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Focusing on insurance Founded in 1882 as a marine insurance firm, Chubb is among the largest publicly-held insurance organizations in the U.S. The company's insurance products target wealthy individuals and businesses. Most of Chubb's revenue comes from commercial insurance: in 1998, the ratio of commercial to personal insurance premiums the company wrote was 3 to 1. Chubb hawks its insurance products through 5000 independent agents and brokers worldwide. Ignoring the current trend of consolidation in the financial services and insurance, Chubb has focused largely on expert, "niche" businesses, such as liability insurance for Internet companies, and coverage for wineries. Chubb furthered its reach in limited markets by offering financial institution web site insurance and community bank insurance, and well as continuing its original maritime commitment by increasing their overseas merchant features. International expansion Chubb is looking for international revenues to play a greater role in its future. It has targeted markets that promise large returns, such as Brazil, China, and Korea. The company is now in 33 countries worldwide, and derives close to 25 percent of its business from outside the U.S. The Korean office was established in Seoul in 2000, the same year a Shanghai branch opened. Chubb Europe continues to grow, solidifying the company's position as an international leader of executive protection, property and casualty, fiduciary liability, financial institution, accident, personal line, and marine insurance. Goodbye life and health Chubb has overhauled its business in recent years. In 1997, it moved out of the life and health insurance businesses by selling those operations to Jefferson-Pilot. In 1998, it created Chubb Re, a reinsurance (selling insurance on insurance) subsidiary. And in 1999, the company bought Executive Risk, Inc. for $767 million. The acquisition boosted Chubb's director and officer (D&O) insurance businesses. Cubb joined with BMW to offer insurance for autos, homes, antiques, collectibles, and watercraft for BMW customers in 1999.
Chubb's recruitment Web page, located at www.chubb.com/careeropp, provides extensive information on the company's hiring practices. There, Chubb posts current openings in all of its departments and describes the training programs available to entry-level employees. The company also lists its college recruiting schedule on its web site. The company visits campuses throughout the U.S., as well as in Canada and Europe. Chubb hires new employees from a wide range of business, accounting, and liberal arts backgrounds. Applicants can apply by sending their resumes via fax or regular mail, or by using the employment e-mail address: resumes@chubb.com. Some departments, such as Accounting and Actuarial, require that entry-level employees train at the Warren, NJ, headquarters, but the company also places employees across the United States and even overseas. Reports one contact: "It's easy to transfer from department to department once you're in the company. If you can get a foot in the door anywhere, take it." Also, insiders report employees are increasingly moving from "part-time" to "full-time," whereas previously a strict line of demarcation separated the two types of employees. As for the interviews, insiders say it is "fairly relaxed." Generally, there is "a first interview with the HR person in the branch, and then with one of the managers."
"Nurturing" environment "I would have to say that it is the most friendly environment I have ever worked in," reports one insider about Chubb's culture. Says another: "I would describe the corporate culture as nurturing." Yet another contact, who has worked for the company for more than a dozen years, reports that "I don't think I would consider moving to another company. I like the job and the people I am working with." One insider sums up life at Chubb with a relative assessment. "While we all complain about office life," that contact says, "anyone who's worked anywhere knows it's worse in other companies." Commitment to diversity Insiders agree that as an employer, Chubb promotes diversity. One insider describes the company as "excellent as far as opportunities for women and minorities." Reports another contact, "they've just started a 'fast track' program to help minorities get into Chubb's top management ranks quickly." The program referred to is a mentoring program for women and minorities by senior managers. Another says that "I believe that more than half of the department managers in the U.S. are women." One contact points out that Chubb is a "big friend" of the INROADS program for minority college students." Says that contact: "They hire minority college students to work summers and vacations while they are in school with the promise of a permanent position upon graduation." While the company says that "promise" is too strong a word, the program does indicate that a genuine commitment has been made to hire minorities. Business dress, business hours Insurance salespeople don't sell in shorts, of course. "The dress code is business attire Monday through Thursday, and casual on Fridays." Says another: "The dress code is business dress, but most branches have casual Fridays. Some of them are 'anything goes' casual, but most are what they call 'Chubb Casual' -- no jeans, sneakers, T-shirts, sweatshirts, etc." Chubb insiders also report pretty regimented hours, although they need not be too long. "In the past year, Chubb went from a 36.25-hour workweek (from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with a 45-minute lunch) to a 40-hour week." Says another: "Most of the employees are allowed to flex their time, but you have to be there for the core hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. no matter what." Working from home or another remote location is also acceptable during these hours. Another contact reports that "when you are salaried, you can expect to work over 40 hours if you want to keep up and advance. Decent pay, great benefits Insiders report receiving "decent" pay at Chubb. Says one insider: "Chubb is known for being one of the top paying companies in the industry." Another contact is more specific. "As far as the pay goes, the best paying area is the Claims Department," explains the insider, though the company maintains thats this is not the case. Also, "as a general rule, those in Personal Lines are not as well paid as those in Commercial Lines." Officials at Chubb claim that this assertion is also not true. "Like most insurance companies, the benefits are pretty good," reports one insider. For example, the company offers an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) that gives stock grants "every six months, in January and July." Says one employee: "That's it - they just give it to you." These stock grants, however, vest over five years. The company also offers a pre-tax savings program called "CCAP" through which employees can set up 12 percent of their pay, with a 4 percent match. (Employees must be employed with the company for a year to be eligible.) One contact states the the health plan costs roughly forty dollars a month. The company provides a description of many of its benefits at its web site. Approximately every two years, Chubb offers a unique employee stock purchase plan. "The company lets you know how much stock you will be allowed to purchase - it depends on how much you make," explains one insider. An employee will decide how much to purchase, and will have that amount deducted from his or her paychecks (over a two-year span). If, at the end of the two-year period, the stock price has increased, the stock is purchased. "If the price of the stock is lower than it was at the time of the offering, the money that was payroll-deducted is returned to you with interest," reports our contact. "You can't lose." Employees now have the option of paying for the stocks in one lump sum at the end of the period.
Human Resources
Property/Casualty Insurance
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