Today my stepson Jeff sent me an email announcing the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies had agreed to be acquired by Ace Insurance. It reminded me that exactly 47 years ago today I started my post-college career at an insurance company then called Chubb & Son in downtown Manhattan. There were about 20 of us in a small training room dressed in our new business suits; most of them like me had just finished college and come to begin our business careers. We were from all over the country, and we all hoped some day that we would be the head of everything. I had been excited and nervous ever since I had received an offer from Chubb a few months before graduation. Several of us became very close friends that summer enjoying all the things New York city and the surrounding area offered. Since it was Monday we worked 3 days and then had a 4 day July 4th holiday. One of the guys, Charles Collette had a pool party at his parent's house in NJ and invited us all.
We were all in a general insurance training course for about 6 weeks, and then we we chose--or rather were assigned--to various departments. Most of us wound up in an underwriting department although a few went into Claims or Operations (1968 version of IT). I had been hired specifically for personal lines because having worked as a clerk in the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles I had some basic knowledge--so they thought--about personal auto insurance. At the time personal lines underwriting compared to commercial lines underwriting was viewed by most folks coming into insurance as a dead end for many reasons I won't bother mentioning. But it was a large part of Chubb's overall revenue and I figured if it didn't turn around I wouldn't be blamed, but if it did, maybe I would get some credit. Over the next 10 years that's exactly what happened and my career progressed. In the late 60's and early 70's Chubb was a medium sized company with about 30 branch offices and 5,000 employees. One way to get ahead was to be willing to go where ever they needed someone. I started in New York, went to Atlanta for about 4 months on a short term assignment, then back to New York. Then back to Atlanta for 3 years, followed by a home office assignment in New Jersey. In 1976 it was off to Los Angeles and then 2 years later a nice promotion took me to New Haven. In 1982 another big promotion took me back to Atlanta.
I left Chubb in 1988 after a 20 year career. I've written about that in an earlier post so won't go into it again. But looking back on what would have been my 47th anniversary (and most likely my 4th year of retirement) I can remember with great fondness the friends I made during my career there. Most of them are either retired or went somewhere, but there are a few that I talk to occasionally. In any event today is a nostalgic day for me and most likely the second most important July 01 in Chubb's history.
