This is a tough message to write because, after working closely together for the past 17 years (and off and on for the past 25), I must formally announce that Jeff Lejfer is retiring at the end of this month. While I’m excited for Jeff to move on to another phase of his life, we will miss his presence, insight, perspective, and caring personality--not to mention his extravagant selection of appetizers!
Jeff spent 45 years in the insurance industry starting at AIG running their property division before moving on to Exton, PA-based ECS Underwriting, a successful MGA for environmental insurance. In 1999, ECS was purchased by XL, where over his 14-year career there, Jeff rose to the position of head of XL Programs. In 2005 he shared his idea of starting an environmental wholesale entity called New Day Underwriting Managers LLC with Tim Farrell and I. It seemed like an incredible opportunity, and it was! From modest beginnings in a repurposed office space in the old Bordentown Military Academy in Bordentown, NJ (Jeff can walk you through all the historic places in Bordentown then finish with - “General Norman Schwarzkopf once slept in my office”) to ultimately selling to Ryan Specialty in 2018, but not before Jeff grew New Day to one of the premiere environmental wholesalers in the business.
Seldom do people get to work so closely together, and when the time comes to move on, even more rare is that they walk away with a lifelong friendship. It’s tough to imagine this team without Jeff, but I know his presence will continue to be felt here for a long time. I know he's ready for more fun and sun at the beach, and of course more time with his four grandchildren!!
It’s been a fun ride, Jeff, and we all wish you well and will surely miss you. Thanks for all you have done for me, this entire team, and the industry.
IRMI Recap
RT Specialty was a proud sponsor of IRMI's 42nd Construction Risk Conference held in November in Las Vegas. The conference was back in full swing and RT ECP's ten team members met with numerous brokers and carriers throughout the week.
One common theme that we heard is that contractors are optimistic about 2023 and backlog is strong. However, typical concerns included what to expect from the economy, inflation, cost of materials and rising interest rates. Time will tell what impact these issues will have on the environmental and construction professional liability insurance marketplace.
Our team truly enjoyed the educational sessions, seeing old friends and meeting new ones. As always, it was a successful week all around.
We look forward to seeing you next year!
Happy Holidays From Our RT ECP Family to Yours
Staying Safe
Owner's Protective Professional Indemnity (OPPI) Has Become a Valuable Tool to Help Insulate CRE Professionals From Various Exposures During Development
OPPI is a first-party coverage designed to provide owners and developers of construction projects an alternative to costly project-specific professional liability policies. In his article "Staying Safe," which was recently published in Commercial Investment Real Estate Magazine, Joe Reynolds discusses how a typical OPPI policy can help protect project owners. The responsibility to correct problems often falls directly on the project's owner. Read the full article to learn how an OPPI policy may help your owner and developer clients.
Jeff Lejfer has been a pillar in the insurance industry for over 40 years. As founder of New Day Underwriting Managers in 2005, Jeff worked with partners Jeff Slivka and Tim Farrell to build a multi-million-dollar premium wholesale insurance broker that was acquired by Ryan Specialty in 2018 to become RT Environmental and Construction Professional (RT ECP). Jeff will retire from RT and the industry at the end of the this year and our entire RT ECP team wishes him the best in his retirement and this new phase of his life. Please join us in wishing Jeff congratulations. He can be reached at jeff.lejfer@rtspecialty.com.
Risk Tip - Why Construction Management is a Professional Liability Exposure
By: Mitch Cohen, PE
There are two main types of Construction Managers (CMs):
CM at Risk, who hires subcontractors and manages the budget, schedule and is responsible for overseeing subcontractors; and
Agency CM, which act as “owner’s rep”, only overseeing the work for compliance with plans, specs, budget and schedule on behalf of an Owner, but holding no subcontracts.
The following activities are typically performed by CM At Risk and / or Agency CM:
Managing the budget
Managing the schedule
Hiring and managing subcontractors (CM At Risk, only)
Ensuring work in the field is in compliance with plans and specs
Making field decisions that may vary from plans and specs, which may not require permission from the project engineer
These tasks are typically considered professional services to be performed by professionally qualified CMs. If the CM fails in any of these tasks, then Owners or GCs can potentially make a professional liability claim against the CM for wrongful professional acts. It is very important for contractors to consider carrying professional liability coverage. Even if they have no engineers on staff; even if they never work on design/build contracts (which can expose them vicariously to design professional errors); and / or even if they never hire a consultant for value engineering design, they still have potential CM exposure because most contractors and GCs ultimately are performing CM on the project.
