Profile
“In insurance, one word or one endorsement usually decides whether a claim gets paid. I read for that iota,” says Mike Peristerakis, senior commercial account manager at La Salle Insurance. A background in history and classics trained him to read closely before insurance ever entered the picture, and that habit now shapes every file that crosses his desk.
Peristerakis did not set out to become a broker. He got his start at Western Financial Group, where Matthew Mrozek and Matt Friesen mentored him and showed him what commercial lines could look like when the technical side was taken seriously.
“Once I saw that the job rewards the same close reading my degree had trained into me, it stopped being chance and became a plan,” he says. Since then, he has sought out the complex commercial files most brokers would rather avoid, choosing depth over volume throughout his career. That focus has built both his book and his reputation. Today he carries a full commercial book while serving as La Salle’s go-to broker for its most complex and hard-to-place risks.
Peristerakis also credits Adam Murphy, owner of La Salle Insurance, for the trust and independence to build his practice his own way. “Adam has always backed me on the difficult files, the ones that take time and real technical work to get right,” he says. “Having an owner who believes in doing the work properly, not just quickly, has made all the difference.”
The results show where it matters most: last year, he retained all but one of his accounts. “Recognition is nice, and being named one of 20 Top Insurance Brokers in Canada, and the only one in Manitoba, means a lot to me,” he says. “But the retention number is the one I’m proudest of, because it’s clients deciding, year after year, that the work was worth it.”
His specialties run deep rather than wide: hospitality and leisure, including hotels, motels, inns, and restaurants; commercial construction, builders’ risk, and wrap-up liability; manufacturers and distributors exporting into the U.S., where supply agreements set the bar for coverage; and a growing niche in campgrounds, RV parks, resorts, and lodges.
The same philosophy carries through to how he works with clients. Much of his new business arrives through referrals, supplemented by targeted outreach in niches he knows well, using specialty programs built for operators that a generic package would not serve.
Retention, in his view, comes down to education. “Many commercial clients have been handed policies for years without anyone explaining what they cover,” he says. “I walk them through the wording in plain language, including where the gaps are.” He also reads the underlying contracts that drive a client’s coverage requirement rather than relying on a summary, a habit that has sometimes revealed a client could meet their obligation for less than they were quoted.
Peristerakis was also shortlisted as a finalist for Insurance Broker of the Year (Regional) at the 2026 Insurance Business Canada Awards, while La Salle Insurance was separately named an Excellence Awardee for Brokerage of the Year. “I’m grateful to my clients, my colleagues at La Salle, and the underwriting partners who make the hard files possible,” he says. The line-by-line reading that built his reputation shows no sign of becoming a shortcut.
30 Rue Principale, La Salle, MB R0G 0A2
204 736 2003
mike@lasalleinsurance.com
linkedin.com/in/mike-peristerakis-613a64211/
lasalleinsurance.com
Mike Peristerakis
Senior Commercial Account Manager La Salle Insurance
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
2020
2022
2024
2026
Commercial Insurance Broker at Western Financial Group
2020
Commercial Account Manager at La Salle Insurance
2022
Senior Commercial Account Manager at La Salle Insurance
2024
IBC’s Top Insurance Broker
Finalist, Insurance Broker of the Year (Regional) – Insurance Business Canada Awards
2026
Milestones
