Learning from the masters
Having been afforded the opportunity to learn from such industry luminaries as Hank Greenberg and Warren Buffett, Constantine “Dinos” Iordanou was given the ideal teaching and platform from which to establish his own legacy in the global re/insurance industry.
During a career which stretches back to the 1970s, Iordanou has worked for some of the industry’s most celebrated companies. Names such as American International Group (AIG), Berkshire Hathaway and Zurich all appear on his biography, but more recently he has been the front man for the Bermuda-based re/insurer Arch Capital Group, a business he first joined in January 2002 just months after the company had raised capital in November 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
His time in the market is now coming to an end, with Iordanou set to retire from his position as chief executive of Arch Capital Group in March. He will remain as chairman and serve the company as a senior advisor.
Iordanou’s long-service and stellar industry career led to the executive being named the 2017 Insurance Leader of the Year by St John’s University’s School of Risk Management. Shortly before receiving the honour during a glamourous dinner in New York City’s Marriott Marquis, Reactions caught up with Iordanou to reflect on his career and his hopes for the business he helped to create and is now preparing to depart.
Iordanou said it was an honour to be named St John’s 2017 Insurance Leader of the Year, but insisted the award is a recognition of both his own personal achievements and those of the team he has at Arch.
“At the end of the day I’m only getting the award because of what the company has been able to do in the market place,” Iordanou states. “I’m glad I was chosen, but in my view this is more of a recognition of the great people we have at Arch and what we have been able to achieve in the last 15 years or so.”
While the departing CEO was full of praise for the other members of Arch’s management group, Iordanou harked back to his mentors at AIG and Berkshire Hathaway for the important roles they have played in his career.
“The insurance business wasn’t very open or welcoming when I first entered it back in the mid-1970s,” Iordanou said.
“I have a lot of appreciation and respect for AIG who gave me an opportunity to begin my career as an engineer and then becoming a management trainee in an industry that if you had a name with a lot of vowels and an accent you may have had a difficult time getting past the secretary in the personnel department.”
At the helm of AIG during that time was the aforementioned Greenberg.
“In those days, it was pretty closed off if you didn’t go to the right school or you had a certain background. But I give a lot of credit to Hank Greenberg – my mentor - who gave me my first break in the business and gave me an opportunity to work for AIG and then, later on, be recognised by him for the opportunities because he broke the ethnic barrier in our business in my view.
“Hank didn’t care if you were Greek, Italian, Chinese, Jewish, Muslim or Christian. At the end of the day, if you could do the job then you would get an opportunity at AIG and I took advantage of it.”
During his time with the US insurance giant, Iordanou served as senior vice president of its subsidiary American Home Insurance Company.
That was the first of two moments which Iordanou said were “momentous” in his re/insurance industry education, the other being when he joined Berkshire Hathaway in 1987 and was given the chance to witness Buffett’s way of working.
“That was another break for me,” said Iordanou.
“You’ve got to be good at the business, but you’ve also got to be lucky and I think that was a bit of luck,” Iordanou said of the opportunity to join Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
“How many young individuals in the business have the opportunity to work with two masters like Hank Greenberg – a legendary figure in our industry – and probably one of the most celebrated business people and investors in the world in Warren Buffett? I had the opportunity to work with both
His time with the Omaha, Nebraska-headquartered business saw him serving as president of Berkshire Hathaway Group’s commercial casualty insurance division.
Having learned from such heralded figures as Greenberg and Buffett, Iordanou joined the then Zurich Financial Services organisation in 1992.
During nine years with the company, he progressed through the ranks, holding a variety of roles such as senior executive vice president of group operations and business development of Zurich Financial Services, president of Zurich-American Specialties Division, chief operating officer and then CEO of Zurich-American. He was then appointed CEO of Zurich North America before being named chief operating officer at the parent company.
In September 2001, the world changed forever with the September 11 terrorist attacks. The tragedy impacted the re/insurance industry in several ways, the most notable example being the staff losses suffered by brokers Marsh and Aon.
The financial losses were also significant – re/insurance claims are estimated to have been in excess of $30bn – and rates spiked in response.
In late 2001, Iordanou teamed up with Paul Ingrey and the late Robert Clements and raised the capital to launch a new Bermudian re/insurer to take advantage of this increased pricing. That new re/insurer was Arch.
“The unfortunate events of September 11 gave me and a team the opportunity to create Arch,” Iordanou explains.
“Even though it emerged from tragic events, it was a phenomenal opportunity to put in place everything I had learned in the business up to that point.”
Iordanou’s first role with the business was as CEO for Arch Capital Group (US). In August 2003, he was appointed CEO of the entire Arch group, adding the position of chairman in November 2009.
“It was like having a blank canvas and I could create a new painting. Not many of us in our careers have that opportunity. I was fortunate to have it and I have enjoyed it immensely. I’ve worked very hard over the last 15 years, but it has been a very exciting time for me.”
Arch has enjoyed a successful 16 years, but Iordanou is adamant that the triumphs the business has experienced are down to the team ethos within the company.
According to Iordanou, what makes Arch unique is the strong team that helped launch the business in the first place and those that have come in and supported it ever since, with Ingrey, Clements and Marc Grandisson all playing their part.
Early on in its existence, the Arch team felt that the key to building a winning formula was to create a culture that did two things very well; the first was investing in talent and the second was to foster a culture of working together to deliver the best outcomes for the business.
“We are always trying to attract the best possible talent within the organisation
“We don’t reward individuality; we reward team effort. This collaboration and the ability for us to look at the world and challenge, share knowledge and experiences makes for a better decision-making process within the organisation and that enhances the results.”
This culture also plays a part in Arch’s attitudes towards promoting talent. Iordanou succeeded Ingrey as chairman in November 2009, and the company is keen to continue that tradition when the current CEO retires later this year and is replaced by Grandisson. Iordanou will continue to hold the chairman’s seat on the board.
Further evidence of Arch’s commitment to promoting from within can be seen in the company’s announcement in September last year that Nicolas Papadopoulo would replace David McElroy as chairman and CEO of Arch Worldwide Insurance Group and chief underwriting officer for its property and casualty operations. Arch turned to Maamoun Rajeh, the president and CEO of Arch Re (Bermuda), to replace Papadopoulo as CEO of Arch Worldwide Reinsurance Group.
“The responsibility of any good leader is to always have their successor within the organisation. We’ve been very good at Arch at promoting from within,” said Iordanou.
“It’s not just for the CEO job, but for our other c-suite roles, our middle management and our branch management. We’re very big on promoting from within – it’s a good virtue to have, but you have to work hard on it by preparing people to have the knowledge, ability and skills to fill those jobs.”
Iordanou said he was very happy to be able to fulfill that obligation and have several individuals in place ready to step in.
“Marc is a phenomenal guy who I’ve worked very well with for the last 16 years. The board also believes in the philosophy because we work at it as a company. If you don’t, you won’t have the individuals you want to be able to take the next step and get to the next level and be able to continue that tradition.
“Arch isn’t just successful because of Dinos Iordanou. Arch is successful because of the team effort. By promoting from within we will continue that tradition and the culture we have, the way decisions are made. In essence, any change in leadership that the market accepts with a yawn is the best thing that can happen at an organisation.”
