What brokers say about Trisura

STAFF WRITER
– The Ontario Construction Report Special Feature

Trisura’s success is built on solid and sustained relationships with Canada’s leading insurance and surety brokers, who have the depth of relationships and an understanding of local market conditions and their clients’ requirements.

Here are some comments from leading insurance and surety brokers. (Brokers’ comments are in alphabetical order.)

Kent Peters, Aon

Aon’s Surety Division places client engagement and satisfaction at the heart of our services. We pride ourselves in providing innovative solutions to our clients. We aligned with Trisura to produce and deliver new and unique products to solve our clients’ needs. This partnership works because of the people, the knowledge and expertise; we see the results – they deliver. This is a significant plus in the construction surety market, where it can seem that the rules and guidelines should be well established, but each project and client has unique challenges.

Trisura’s commercial surety team, led by Pina Mazzoli, have provided us with the tools to automate complex, high volume, client specific bond programs. Their automated portal has allowed us to streamline our operations and focus on what we do best, help our clients. The key to our successful relationship – Trisura has proven to be professional, reliable, productive and prompt. They come to the table with bright, innovative and doable ideas.

Ray Shannon, Bradley’s Insurance

From a relationship perspective, Trisura’s team is unique in that they are a surety focused company, and that differentiates them from a lot of players in the insurance/surety space, in that it is their main line of business. Other companies have surety divisions, but for Trisura it is the major focus. They just do it really well.

Their client focused culture is driven right from company president, CEO and cofounder (Mike George), who will meet personally with our clients. The fact that the leader who runs the whole company is so accessible is an indication of the value Trisura brings to client relationships.

Really what has helped Trisura succeed is the quality of its people, who combine knowledge, experience, good personalities, and strength in building relationships. At the end of the day, they are just great to work with.

Matthew Civichino, ELM Insurance Brokers Inc.

We at ELM have a great working relationship with Trisura. I don’t believe it can be any better. They are always open and receptive to thinking outside the box. They constantly encourage us to bounce ideas off them regardless of how those ideas may be perceived. It is truly an open line of communication and one that is without preconceived views and opinions.

We have a relationship based on admiration and mutual respect, all while keeping the “eye on the prize;” the construction community and contractors we love to serve. Trisura always responds in the most positive way they know how, putting their best foot forward. Whether it’s a new potential client or existing, they are courteous, friendly and unpretentious.

We thoroughly enjoy all our interactions with Trisura and are proud to represent them in partnership to our clients. As a company, their philosophy is evident from upper management to the underwriters in training. There is a willingness to always meet with clients and they never forget that the numbers are only half the story. They all see the big picture and that’s what makes dealing with them so great.

Warren Griffiths, Firstbrook Cassie & Anderson Ltd.

Long standing (10 years) and dynamic; we truly enjoy dealing with the company and the employees because they are passionate and fully engaged in the business we do together. Mike George, Chris Sekine, Chris Kucman and Matt Baynton have created a culture that always wants to win and succeed.

Numerous times Trisura has taken the extra time and effort to put together deals with us, whether structuring something a little differently or agreeing when we ask them to hit the road at 6 a.m. for an early morning meeting with a client. It’s the little extra efforts that makes working with them so easy.

Jon Csordas, HUB International HKMB

HUB International HKMB is proud to be one of Trisura’s largest supporting broker partners across the country.

We work extensively with Trisura across all available lines of business: contract and commercial surety, corporate risk and developer surety, and we maintain relationships with their underwriters and senior management that extend well beyond day-to-day business transactions.

Feeling part of the Trisura family makes doing business together very comfortable and easy to facilitate. Trisura has always maintained a broker focused approach and we are happy to be a big part of their tremendous success over the first 10 years and are very much looking forward to continued, mutual growth together over the next 10 years.

Doug Corby, Masters Insurance

In the Canadian surety market, consolidation is commonplace. There are few, if any, truly Canadian companies left providing surety capacity to domestic contractors. Trisura is not only proudly Canadian but has distinguished itself as an industry leader.

Mike George, Chris Sekine and the entire Trisura team are both friends and important business partners. Masters Insurance and Trisura share a common commitment to surety. We wish Trisura nothing but continued growth and success.

Gregory Petrela, Petrela, Winter & Associates

Our relationship is outstanding. It is founded on mutual respect, and a common dedication to the construction business. Surety bonding, although a financial product at the core, is a service and relationship business, so we at Petrela Winter & Associates seek surety partners that are engaged, proactive, professional, and service oriented.

Trisura’s enthusiasm for the business and their desire to be leaders has caused them to be a highly credible, and value added surety partner. Despite the fact that they have been around for less time than almost all of their competitors, they have vaulted themselves, in the last 10 years, into a position of leadership, and that is a testament to initiative, smarts, hard work, and fantastic people.

Tracey Medeiros, Stevenson & Hunt Insurance Brokers/Arthur J. Gallagher Canada Limited

Trisura is one of our main surety markets. The company excels at building relationships with both broker and clients to meet the needs of all parties on a long-term basis. Trisura’s staff, from the president right down to front line underwriters, work with us to develop timely and innovative solutions for our clients. (Trisura president) Mike George is phenomenal at building and keeping relationships in place. Mike is never too busy to respond to a concern and takes a real interest in the broker. Trisura is an excellent company to work with from both innovation and responsiveness perspectives.