Skip Navigation
  • Careers
  • Report a Claim
  • Clients
  • Contact Us
  • Employees
Risk Strategies Logo
  • Industries

    • Architects & Engineers
    • Aviation
    • Cannabis
    • Construction
    • Education
    • Entertainment
    • Financial Services
    • Fine Art
    • Healthcare
    • Law Firms
    • Marine & Yacht
    • Nonprofit & Human Services
    • Private Equity
    • Public Sector
    • Real Estate
    • Relocation
    • Transportation
    • Waste & Recycling
  • Solutions

      • Captives
      • Casualty
      • Cyber
      • Environmental
      • International Liability
      • Management Liability
      • Property
      • Surety
      • Employee Benefits Overview
      • Benefit Administration and Technology
      • Benefits Compliance Support
      • Data & Analytics
      • Human Capital Management
      • International Benefits
      • Absence Management & Ancillary Programs
      • Voluntary & Lifestyle Benefits
      • Financial & Wealth Overview
      • Life Insurance
      • Private Client Services Overview
      • Homeowners
      • Collections
      • Umbrella & Excess Liability
      • Auto
      • Boat & Yacht
      • Family Office
      • Specialty Coverages
    • Reinsurance
      • Risk Management Services Overview
      • Analytics
      • Claims Management & Advocacy
      • Loss Control
      • Safety Consulting Services
  • Consulting

    • Consulting Overview
    • Actuarial Services
    • Healthcare Claim Audit Services
    • Health and Welfare
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Pharmacy
    • Retirement Benefits
  • News and Insights

    • All Insights
    • Blog
    • Emergency Resource Centers
    • Employee Benefits Compliance Center
    • Events
    • Media Coverage
    • State of the Market Reports
    • Press Releases
  • Company

    • About Us
    • Careers
    • Culture and Values
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Environmental, Social, & Governance
    • General Terms of Business
    • Leaders
    • Local Expertise
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Recognition & Awards
    • Risk Strategies Charitable Foundation
    • Transparency and Disclosures
  • Join Us
    • Careers
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Industries
    • Architects & Engineers
    • Aviation
      • Aviation Business Insurance - Manned Risk
      • Non-Owned Aviation
      • Unmanned Aerial System and Drones
    • Cannabis
    • Construction
      • Alternative Solutions
      • Financing & Pre-Construction
      • Insurance Solutions
      • Risk Management
      • Surety
    • Education
      • Employee Benefits for Education
      • Property, Casualty & Liability for Education
      • Student Health & Wellness
    • Entertainment
      • Film & Television
      • Advertising Wrap-Ups
      • Event Cancellation & Non-Appearance
      • Music & Touring
      • Theatrical Production & Live Performance 
    • Financial Services
      • Asset Managers
      • Banks & Non-Bank Lending
      • Collections
      • Consumer Financial Services
      • Financial Tech
      • Insurance Companies
    • Fine Art
      • Artists
      • Artist Endowed Foundations
      • Auction Houses
      • Fine Art Packers / Shippers / Warehouses
      • Galleries
      • Museums
      • Private Art Dealers / Advisors
      • Private Collectors
    • Healthcare
      • Employee Benefits - Healthcare
      • Managed Care / Stop Loss
      • Medical Malpractice
      • Property & Casualty - Healthcare
      • Reinsurance
    • Law Firms
    • Marine & Yacht
      • Boat & Yacht For Individuals
      • Classic Yachts
      • Commercial & Recreational Marine Businesses
        • Marine Businesses
        • Sailing Organizations - Burgee Program
      • High Performance Boats
      • Jackline Program for Cruising Yachts
      • Mega Yachts
      • One-Design Insurance Program
      • Travel Medical & Trip Insurance
    • Nonprofit & Human Services
    • Private Equity
    • Public Sector
    • Real Estate
      • Commercial
      • Community Associations
      • Hospitality
      • Residential / Habitational
      • REITs
      • Retail
      • Specialty Programs
    • Relocation
      • Domestic Household Goods
      • Expat Renters & Living Insurance
      • Relocation Claims Service
      • International Household Goods
      • Supplemental Movers Coverage
      • Temporary Living Insurance
      • Vacant Home
    • Transportation
      • Business Auto Insurance
      • Last Mile Delivery
      • Forwarding & Brokering
      • Workers' Compensation
    • Waste & Recycling
  • Solutions
    • Business Insurance
      • Captives
      • Casualty
        • Analytics
        • Auto Liability & Physical Damage
        • Captives & Alternative Risk Financing
        • Claims Advocacy & Loss Control
        • Excess Liability
        • General Liability
        • Product Recall
        • Workers' Compensation
      • Cyber
        • Cyber Resolute
        • Cyber Risk Assessment and Analytics
        • Cyber Risk Response & Claims Advocacy
      • Environmental
        • Contractors Pollution Liability
        • Environmental Excess
        • Environmental Liability Transfer
        • Environmental Liability - Healthcare
        • Environmental Liability - Higher Education
        • Pollution Legal Liability
        • Environmental Liability - Private Equity
        • Professional Environmental Liability Insurance
        • Real Estate Development
        • Remediation Cost Cap
        • Secured Creditor Protection for Lenders
        • Underground Storage Tanks
      • International Liability
      • Management Liability
        • Management Liability - Entertainment
        • Management Liability - Financial Institutions
        • Management Liability - Healthcare
        • Management Liability - Real Estate
      • Property
        • Builder's Risk
        • Property Claims Services
        • Inland Transit and Ocean Cargo
        • Natural Hazard Catastrophe Modeling
        • Political Violence and Terrorism
        • Property Damage & Business Interruptions Valuations
        • Property Loss Prevention and Control
      • Surety
    • Employee Benefits
      • Employee Benefits Overview
      • Benefit Administration and Technology
      • Benefits Compliance Support
      • Data & Analytics
      • Human Capital Management
      • International Benefits
      • Absence Management & Ancillary Programs
      • Voluntary & Lifestyle Benefits
    • Financial & Wealth
      • Financial & Wealth Overview
      • Life Insurance
    • Private Client Services
      • Private Client Services Overview
      • Homeowners
      • Collections
      • Umbrella & Excess Liability
      • Auto
      • Boat & Yacht
      • Family Office
      • Specialty Coverages
    • Reinsurance
    • Risk Management Services
      • Risk Management Services Overview
      • Analytics
      • Claims Management & Advocacy
      • Loss Control
      • Safety Consulting Services
  • Consulting
    • Consulting Overview
    • Actuarial Services
    • Healthcare Claim Audit Services
    • Health and Welfare
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Pharmacy
    • Retirement Benefits
  • News and Insights
    • All Insights
    • Blog
    • Emergency Resource Centers
      • Cybersecurity
      • Earthquake
      • Hurricane
      • Pandemic
      • Riot & Civil Unrest
      • Severe Storms
      • Violence & Active Shooter
      • Wildfire
      • Winter Weather
    • Employee Benefits Compliance Center
    • Events
    • Media Coverage
    • State of the Market Reports
    • Press Releases
  • Company
    • About Us
    • Careers
    • Culture and Values
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
      • BeHEARD Series
      • DE&I Structure
      • Employee Resource Groups
    • Environmental, Social, & Governance
    • General Terms of Business
    • Leaders
    • Local Expertise
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Recognition & Awards
    • Risk Strategies Charitable Foundation
    • Transparency and Disclosures
      • General Terms of Business
      • Conflict of Interest Policy
      • Compensation Disclosure
      • Enterprise Risk Management
  • Join Us
    • Careers
      • Benefits & Wellness
      • Investing in Growth & Leadership
      • Life at Risk Strategies
      • Next Steps
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Partnership Benefits
      • Why Join Us?
      • Onboarding & Integration
  • Careers
  • Report a Claim
  • Clients
  • Contact Us
  • Employees

You are about to leave Risk Strategies website and view the content of an external website.

You are leaving risk-strategies.com

By accessing this link, you will be leaving Risk Strategies website and entering a website hosted by another party. Please be advised that you will no longer be subject to, or under the protection of, the privacy and security policies of Risk Strategies website. We encourage you to read and evaluate the privacy and security policies of the site you are entering, which may be different than those of Risk Strategies.

OK
  • News & Insights
  • Mergers & Acquisitions | Testimonials
July 05, 2022

An “Insurance Guy” Finds the Right Fit

Surety
4 min read
Will Burke
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
An “Insurance Guy” Finds the Right Fit | Risk Strategies

In the 1970s, I was living in Colorado when I first learned about the surety market. I was selling life insurance with a general brokerage division of Connecticut General. We sold to the principals of construction contracting firms the surety guys had as clients. From my perspective, the surety guys seemed more like order takers than true salespeople.

Sensing an opportunity to improve how the bonds were sold, I decided to see if I could make a go of it in my home state of New Mexico opening Burke Insurance Group in 1980. But, while I could get surety bond access, I needed insurance market access, too. Finding an insurance brokerage in New Mexico to associate with as an independent contractor solved that problem and I began calling on contractors. Knocking on doors and striking up business-focused conversations, I put my theories about a better approach to the test.

The approach centered on being a problem solver. I am a big believer that a sale closes itself. Instead of simply pushing a sale. I wanted to know what was working for contractors and what wasn’t. Once those problems were known and ways to address them identified, the sale closed naturally. That has always been the key to my success - then and now.

As this approach succeeded, my book grew dramatically in Southern New Mexico, specifically around Las Cruces when I moved there from Albuquerque in 1990. Burke began growing as we ventured eastward, while maintaining accounts in Albuquerque. The firm’s leadership expanded in 2006 when my partner, Shawn, joined the team. In 2015 my son, William, came on board, rounding out our leadership team.

Over the course of 40 years, fueled by specialty expertise and a consultative, problem-solver approach, we grew into a leading expert in the surety bond, construction, and oil and gasoline sectors in the New Mexico.

In recent years, Shawn, William, and I saw that further growth and expansion would mean moving into El Paso and other parts of West Texas. This expansion would be a heavy lift. Realistically, we’d need to find a partner, a larger broker with more resources. We also had national-scale brokerages in our accounts doing things we couldn’t, like employee benefits, creating a constant danger that we could be displaced.

When looking into brokerages to become part of, trying to find the right fit, there were a few things that stood out about Risk Strategies.

First and foremost, like us, they are a true specialist. We didn’t want to join a general insurance agency. We built our business and competitive advantage on specialization. We were looking for a company that understood the value of a focused business like ours.

Secondly, when we spoke to others who sold to Risk Strategies, we liked hearing that their culture didn’t change and that we would still be able to operate with some degree of autonomy.

Finally, we are insurance guys, not accountants. Many of the other firms we talked to seemed more like CPAs or bankers. Risk Strategies is insurance minded. When we attended the Risk Strategies national sales conference, we were really impressed by the amount of specialty expertise and industry knowledge embodied in the firm. It further confirmed our decision to join forces.

Since joining Risk Strategies, we have been really pleased that our instincts have proven correct. We’ve been able to preserve our culture and specialty focus, maintaining our local presence while expanding our relationship with our clients. One account we’ve had for a number of years regularly asked if we could write their health insurance. We’ve never been able to. Now, as a part of risk Strategies, we were able to give them the services of an entire employee benefits specialty practice.

And that was not a one-off. Risk Strategies has experts stepping up to help us win and expand new business and coming forward with great ideas for expanding our business - captives and other things that just weren’t in my vocabulary before the acquisition. This is all now going to be possible as a part of the Risk Strategies family. Opportunities like this make us excited about the future.

The contents of this article are for general informational purposes only and Risk Strategies Company makes no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy or completeness of any information contained herein. Any recommendations contained herein are intended to provide insight based on currently available information for consideration and should be vetted against applicable legal and business needs before application to a specific client. 

Related Posts

See all posts

Property & Casualty 4 min read Finding A Third Act at Risk Strateg... August 05, 2022
Employee Benefits 4 min read A Family Business Finds National Sc... August 23, 2022

Subscribe via Email

Risk Strategies Logo
  • Report a Claim
  • Clients
  • Contact
  • Employees
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility
  • Health Plan Transparency Compliance
©2023 Risk Strategies. All rights reserved.

Connect with Us

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook