Headquarters:
2850 Golf Road, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
Year founded:
1997
Number of employees:
3,000
Phone:
866 595 8413
Email:
Contact_Us@RPSins.com
Website:
rpsins.com
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/risk-placement-services-inc
“We foster a culture of collaboration and entrepreneurialism, which means when someone has a way of doing something better, we welcome it”
Tonya Lauderdale,
Risk Placement Services
Read on
IB Top Brokerages
Award Winner
SHIELDED INSURANCE BROKERS
Award Winner
RISK PLACEMENT SERVICES
Joel Cavaness
President
Tonya Lauderdale
Vice President, Human Resources
Katie Rossbach
Chief Financial Officer
Leadership
After cofounding Risk Placement Services in 1997 as a scratch operation with four employees, Joel Cavaness has been instrumental in driving its rapid growth to become one of the largest US wholesale brokers, MGAs, and program managers. A graduate of Southeast Missouri State University with a BS in Business Administration, Cavaness additionally holds Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter and Associate in Risk Management designations.
President
Joel Cavaness
Tonya Lauderdale serves as vice president, human resources at Risk Placement Services, where she is responsible for aligning talent development and retention goals to support the company’s extraordinary growth. Lauderdale has demonstrated proven performance strengths in business partnership, human resources, data and information organization, and employee relations.
Vice President, Human Resources
Tonya Lauderdale
Katie Rossbach serves as chief financial officer, a role in which she works with executive and field leadership to drive and influence strategy and results. She holds an MBA from DePaul University, a BS in Finance and Insurance from Illinois State University, and a CPCU designation.
Chief Financial Officer
Katie Rossbach
SPECIAL REPORT
Home
Bio
“We foster a culture of collaboration and entrepreneurialism, which means when someone has a way of doing something better, we welcome it”
Tonya Lauderdale,
Risk Placement Services
“We have made a tremendous shift in our working environments and found ways to connect and stay stronger together, with a focus on coming through for our clients”
Tonya Lauderdale,
Risk Placement Services
Read on
Award Winner
NODIFI
Leadership
SPECIAL REPORT
Home
Bio
“We have made a tremendous shift in our working environments and found ways to connect and stay stronger together, with a focus on coming through for our clients”
Tonya Lauderdale,
Risk Placement Services
“We foster a culture of collaboration and entrepreneurialism, which means when someone has a way of doing something better, we welcome it”
Tonya Lauderdale,
Risk Placement Services
Read on
Award Winner
NODIFI
Leadership
SPECIAL REPORT
Home
Bio
Emily Hathcoat
Vice President, Marketing
Emily Hathcoat, vice president of marketing, is responsible for advancing business priorities through strategic and creative marketing programs that position the brand in the marketplace, drive client engagement, and generate demand for RPS products and services. She holds a BA in History from Creighton University and an MBA from Saint Louis University.
Vice President, Marketing
Emily Hathcoat
Jeff Arricale
Chief Financial Officer
Through leadership, approachability and expert knowledge of the finance industry and corresponding consumer trends, Jordan Mutton has led award-winning, high-performing teams, continually exceeding benchmarks. Building relationships is core to Jordan’s values, a skillset that has positioned him as a key leader within the industry.
Head of Inside Sales
Jordan Mutton
Founded in 1997 as a scratch operation with only four employees, Risk Placement Services (RPS) has become one of the largest specialty insurance distributors in the United States, offering solutions in wholesale brokerage, binding authority, program administration, and standard lines, as well as specialized auto through its Pronto Insurance brand.
The firm’s online services include a quote-bind-issue platform that makes it possible for independent agents and brokers to come through for their clients with coverage in a matter of minutes. Fueled by a culture of creativity, innovation and teamwork, RPS continues to add top-tier talent to its roster of insurance specialists and growth through new merger partners, all with one central focus – providing insurance expertise and speed of service to its clients.
“We work in a crowded space, and we know our clients have multiple options when it comes to choosing a wholesaler or MGA partner to support their business,” says Tonya Lauderdale, vice president for human resources at RPS. “Our clients tell us that what makes RPS stand out from the competition is our creativity in coverage solutions and the expertise of our brokers and underwriters.
“If you ask our employees, it’s our culture that makes RPS stand out. We foster a culture of collaboration and entrepreneurialism, which means when someone has a way of doing something better, we welcome it. When a new producer needs assistance or guidance, we surround that individual with support and mentorship. We truly operate as ‘One RPS’ and know that when our client succeeds, we all succeed.”
“We have made a tremendous shift in our working environments and found ways to connect and stay stronger together, with a focus on coming through for our clients”
Tonya Lauderdale,
Risk Placement Services
Alex Ventura
Head of Marketing
Dave Longbottom
Chief Technology Officer
Karen Bannister, CM
Vice President, Marketing
Sarah M Stewart
Associate Vice President,
Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Alex Ventura has a wealth of experience and passion for martech across the financial services sector – including B2B and B2C – with a focus on delivering exemplary omnichannel experiences. Alex is responsible for driving brands in the digital age with strategies that evoke a brand’s personality and corresponding values. Mapping customer journeys encompassing systematic and programmatic technologies has been key to his successful strategies.
Head of Marketing
Alex Ventura
With a superior understanding of web design and architecture, Dave Longbottom has been pivotal in orchestrating the development of new technologies, which are aligned with business objectives, and pioneering industry-leading solutions. Dave’s tenacity to push the status quo has led to the development of innovative solutions encompassing the latest emerging technological trends and cyber security frameworks.
Chief Technology Officer
Dave Longbottom
Karen Bannister has over 20 years of marketing expertise and has a Chartered Marketer designation from the Canadian Marketing Association. She is a strategic marketing leader with a career record of success in developing and executing effective marketing strategies, growing revenue, and overseeing multi-talented teams. She also holds five certifications for marketing and brand management.
Karen has successfully completed the Mini-MBA, Essentials of Management program at Schulich School of Business, and most recently completed the Communications and Leadership Program at The Ivey Academy.
Vice President, Marketing
Karen Bannister, CM
Sarah M Stewart has more than 15 years of strategic leasing and customer care experience in residential property management. She is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Centurion’s national leasing platforms, residential lead generation, and overall customer experience excellence through operation of the company’s internal customer service department.
Associate Vice President, Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Sarah M Stewart
Alex Ventura
Head of Marketing
Sarah M Stewart
Associate Vice President, Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Karen Bannister, CM
Vice President, Marketing
Dave Longbottom
Chief Technology Officer
Alex Ventura has a wealth of experience and passion for martech across the financial services sector – including B2B and B2C – with a focus on delivering exemplary omnichannel experiences. Alex is responsible for driving brands in the digital age with strategies that evoke a brand’s personality and corresponding values. Mapping customer journeys encompassing systematic and programmatic technologies has been key to his successful strategies.
Head of Marketing
Alex Ventura
With a superior understanding of web design and architecture, Dave Longbottom has been pivotal in orchestrating the development of new technologies, which are aligned with business objectives, and pioneering industry-leading solutions. Dave’s tenacity to push the status quo has led to the development of innovative solutions encompassing the latest emerging technological trends and cyber security frameworks.
Chief Technology Officer
Dave Longbottom
Karen Bannister has over 20 years of marketing expertise and has a Chartered Marketer designation from the Canadian Marketing Association. She is a strategic marketing leader with a career record of success in developing and executing effective marketing strategies, growing revenue, and overseeing multi-talented teams. She also holds five certifications for marketing and brand management.
Karen has successfully completed the Mini-MBA, Essentials of Management program at Schulich
School of Business, and most recently completed the Communications and Leadership Program at
The Ivey Academy.
Vice President, Marketing
Karen Bannister, CM
Sarah M Stewart has more than 15 years of strategic leasing and customer care experience in residential property management. She is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Centurion’s national leasing platforms, residential lead generation, and overall customer experience excellence through operation of the company’s internal customer service department.
Associate Vice President, Leasing and
Call Centre Operations
Sarah M Stewart
Sonia Ahuja
Chief Operating Officer
Sanjay Mehta
EVP and Chief Market Officer
John Laurie
Chief Partnership Officer
Anthony Dippolito
Chief Wellness Officer
Alex Ventura has a wealth of experience and passion for martech across the financial services sector – including B2B and B2C – with a focus on delivering exemplary omnichannel experiences. Alex is responsible for driving brands in the digital age with strategies that evoke a brand’s personality and corresponding values. Mapping customer journeys encompassing systematic and programmatic technologies has been key to his successful strategies.
Head of Marketing
Alex Ventura
With a superior understanding of web design and architecture, Dave Longbottom has been pivotal in orchestrating the development of new technologies, which are aligned with business objectives, and pioneering industry-leading solutions. Dave’s tenacity to push the status quo has led to the development of innovative solutions encompassing the latest emerging technological trends and cyber security frameworks.
Chief Technology Officer
Dave Longbottom
Karen Bannister has over 20 years of marketing expertise and has a Chartered Marketer designation from the Canadian Marketing Association. She is a strategic marketing leader with a career record of success in developing and executing effective marketing strategies, growing revenue, and overseeing multi-talented teams. She also holds five certifications for marketing and brand management.
Karen has successfully completed the
Mini-MBA, Essentials of Management program at Schulich School of Business, and most recently completed the Communications and Leadership Program at The Ivey Academy.
Vice President, Marketing
Karen Bannister, CM
Sarah M Stewart has more than 15 years
of strategic leasing and customer care experience in residential property management. She is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Centurion’s national leasing platforms, residential lead generation, and overall customer experience excellence through operation
of the company’s internal customer
service department.
Associate Vice President,
Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Sarah M Stewart
With a culture of creativity, innovation and teamwork, RPS offers employees training and professional development programs, recognition programs, and a work hard/play hard mindset. Activities such as monthly leadership calls providing transparency into results and strategic initiatives; consistent employee newsletters keeping the teams connected; quarterly employee engagement programs; an online resource center for mental health, family care, physical and nutritional health, and educational resources are among the offerings to create an exceptional working environment.
RPS’s culture has volunteerism and community involvement at its core. The company expresses it through a yearly fundraiser, where regions compete against each other, as well as in many local community volunteer events. RPS also identifies a local charity in the city where they host their annual sales meeting. In 2022, the charity was The Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of San Antonio. Collectively, RPS teams held local raffle draws, fundraising and other events to raise over $67,000 for RMHC, funding more than 670 night stays for families to be near their children in care.
Where does RPS see itself going in the future?
“The talent dynamic today is much different than it was even one year ago, much less five or 10,” says Lauderdale. “We have made a tremendous shift in our working environments and found ways to connect and stay stronger together, with a focus on coming through for our clients.
“We continue to refine our early talent recruitment and development programs. This summer we hosted more than 70 interns across our RPS offices. This pipeline for talent is strong and meaningful. In addition, we plan to expand our career advancement programs into the functional areas that keep our organization running.”