There’s a lot of talk about strategy in the property/casualty insurance industry these days, but at Chubb Limited, C-suite executives understand that developing a strategy is the small part of a formula for strategic success.
Executive Summary
Chubb Limited has grown from a $10 billion company called ACE Limited to one with more than $50 billion in capital during CFO Phil Bancroft's tenure. A key member of an executive management team that believes in putting that capital to use—with expansion into more than 20 countries during his tenure and roughly $8 billion in acquisitions over the past eight years—Bancroft explains that his "force of will" fits in with the "can-do" culture that simply believes in getting things done.Chubb Limited was created from the combination of ACE Limited and Chubb Corp. on Jan. 14, and the acquisition is just one step in a long-term growth strategy that continues on. But more time and energy is spent on executing strategy than developing it, according to Chief Financial Officer Phil Bancroft, who explains how the tone at the top ripples through the finance department and other functions of the $50 billion-plus enterprise (by market capitalization).
“Our CEO Evan Greenberg talks about the company being patient in strategy and impatient in execution,” Bancroft said. “We have a pretty consistent long-term strategy and a vision. It’s, by design, fairly simple, so we can all understand it,” he said, noting that Chubb’s executive team worked together, under the leadership of Greenberg, who is also chairman, to map out the go-forward path.
