Business Chief USA April 2019

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY GUARD INSURANCE COMPANIES
232
“We’re growing
every year by
20-25% which
shows that this
is not a steady
state company”
—
Sy Foguel,
CEO and President,
Berkshire Hathaway GUARD
aligning the organization to achieve
meteoric growth.
The CEO, Sy Foguel, joined the
company in 2007 when the group
was acquired by Clal Insurance
Enterprise Holdings Ltd., an international
insurance group of which he
was Executive Vice President. “At the
time the company was writing around
US$200mn of Workers Compensation
premium in a dozen states,” he recalls.
“Our vision from day one was to use the
company as a platform to become a
one stop shop for the insurance needs
distributed by our agents. We started
to introduce additional lines of coverage
and built all the infrastructure.” Later
in 2012, the organization changed
hands again and became a whollyowned
subsidiary of National Indemnity
Company, which is part of the
Berkshire Hathaway Group. “Today, we
are a $1.6bn company,” Foguel adds.
COO Carl Witkowski, who has been
with the company in different roles
since 1989, adds that before gaining
the backing of Berkshire Hathaway,
GUARD first had to forge its own path
in the insurance market. “We were a
small regional company and there
were two key things we had to offer:
superior service and efficiency,” he
observes. “Our retail agents are a key
part of our DNA – they’ve been our
distribution force.” Like any small
operation, efficiency has always been a
well-versed mantra at GUARD. “We
needed to be efficient to survive
as a company and so our expense
ratios needed to be managed,”
he continues. “When we were later
acquired, it was a great example of
when preparation meets opportunity.”
Critically, as the insurer has continued
on its upward trajectory, it has taken
care to retain this same start-up
philosophy and mentality.
APRIL 2019