Ariel Ballard
Insurance client services manager
Advantage Insurance Management
Personal bio: I am originally from New Jersey, but I’ve spent my adult life in Charlotte, Vermont. I have been passionate about horses and riding since middle school. Having recently found CrossFit and yoga, I’m working to improve my overall fitness so I can keep up with my teenage daughter.
Professional profile: While studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Equine Business Management at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, I worked part-time at a local bank. The bank offered me a job after my graduation. My love of horses and outdoor activities brought me back to Vermont, where I worked at a large bank servicing many captive insurance companies. My Rhode Island banking experience was very focused whereas I got to do a lot more during my Vermont banking days, mainly due to the variety of captive clients that we serviced. That got me curious about the captive industry.
How did you end up in the captive industry?
During my time in banking, I assisted many captive insurance clients with their banking needs. Being in Vermont with a well-known investment banker specialising in captives was just what I needed to learn some basics of captive insurance. I also have a life insurance background which helped me understand basic insurance principles. When there was an opening at Advantage Insurance, I jumped at the opportunity to meet a few of the folks I had previously communicated with only by phone and e-mail while at the bank. And I am so happy to have been in the right place to learn and make the connections that I had.
What has been your highlight in the captive industry so far?
The people and the rich experience they bring. I enjoy working with a variety of clientele. My daily client contacts range from hospital risk managers to Fortune 500 treasury department personnel and many people in between. Their captive insurance questions have much in common, but they bring such different perspectives to the discussion and resolution process. The diversity in their approach has made my work interesting.
What/who have been your influences in the captive industry?
My banking experience has taught me the importance of regulation and compliance which turned out to be of equal importance to captives. The people who hired me at Advantage Insurance, Christina Kindstedt and Sandy Griffith, are both captive industry veterans and have taught me how to bring added value to client services. Meeting standard service requirements is the prerequisite. But I’ve found that captive clients really appreciate critical thinking and coming up with a better way of doing routine transactions.
What is your impression of the industry?
Collaboration and timely problem solving. When a new situation presents itself, it takes traditional insurers and their regulators a significant amount “I met Ariel when she was the bank representative for one of our larger captive clients. Due to its complexity, that captive makes all types of banking transactions and usually on a tight schedule. Ariel always found a way to get it done on time.” “Drawing on her knowledge, she recommended better ways to handle some transactions, saving us and the captive time and expenses. She has performed with the same competence and can-do attitude since joining Advantage Insurance, earning our clients’ rave reviews.” Christina Kindstedt, managing director, Advantage Insurance Management of time to react. Captives are held to very similar high regulatory standards but the industry is much more agile. Take COVID-19 for example.
It followed on the heels of a hardening insurance market. A number of our clients had to price new insurance risks into their captives in a short time frame. We worked closely with actuaries, regulators and other stakeholders to implement these changes, much to our captive owners’ relief. That is what makes our industry so important and interesting. We are the innovators in a fast-changing world.
What are your aspirations for your career in the captive industry?
I aspire to learn more about the different operational aspects of all types of captives. That richness in knowledge will allow me to continue providing value-added services to my clients. I would like to continue working with clients from different industry sectors and to help provide solutions when unexpected issues arise and changes are needed. I’m very fortunate to work for a fast-growing captive manager with a deep bench, it gives me many growth and learning opportunities.
What advice do you have for someone considering a role in the industry?
Network and be open to learning. Do more listening than talking. Attend conferences. Most importantly, be yourself. If you are a people person, you will get to work with a varied clientele from all over the world. If you are a numbers person, there are plenty of metrics and ratios for you to crunch and analyse. The work never gets boring.
Christina Kindstedt, managing director, Advantage Insurance Management “I met Ariel when she was the bank representative for one of our larger captive clients. Due to its complexity, that captive makes all types of banking transactions and usually on a tight schedule. Ariel always found a way to get it done on time.” “Drawing on her knowledge, she recommended better ways to handle some transactions, saving us and the captive time and expenses. She has performed with the same competence and can-do attitude since joining Advantage Insurance, earning our clients’ rave reviews.”
