Jim Casey
Executive Team
Chief Operating Officer
As Chief Operating Officer of Life and Specialty Ventures, L.L.C. (LSV) James (Jim) Casey is charged with realizing the start-up company’s strategic vision and delivering growth and profitability. In this role, for which he was recruited in the fall of 2008, he is responsible for all operational areas: sales, underwriting, marketing, administration, claims and product development for its affiliated company, including USAble Life. Casey’s rich and varied insurance industry experience, combined with his deep analytical skills, business acumen and collaborative leadership style are already generating very positive impacts on the organization. Double-digit growth in a very difficult insurance market and economy, outstanding service level improvements, and the delivery of a complete new operational platform are but three of his key accomplishments in his first year with the company. Additionally, Casey has implemented improved management processes and tools to position the organization for further success.
With in-depth experiences in virtually all aspects of the insurance business, including financial, operations, claims, underwriting, sales management, strategy development, and mergers and acquisition/integration, Casey brings a unique set of skills, perspectives and industry credibility to the executive suite. His track record of sustainable successes is a result of his ability to communicate effectively, create a culture of accountability, develop talent and creatively solve business challenges.
The foundation for Casey’s career was as a property-casualty underwriter at Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company (HSB), a well-regarded insurer of mechanical, electrical and pressure equipment for industry. Gathering broad business knowledge around a variety of industries, Casey developed a keen sense for risk management, analysis and creative problem-solving and progressed rapidly. After attaining his MBA from the Wharton School and two years honing his financial skills at General DataComm Industries in the financial and treasury operations, Casey was recruited back to HSB. His first role upon returning was as head of Internal Audit and Consulting where he was able to apply his newly acquired skills in the area of controls and process redesign. From his success in that role, he was tapped to head the Commercial Accounts Division, where a focus on performance management and alignment of compensation led to a dramatic improvement in underwriting results. His financial skills were then put to excellent use as the company’s controller and interim CFO. Building upon these successes, Casey was named Chief Financial Officer of HSB Industrial Risk Insurers where he was part of the core leadership team that conducted the sale of the business to a unit of General Electric. As CFO of the new GE entity, Casey played an important role in integration and applying six-sigma concepts to improve productivity.
The next nine years of Casey’s career were spent at Hartford Financial Services Group, where he enjoyed an impressive string of business successes. In his first role with The Hartford, Casey led the 1,100 employee Benefit Management Services area where he achieved outstanding financial, operational and customer satisfaction results through a relentless focus on continuous improvement, application of best practices and by focusing on the development of a talented and motivated management team. These results led to him being tapped as the leader of the CNA Integration where he achieved company and industry recognition for the highly successful acquisition and integration of the CNA Group Benefits division with that of The Hartford’s. Casey’s ability to lead a multi-functional team, stay focused on the end result and make difficult decisions with sometimes imperfect information were instrumental in achieving all key financial and operational goals for the acquisition, including revenue, sales, business persistency, cost take-outs and first-year earnings accretion. As the integration came to a successful close, Casey assumed another key leadership role as Senior Vice President in charge of the Group Specialty Markets division where he had full P&L accountability for four businesses with combined revenue approaching $1 Billion. Notable management accomplishments in that role include achieving an 11% three-year compound annual growth rate with a return on equity in excess of 17% for the Association and Group Retiree Health Businesses. In addition, he led the strategic review of the Medical Stop Loss Business and executed a very successful sale of the business to United Health Group in April 2007.
In addition to his M.B.A. (concentration in Finance) from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Casey received his B.A. from Colgate University where he also played football and lacrosse. He is an avid tennis player and enjoys international travel, hiking and reading.