Headquarters:
Chicago, IL
Year founded:
2010
Number of employees:
5,295 (Ryan Specialty as of Dec. 31, 2024)
Phone:
312 784 6001
Email:
info@rtspecialty.com
Website:
rtspecialty.com
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/rt-specialty
“We feature leading-edge technology, enabling our agents to quickly generate finance agreements from our website”
Peter Burrous
Johnson & Johnson Insurance
RT Specialty
Timothy W. Turner
CEO, Ryan Specialty
Chairman, RT Specialty
Edward F. McCormack
CEO, RT Specialty
Brenda (Ballard) Austenfeld
Co-President, RT Specialty
CEO, RT National Property
Leadership
Tim Turner is CEO of Ryan Specialty and chairman of Ryan Turner Specialty (RT Specialty), Ryan Specialty’s wholesale brokerage division, and a member of Ryan Specialty’s board of directors. He joined the firm in 2010 to create RT Specialty. Under his leadership, RT Specialty is now one of the top wholesale distributors of specialty insurance in the country.
Prior to joining Ryan Specialty in 2010, Turner was the president of CRC Insurance Services. He started his career at AJ Renner & Associates and was a casualty broker at the Crump Group. He has received numerous awards, including the Spirit of Life 2021 by the National Insurance Industry Council and City of Hope. In 2019, he received the prestigious Insurance Industry “Good Scout” Award from the Boy Scouts of America, Greater New York Councils.
CEO, Ryan Specialty
Chairman, RT Specialty
Timothy W. Turner
Ed McCormack is CEO of RT Specialty. He joined Ryan Specialty in 2010 after two decades as a courtroom lawyer, first as a federal prosecutor and then as a commercial litigator. Most recently, he was with the international law firm Nixon Peabody.
McCormack received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia.
CEO, RT Specialty
Edward F. McCormack
Brenda (Ballard) Austenfeld is Co-President of RT Specialty and CEO of RT National Property. She provides leadership to brokerage teams for sales and strategy initiatives while managing relationships with key market and retail broker partners. Brenda joined RT Specialty through RT’s acquisition of Westrope in 2013, where she was Partner and Executive Vice President. Before joining Westrope, Brenda served as a global property broker and held several leadership roles at retail brokers Aon Risk Services and Alexander & Alexander.
Brenda serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for The Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association (WSIA). She also recently served 6 years on the Board of Directors for The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB), plus she was a founding board member of WSIA Diversity Foundation where she spent 4 years, and had served 15 years on the Board of Trustees for the KS 4-H Foundation. Brenda has been recognized by many industry and community publications for her leadership throughout her career.
Co-President, RT Specialty
CEO, RT National Property
Brenda (Ballard) Austenfeld
“We feature leading-edge technology, enabling our agents to quickly generate finance agreements from our website”
Peter Burrous
Johnson & Johnson Insurance
“It’s from the point an agency thinks about contacting J&J to how they contact J&J, to the experience they have after that contact. We measure all of that and we’re building an extensive internal report card that is monitored consistently”
Peter Burrous
Johnson & Johnson Insurance
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“It’s from the point an agency thinks about contacting J&J to how they contact J&J, to the experience they have after that contact. We measure all of that and we’re building an extensive internal report card that is monitored consistently”
Peter Burrous
Johnson & Johnson Insurance
“We feature leading-edge technology, enabling our agents to quickly generate finance agreements from our website”
Peter Burrous
Johnson & Johnson Insurance
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Leadership
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Michael T. VanAcker
Co-President, RT Specialty
Michael VanAcker, Co-President of RT Specialty, has direct leadership responsibilities over RT Specialty’s operations and digital offerings, including The Connector, RT’s digital marketplace for micro commercial business, Stetson, the firm’s premium finance company, and Ryan Specialty University, the firm’s enterprise-wide learning and development platform, among other services. Michael also works closely with RT’s valued clients, markets and internal brokers and underwriters to provide best-in-class solutions.
Michael has been with Ryan Specialty since 2011, most recently as Executive Vice President of RT Specialty and, before that, Chief Operating Officer of Ryan Specialty. In his role for Ryan Specialty, he ensured the firm’s successful transition to a public company and oversaw more than 1,200 teammates across the operations, technology and service teams. Previously, Michael served as Controller and COO for RT Specialty, as well as establishing and leading numerous departments for the firm and being heavily involved in the strategic positioning and integrations of Ryan Specialty’s multitude of acquisitions.
Co-President, RT Specialty
Michael T. VanAcker
Peter Burrous
Chief Marketing Officer
Peter Burrous, chief marketing officer at Johnson & Johnson, has been with the company for 19 years. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1981, he spent 20 years in various sales and marketing positions at The Coca-Cola Company. He joined J&J in 2003 to build an industry-leading sales and marketing team. He and his team are responsible for agency partnerships and the overall sales and marketing plan.
Peter is a member of the Trident United Way Tocqueville Society. He lives in Mt Pleasant, SC with his wife, Catherine. They have four children – Peter, Bradford, Leslie, and Web – and now have their first grandson, with a second grandson on the way. Peter is an avid pilot and enjoys traveling, boating, and skiing in his off time.
Chief Marketing Officer
Peter Burrous
RT Specialty is a leading wholesale distributor of specialty insurance products and services and the wholesale broking specialty of Ryan Specialty. The firm’s specialist brokers handle an expansive mix of property, casualty, professional lines, transportation, personal lines and workers’ compensation insurance products on both an open market and delegated authority basis.
RT Specialty’s entrepreneurial spirit is combined with advanced risk modeling, market access, and claims advocacy to provide excellent solutions to its clients. The firm is built on a foundation of talent, innovation, and execution, and believes that clients are best served by professionals who maintain meaningful teamwork among brokers, agents, and carriers.
RT Specialty thrives on challenge, and its wholesale specialty and binding authority risk professionals have deep experience and the drive to find superior placement for even the toughest risks. Regardless of account size – big or small – RT Specialty is dedicated to providing lightning-fast expert advice, advocacy, and execution on behalf of its retail broker clients.
For more information, please visit rtspecialty.com.
“It’s from the point an agency thinks about contacting J&J to how they contact J&J, to the experience they have after that contact. We measure all of that and we’re building an extensive internal report card that is monitored consistently”
Peter Burrous
Johnson & Johnson Insurance
Steven E. Craig
Chief Financial Officer
Mark Bernacki
Chief Underwriting Officer
Julie Prewitt
Senior Vice President, Marketing
Simon Williams
Chief Strategy & Distribution Officer, Arch Insurance International
and Active Underwriter, Syndicate 1955
Steven E. Craig is the chief financial officer at Johnson & Johnson. He graduated from Clemson University (BS Finance) in 1988, the University of South Carolina School of Law (JD) in 1993, and New York University School of Law (LLM, Taxation) in 1995. After practicing tax law for 15 years, he joined J&J as CFO in 2010. He lives in Charleston with his wife, Molly. They have three children: Steven, Macy, and Michael. He enjoys playing golf, traveling, hunting, boating, and generally being outdoors.
Chief Financial Officer
Steven E. Craig
Mark Bernacki is the chief underwriting officer of Amwins, the first to serve in the role. Prior to that, he served as president of Amwins Special Risk Underwriters. In addition to his leadership in underwriting, Bernacki runs the Amwins Alternative Risk Transfer Team for Amwins.
Chief Underwriting Officer
Mark Bernacki
Julie Prewitt has worked on nearly every aspect of marketing and advertising in her nearly 20 years in the industry. Her team at REInsurePro manages branding, advertising, events, content, digital campaigns, and agent engagement and plays a key role in product development.
Senior Vice President, Marketing
Julie Prewitt
Kimi leads the Estate Planning and Wealth Protection team and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. She understands the complex and delicate nature of family estate planning, the technical requirements around probate and estate administration, and the importance of preserving wealth for future generations. Her advice is accurate, commercial, strategic and tailored to each situation.
Partner
Kimi Shah
Kimi leads the Estate Planning and Wealth Protection team and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. She understands the complex and delicate nature of family estate planning, the technical requirements around probate and estate administration, and the importance of preserving wealth for future generations. Her advice is accurate, commercial, strategic and tailored to each situation.
Partner
Kimi Shah
Kimi leads the Estate Planning and Wealth Protection team and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. She understands the complex and delicate nature of family estate planning, the technical requirements around probate and estate administration, and the importance of preserving wealth for future generations. Her advice is accurate, commercial, strategic and tailored to each situation.
Partner
Kimi Shah
maintaining an in-house team of more than 20 programmers to facilitate fast improvements
providing IVANS policy downloads that enable up to 30 percent labor savings to independent agencies
delivering online capabilities including rating, policy documents, payments, and claims reporting
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“We will continue to strengthen our service proposition and customer experience as a key differentiator, as we build on the momentum we have achieved to date across multiple business lines and territories,” says McLean. “Our im is to continue to grow our market relevance and strengthen our partnerships with our strategic brokers as we expand our leadership position in key sectors.
“We will also continue to invest in talent. We are committed to drawing from the broadest pools of talent, and to creating an environment that attracts and retains stellar employees. We recognise the importance of building teams that are diverse, collaborative, and innovative and are dedicated to cultivating a supportive and inclusive workplace culture in which all our employees can thrive.”
Recognizing that people are its greatest asset, J&J remains committed to providing every employee with a team-oriented work environment.
The company’s core values include:
relationships and teamwork
embracing and driving change
holding teammates accountable
pursuing excellence with humility
giving back to the community
To remain competitive, J&J strategically markets its expertise to bolster brand awareness. Licensed in every state and with over 600 employees, the firm has plans to continue expanding.
Reflecting on J&J’s status as a long-term regional player, Burrous shares, “In the last four to five years, we decided that it was important for J&J to become a national player. We have offices in Dallas and Phoenix, and we just did an acquisition in Oregon.”
Despite expansion plans, upholding quality customer experience remains a key priority for J&J.
“It’s from the point an agency thinks about contacting J&J to how they contact J&J, to the experience they have after that contact. We measure all of that and we’re building an extensive internal report card that is monitored consistently,” shares Burrous.
Aside from providing clients with best-in-class services, J&J also strives to create meaningful impact within the communities it operates in.
Whether it’s participating in Trident United Way’s Day of Caring, joining a project with Habitat for Humanity, organizing food and clothing drives, or volunteering for local community organizations, J&J drives positive change.
To sum up the most important asset of the J&J Team, the core value “relationships and teamwork” exemplifies the root of the company’s success.
“Our family culture is what sets us apart. If you need something as a teammate, I’m going to help you even if it’s not my department. I think that’s really the glue of what keeps us together,” says Burrous.
