Profile
“I will continue to empower and encourage my staff to perform at their best as I have done for the last decade. I will continue to advocate for my clients, embracing new technology and being open to business and industry changes”
Ken Dixon,
Dixon Insurance Services
Marilyn Quinlan is executive vice president at Alliant Insurance Services.
She got started in insurance by chance. She began as an underwriter trainee and was promoted to package underwriter and ultimately to underwriting manager. Once she had exceeded all her goals in that role, she became interested in being a broker because it seemed to her that is where the rubber meets the road. She says, “That’s the great part about being a broker – you get to solve business problems rather than just insurance issues.”
Quinlan is challenged by her own passion to know and understand all her clients’ needs. She wants to help everyone but knows she needs to narrow her prospect list to target those most benefited by her skill set. She meets this challenge by focusing on a more targeted list each year.
Throughout her nearly 50-year career, Quinlan has accomplished a lot:
• 1974–86: began her career in insurance as a property underwriter
• 1986–92: worked as a stay-at-home mom
• 1992: returned to insurance underwriting
• 1993–97: worked as underwriting team manager on the carrier side
• 1997–2021: served in executive leadership roles at national insurance brokerages
• 2021: joined Alliant Insurance Services as Executive Vice President
Quinlan’s perseverance and poise have netted many accomplishments.
“The single biggest achievement has been co-leading the team that did the captive consulting and captive management for the University of California,” she says. “We launched five insurance captives for the university. Financing their risk in this manner literally saved them millions of dollars and offered a new revenue stream, the earnings from the money in the captive being invested. To affect positive change in the state’s education and healthcare system – is there anything better than that? I went to college on a fully funded California state scholarship. I finally felt like I was able to pay back that huge favor. Without that scholarship, I would not have been able to afford college.”
Quinlan’s strongest quality is being a natural servant leader and a highly intuitive visionary. She is enterprising and passionate about solving business problems for clients in any way she can. Overall, she remains positive and compassionate.
“I love what I do,” she says. “That’s why I’m still doing it. People keep saying, ‘When are you going to retire?’ I’m having a great time, so why should I retire? It's fun.”
10th Floor, 18100 Von Karman Ave., Irvine, CA
marilyn.quinlan@alliant.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marilynquinlan/
https://alliant.com/
Marilyn Quinlan
Executive Vice President
Alliant Insurance Services
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
Profile
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
“To be able to give back to the community is rewarding and fulfilling. I am honoured to be in a position where I can raise funds for those less fortunate and in need”
Ken Dixon,
Dixon Insurance Services
1992–1997
1997–2008
2009–present
2010–2021
2019
2021–present
Team Manager
Kemper Insurance
1992–
1997
Area Vice President at Arthur J. Gallagher
Awarded Top Producer at Arthur J. Gallagher
1997–
2008
Founder at RiskRadius
2009–
present
Senior Vice President at Willis Towers Watson (WTW)
Member of Exceptional Producers Council at WTW
2010–
2021
Executive Vice President at Alliant Insurance Services
2021–
present
Assistant Vice President and Senior Broker at MJ Hall & Company since 2018
Present
Milestones
Aug 2022
Milestones
Sept 2021
Feb 2022
Apr 2022
Jul 2022
Aug
2022
Suncorp Bank introduces Solar Home Bonus offer for customers who are choosing renewable energy for their homes
Sept 2021
Month-on-month market share growth commences
Feb 2022
Suncorp Bank wins the Canstar award for most outstanding value in investment loans
Apr 2022
Suncorp Bank wins Money Magazine’s Bank of the Year and Business Bank of the Year awards for the fifth year in a row
Jul 2022
Suncorp Bank’s turnaround times are the lowest they have ever been. The lender becomes Australia’s first certified carbon neutral bank for both its operation and transaction services
Aug 2022
Milestones
How does he distinguish himself among fellow brokers?
“I believe all brokers are working very hard in a difficult market,” he says. “However, I have demonstrated continued growth, advocacy and performance on my client’s behalf, which is now recognised [for 10 consecutive years] in the Elite Broker awards.”
In 1990, Dixon got started with FAI, working in claims and as a team leader. From the late 1990s up until 2003, he worked at FAI and Suncorp in underwriting and as an area manager at VACC, CGU (South East Queensland). From 2003 to 2012, he got into broking and eventually started Dixon Insurance in 2013. Since then, he’s accumulated numerous acccolades, including Elite Broker, Diversity and Equity, and Fast Broker awards.
During the pandemic, Dixon challenged insurers over the Quarantine Act application to insurance wordings. His argument was that the Quarantine Act does not apply as an exclusion, as the Biosecurity Act was invoked by the Morrison Government, and this was not a subsequent amendment to the Quarantine Act. The test case in the Appeals court was won for Dixon’s client with a unanimous five-judge verdict.
He remains focused on transport, manufacturing, motor trade, engineering and large farm clients.
What are his plans for the future?
On a business level, “more of the same. I will continue to empower and encourage my staff to perform at their best as I have done for the last decade. I will continue to advocate for my clients, embracing new technology and being open to business and industry changes.”
On a personal level, Dixon invests significant time, effort and funds, along with his GT3, to support many charities through his passion for motorsport. From participating in and sponsoring the Thunderbolt Run (which provides tens of thousands of dollars in support for Beyond Blue and Prostate Cancer), to organising and running the Track Knights for Amira charity night where 28 Exotic Supercars raised funds through passenger laps in wet conditions, Dixon states “this is our time to give back to the community and those in need. My friendships and association with those seeking to do the same, allows us to contribute to those less fortunate and raise funds and awareness”.
He adds: “To be able to give back to the community is rewarding and fulfilling. I am honoured to be in a position where I can raise funds for those less fortunate and in need.”