Manufacturing & Supply Chain, Energy & Mining, Construction, Healthcare, Wireless Communications & Data Centers. For more information, please BizClik’s website.

Media Contact:

Joshua Clifton
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
312-736-2351 (office)
773-230-1304 (mobile)
joshua.clifton@tmhighland.com

Chicago, September 13, 2021 – WNC Insurance Services, a leading property and casualty underwriting agency, announced today that it has rebranded to Tokio Marine Highland. The evolution reflects the company’s strategic growth in the marketplace and significant investment in talent, infrastructure and technology that has fueled its digital transformation since being wholly acquired in 2018 by Tokio Marine Kiln, one of the largest carriers in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market and rated A+ by Standard & Poor’s.

The move will enable Tokio Marine Highland to enter new product classes, introduce its brand to new audiences and create a seamless customer experience, all while reaffirming its commitment to being a trusted partner and industry-leading provider of private flood, construction, fine art, specialty property, real estate investment and lender-placed insurance solutions.

For decades, WNC Insurance Services has built a reputation for sustained underwriting profitability, placing more than $2.5 billion into the Lloyd’s of London insurance market with a top-quartile return. Now, Tokio Marine Highland combines that long history of underwriting excellence with the global strength of the Tokio Marine brand.

“Throughout our nearly 60-year history, we have been known for our expert product design and ability to identify market opportunities, all of which is customer-driven and customer-led,” said Pat Blandford, Chief Executive Officer. “Ultimately, this has produced excellent underwriting results.”

Blandford said he is optimistic for what the future holds for Tokio Marine Highland.

“Tokio Marine Highland is the marriage of a fast-moving, entrepreneurial firm with a forward-thinking and well capitalized corporate parent in Tokio Marine Kiln, which has been our lead market for the past 40 years,” he said. “This relationship allows us to future-proof our business and take a long-term perspective. We have a tremendous ability to tap into resources, not only globally, but also in the U.S., and we’re investing in our business today by thinking about how we want to look in 10 years. That’s very exciting for me, and it positions Tokio Marine Highland for future success.”

About Tokio Marine Highland

Tokio Marine Highland is a leading property and casualty underwriting agency that offers distinct specialty risk management solutions, including private flood, construction, fine art, specialty property, real estate investment and lender-placed insurance. Tokio Marine Highland also includes Precise Adjustments, a wholly owned subsidiary that provides industry-leading claims capabilities.

Founded in 1962, Tokio Marine Highland Insurance Services, Inc. (formerly WNC Insurance Services, Inc.) is a wholly owned company of Tokio Marine Kiln, one of the largest carriers in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market, rated A+ by Standard & Poor’s for financial strength, and a member of the Tokio Marine Group. Tokio Marine Highland’s home office is located in Chicago, IL, with operating centers in Dallas, TX, Irvine, CA, Miami, FL, Naperville, IL, and South Pasadena, CA.

For more information, visit our website at www.tokiomarinehighland.com.

Media Contact:

Joshua Clifton
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
312-736-2351 (office)
773-230-1304 (mobile)
joshua.clifton@tmhighland.com

We’re excited to announce that WNC Insurance Services will soon be rebranding as Tokio Marine Highland. From our founding in 1962 to becoming a wholly owned company of Tokio Marine Kiln in 2018, one thing has remained the same – our commitment to you, our most valued clients.

While Tokio Marine Highland represents the next evolution of our brand, we remain your trusted partner for industry-leading specialty risk management solutions, including private flood, construction, fine art, specialty property, real estate investment and lender-placed insurance. As part of one of the largest carriers in the Lloyd’s insurance market and a member of the Tokio Marine Group, we are backed by decades of experience and the deep industry expertise to meet the most complex needs of your customers.

From our creative underwriting and innovative products, to our superior claims management and customer service, the experience you’ve come to know and expect will remain unchanged. As we work toward our anticipated launch as Tokio Marine Highland on September 13, 2021, we look forward to serving you as we continue to build a strong and enduring partnership for the future.

Media Contact:

Joshua Clifton
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
312-736-2351 (office)
773-230-1304 (mobile)
jclifton@wncfirst.com