Lockton St. Louis CEO: New COO Brings National Reach

The new chief operating officer of Lockton's St. Louis office, Robert W. (Bob) Reiff brings a national reach, said Kevin McDaniel, president and chief executive officer of Lockton St. Louis. "The majority of our new business opportunities are coming from outside of our market. Lockton St. Louis' business now is coast to coast and growing internationally, and Bob's experience is on that national level."

In his post, Reiff will be responsible for the overall operations of Lockton St. Louis, including leading service teams in risk management, benefits consulting, retirement services and compensation consulting.

McDaniel said Lockton St. Louis is "catching its stride right now growth-wise. That includes developing business in other markets that we think are attractive."

Reiff is succeeding Peter Clune, who will be working at the holding company in Kansas City, said McDaniel.

Reiff joins the company with nearly 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, including direct sales, field service, marketing, distribution and market development, affinity programs, product development, training and development, and e-business. Most recently, he was the senior vice president at Hartford Financial Services Group in charge of distribution, field service, associations and products. Prior to that, Reiff was vice president of sales and marketing for Standard Insurance Co.

Reiff's success has been around collaborating large groups of people through different teams and growing businesses in different business segments. "That's a unique skill in our business," said McDaniel. "He has a very performance-based philosophy in how he manages people, which was also very attractive to us."

Lockton is a privately-owned, independent global insurance broker. It provides more than 15,000 clients around the world with insurance, benefits, surety and risk management services, it said in a statement.

Lockton reported record revenues of $787 million for 2009, a 6% increase from 2008 (BestWire, April 26, 2010). Lockton Companies LLC is the 10th-largest broker by 2009 total revenue, according to Best's Review's Top Global Brokers ranking.

(By Lori Chordas, senior associate editor, Best's Review: Lori.Chordas@ambest.com)