Stewart: Welcome to another edition of the InsuranceAUM.com podcast. My name’s Stewart Foley, I’ll be your host. Welcome back. It’s so nice to have you. And we are joined by two really special guests today known as the godmothers of insurance asset management search, none other than Margot DeMore and Milena Humplik. Ladies, thanks for being on. From Broad Street, welcome. Thanks for taking the time.
Milena: Thank you so much for having us, Stewart. We’re excited to be here.
Margot: Thank you, Stew. We are super psyched to be here.
Stewart: The three of us are good friends. First of all, let’s just get that out there. And you are a new member of our community, but your story is so interesting. I’ve known you for as long as I’ve known almost anyone in the industry, which goes way, way back. So, Milena Humplik and Margot DeMore are the co-founders and co-managing partners of Broad Street. What’s the right name for the firm?
Margot: The full name is Broad Street Consulting Group, but we often refer to us just by Broad Street.
Stewart: And Broad Street Consulting Group specializes in insurance asset management search, both on the buy side and the sell side. Am I fairly representing that?
Margot: Yeah, I would say we focus on financial services with a deep specialty in insurance.
Stewart: Right, that makes sense. Okay, good. Good deal. So, the icebreaker part of this podcast is going to be a little different because your story, Milena, is remarkable. Can you give us the 50,000 feet of how you got from starting to where you are today, where you grew up and whatnot? I think it’s such a great story.
Milena: Thank you, Stew. And likewise, I mean you and I have known each other for a very long time. We’re both been aging ourselves, close to 20 years at this point. I think to summarize it, and I know a lot of our industry colleagues know my story, which brings me to getting to know Margot DeMore and then launching Broad Street almost 10 years ago at this point, and where our entrepreneurial spirit came from is that I was born in the former Czech Republic, the former Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic. And my family escaped the country because it was communist in the early 1980s. We got asylum in Switzerland, lived there for a few years.
My parents’ dream was always to make it to America. America to them was the dream come true, the country of opportunity and where their children could live a very fulfilling life. And so, we were lucky enough to be granted political asylum in 1986. At the age of 10, we arrived in New York City and immigration told us that we can go anywhere in the United States. And so, it was my parents’ decision to move up to Boston. My father had to get recertified as a dentist, so he went to Tufts and started his business from scratch.
And I, as his oldest daughter, the oldest of four, helped him along the way and saw their struggles, saw how they started out on welfare and made it to buying a home and buying a business and growing that. And I think through my formative experiences of connecting people, living in different countries, always having to go through these adversities as a child of starting out at a new school, not knowing the language, how do I make people like me and connect with me, led me naturally to, I think, love what I do and that is executive search.
And so, Margot DeMore and I now, at this point, have worked together for over 20 years. We met at our predecessor firm, both working across the asset management spectrum. And that’s when we actually started spending a lot of time across the world of insurance, insurance asset management, insurance solutions, and getting to know this strong, strong community. We’re both entrepreneurs at heart and that’s what led us to launch Broad Street. But my story is that of coming to America and being a young child, living through it, and being very proud of what my parents were able to give us.
Stewart: That is such a great story. I love this story. I really do. And Margot, where did you grow up?
Margot: My story is much less exciting. I grew up in Boston.
Stewart: But no less important.
Margot: I appreciate that. I grew up in Boston where I still live and reside today. And I think, for me, one of the formative experiences that really shaped my view of the world and one of the reasons why I continue to be so focused on helping clients achieve that goal of diversity and really building inclusive cultures is I was privileged to attend Boston Latin School, which is one of the oldest public schools in Boston. It’s an exam school here. And at the time that I attended in particular, was incredibly diverse, both socioeconomically as well as ethnically and by country of origin.
I had the opportunity to be in a very diverse group of people, many of whom, similar to Milena’s family, were very new to our country and did not have a lot of the same privileges that I and my family had, being at that point, a multi-generational. My family came over from Ireland a hundred years ago. And so, we were obviously very well-established when I was a child. And seeing those experiences, and seeing and really gaining an appreciation for how equal we all are and how talent really is universal, but opportunity is not always the same, that for me really shaped my view of the world and why I continue to love the work that I do and love the city that I reside in.
Stewart: Yeah, and you just ooze Boston to me. It’s so cool. And so, you can imagine now that, at this point in my life, I’m in Connecticut. I fly out to Laguna Seca. I’m in a two-day advanced driving school at Skip Barber. There’s nine of us in this training room with the instructor, and we’re getting ready to run open wheel cars, which is a Formula Mazda. It’s like a 1.6 liter with a sequential gearbox, and it’s not just like everybody shows up for a two-day advance school and they read out… Everybody introduces themselves and there’s two people in the back whose names are Humplik.
And I’m like, I can’t pay attention to anything that the instructor’s saying. All I want to do is talk to these two. I go, “Excuse me?” I go, “I know a woman named Milena. Is she any relation?” And Milena, your dad and your brother go, “Well, yeah, my daughter.” “And my sister.” And I was like, “What are the freaking chances of that?” We have a history of bumping into each other somehow or the other.
But I want to jump into the topic at hand here, which is there’s a lot of movement right now in the insurance asset management space. There’s a lot of folks who are private asset managers who are coming into the space and they need insurance expertise. And there’s been some movement from some folks who are well established at larger firms moving to smaller, nichier firms and you’ve seen all of that stuff. So, when I look at a snapshot of the talent profiles across the industry vertical that are in demand, what is driving that demand at the macro level?
Milena: Well, let me take that, Stewart, and thank you for that lovely introduction. You made me chuckle because there is always that some degree of separation between it all leads to Stewart Foley but-
Stewart: Not me. I thought it was you. I thought everybody knew you.
Milena: No. So, the insurance channel continues to and has for a while, especially in the last couple of years, continues to have a lot of heightened search activity. And there’s a combination between third party insurance asset managers continuing to build out. There’s opportunities across alternative private equity organizations forming these strategic partnerships with insurance organizations. There’s also insurance solutions businesses being formed. And there’s a combination of a very strong interest in alternatives, and private credit is hot, and alternative firms hiring senior fundraisers that have that insurance distribution and relationship expertise. I mean you and I and Margot have talked about this many times. So, there’s been so much movement across the multi-asset, traditional firms losing talent to these fundraising senior level roles.
And then there’s also a lot of activity and leadership moves on the allocator side. There’s been a number across this past year and we continue to see that a lot going into 2024. And with that comes that ability for the investment teams on the allocator side, either losing talent or needing talent. And that talent is a very strong kind of investment depth. There’s needs across ALM and asset allocation and expertise across that SAA and TAA spectrum, as well as that technical quantitative strategist need. And so, I think it’s an area that we’ve certainly specialized in many, many years, but I’ve never seen such a robust environment and I think that will continue.
Stewart: So, let me put on a couple of different hats here. Insurance is white-hot. The business has changed more in the last 24 months than it has in the last 24 years. I’m a distribution leader for a multi-asset management firm, and I want to get into the world of insurance. What advice would you give me?
Margot: I would focus on a couple of things. It’s important to make sure that you have the right buy-in from firm leadership and that they understand the resources that will be required in order to build and have a business that is truly going to be successful focusing on the insurance world. And that can mean asset liability professionals. That can mean investment accounting, but ensuring that the leadership, if the firm doesn’t already have the infrastructure needed to be successful, that leadership has bought into building those key elements.
They also need to ensure that the leaders have a clear picture of the long-term horizon opportunity, but also, the duration of time it takes to build this business. And I think insurance is really attractive because it’s a huge growing pool of capital. There is a lot less consultant intermediation. So, it’s much easier, I think, to influence and to build relationships and grow the asset base than it is with other institutional channels. And the insurance assets are sticky. The insurance assets are very sticky. And so, once you gain them, it’s easier to hold on to them. But it is not a business that is built overnight.
And so, I think ensuring that leadership has an accurate view of the resources required and the timeline that will be needed in order to be successful. One of the areas where we’ve seen firms not achieve their goals is because they don’t give the effort enough time. And they, 12 months after building it, dismantle it. I think everyone in the business knows that that’s not enough time to really build a pipeline and show significant revenue.
Stewart: In a self-serving way, right? I mean people who have memberships with us, and we’re bringing a new data service online and whatever, I think it’s a great point that this is not a panacea at this market. It is a very smart money crowd, and you’ve got to know what you’re doing, and you can’t be in this a little bit. And generally speaking, it’s tough to have a generalist cover insurance companies because they are so different than other institutional sleeves and you’ve got to pay your dues and learn the business. There’s no other way around it. I think that’s a great message for our audience to take away.
Margot: Absolutely. I could not agree more. And so, I think in addition to having clarity and buy-in from leadership, it’s really about the talent profile. And to your point, the insurance distribution role is quite different from the other traditional institutional sales roles. And the sale is different. The level of technical understanding and depth that the salespeople need to have in order to really be able to engage in substantive conversations and ultimately be viewed as solutions providers in addition to someone who’s obviously they’re looking to make a sale. And the population of successful institutional insurance focused salespeople is quite small when you boil it down.
And so, there’s a lot of organizations that are trying to retain or compete for talent, and the insurance salespeople see the future opportunity. They want to continue to build their careers. They’re very focused, if they are not currently with a firm that has private offerings, on making sure that that is a part of what is in their toolkit. And so, I find that people are interested and they know that there’s a ton of growth happening in the marketplace, and they want to make sure that they have the opportunity to hear and consider those opportunities when they come up, but they are very discerning in how they evaluate them.
And the bar for attracting top insurance salespeople is relatively high. And you need to be able to demonstrate that you, as a leader, have enough understanding of the specific nuances and differences of the insurance channel, and that depth of commitment from both a resources and timeline standpoint is there at the firm. And I think when you can make a clear case about that and show compelling offerings that align with the insurance channel, it can be quite exciting and compelling to sales talent. The reverse is true when you can’t. And we’ve seen searches go to market that aren’t successful because at the end of the day, the marketplace is not convinced that the firm really wants to be a player in that space and really knows what it takes to do so.
Stewart: Yeah, I think that’s such a great point that if you’re at an established firm and you’ve got a pipeline in place and whatever, it does not make a lot of sense to move from that environment to one where you’re not convinced that the firm has the staying power and the stomach to enter this business because it is a wonderful business and I love insurance. It’s all I do, is insurance asset management, but it is not for the faint of heart, I’ll say that.
So, the market continues to be competitive. If I’m an insurance asset allocator and I’m looking to grow my team, I’m experiencing some attrition, Milena, what should I be doing?
Milena: I think it’s a combination of a couple of things and just some tangible actionable items to consider. I think all allocator leadership has experienced that in the last two years, and they’ll continue to as well as a few team members have left. They’ve gotten picked up by alternative firms, had to potentially pay them a little bit more money or for whatever reason. I think what we’ve certainly seen is that the leader has to wrap their arms around their present team, continue to build a very succinct, engaging culture and really very much go into sales mode, both internally as well as externally. And now, these days, they have to be the brand as well as the champion of their firm and their culture, as well as be very visible externally to be able to attract that talent.
And so, I think they have to look and evaluate their team. They have to promote their culture, they have to give them promotion. I think from a search expertise perspective and a recruiting perspective, when we go to a market with a new engagement and a new retained search, very likely if talent is doing well at their firm but loves their leader and loves their team and loves their culture and sees the pathway to continue to grow, I mean they obviously have to be compensated well, but they’ve got a really good balance and a seat at the table, they will not engage in conversation. Especially we’re a women-owned business. We’re a certified women-owned business. We promote-
Stewart: Yes, congratulations on that, by the way.
Milena: Thank you so much. We’re very-
Stewart: You just got your certification, didn’t you?
Milena: We did. We did. We’re very excited as we’re going-
Stewart: That’s fantastic. Congratulations.
Milena: Thank you so much. So, they will not engage in external conversations because they love working for their leader. And so, part of that is that. But then also to expand on that, if they’ve expanded their resources internally and really need to refill those roles, they need to have a very robust external and competitive search plan, a higher grade search firm that knows the market and that will bring you the talent that you really want to be looking for. But that person, that leader, has to engage in the search and be the communicator, be authentic. And that cultural piece, I think, is truly important. I think that’s really something that we get asked a lot.
And I think through also, the last couple of years of us going from a virtual environment and now reentry back into the office, we get asked that a lot. What is that balance? And so, that could be a competitive angle for refilling some of these roles on the allocator side.
Stewart: I will say this, I beat the drum on this a lot. There are some very smart money insurance asset management shops out there. And I think one of the things that those folks face is that their companies aren’t household names necessarily, right? And what I would encourage anybody, young financial services professional interested in asset management, is to look at these insurance companies. I mean there is some smart money out there and our executive council is… I mean we always talk about it.
We had a session at our symposium that was no agenda for an hour and a half, insurer only. So, I wasn’t in the room. People go, “Why weren’t you there?” I go, “I’m not an insurer.” Half of the discussion was on talent acquisition, and I really think that there are some very good opportunities. And the nice thing about some of the smaller places is that you’re going to get a chance to work on a broad spectrum of asset classes and really hone those skills. And you’re going to get a chance to meet with outside managers too. So, I think it’s a wonderful path and it’s something that I think sometimes gets overlooked.
Margot: I think that’s a really good point. I think sometimes there’s this view that insurance isn’t sexy or exciting and sometimes it’s not where, especially the earlier talent pool focuses. They get excited about hedge funds or investment banking. But I think to your point, there are some incredibly smart, talented leaders in that business that are looking to invest in and build that next generation of talent.
Stewart: Margot, I think you’d agree with me that insurance, we are bringing sexy back.
Margot: It’s very sexy now.
Stewart: There’s no doubt about it. Insurance is sexy now, for sure.
Margot: I was thinking when I woke up this morning, if you had told the 22-year-old Margot that when she was 47 that when she woke up, the most exciting thing that she was going to be thinking about that she was going to be doing that day was the insurance podcast that she was going to be participating in, but it was. And you make insurance fun.
Stewart: Oh, you’re the best. I swear I was looking so forward to doing this podcast with you and with you both. We are huge fans and so happy for you. So, the last scenario I want to paint is one that has happened to a couple of close friends of late, and I think it’s indicative of some structural changes in our industry. So, in this case, the hat I’d like to wear is that my role has been restructured. I’m determined to find a new role. If I came out more likely from an insurer, should I be looking to go back into the insurance industry, or should I be looking at third party asset management firms as a solution strategist or something? How should I be thinking about that? Where should I start?
Margot: I think you should start by being, first, take stock of what you’ve loved most about your career and where you felt like you’ve been able to add the most value and take the most enjoyment. And with that as your focus, really be open to thinking about the different ways that you can deploy that skillset. And I think that looking within the existing insurance, Peer Universe is absolutely one of the channels that someone with that type of background should consider, but should also look at the other avenues that you put forth as well.
Milena and I, obviously in the course of our career, spent a lot of time helping people when they go through these transitions. And it can be unsettling, particularly when it happens a lot of times for folks that have been in an organization a long time, and it’s often because of some disruption or dislocation in the industry that has nothing to do with them, but perhaps a merger acquisition or a shift in focus. And for those that have been with firms for a long time and haven’t experienced a lot of searching in their career, it can be very overwhelming about where to begin. And so, we advise people to take stock of that skillset and interest that I mentioned at the beginning and then really be very broad in their outreach.
We’ve talked a lot in this podcast about the interconnection and the degrees of connection in our industry and also brand. I think branding is important more so now than ever before. And we all have a professional brand, and I think some are more adept at others than continuing to really think about how they evolve and grow that. There’s direct ways to do so through your working relationships with current and previous colleagues. But then there’s also various tools like LinkedIn, which has allowed us to connect on a much broader sphere with a wider network and to begin to often create a perception of who we are with those that don’t actually know us, but have a degree of connection and have seen how we engage in the marketplace.
And so, I think it’s good to be open. It’s good to really think about ways to continue to expand your network, particularly if that hasn’t been something that’s been a central focus. And we see it so often that people are busy, they’re engaged in the work. They’re focused on the task at hand. They keep their head down. Things are going well. They feel that there’s no need or catalyst to explore outside opportunities, and then one day, their firm is sold. And overnight, the path that they thought was in front of them is gone.
I think leveraging relationships with folks like Milena and I is really important, but also tapping the broader network that they’ve built throughout their career. And I find that obviously those individuals are looking for guidance and looking for help, but I think the more that you can always go to relationships, offering that same help in return, and everyone has a way that they can be valuable in any interaction that they have with folks. And so, that person obviously is going to be reaching out and looking for a lot of guidance, but look for opportunities to offer the same.
There are some folks that are just really adept at connecting, at leveraging their connections, about thinking of other connections that they can make for folks across their network. And I find that those that approach relationships with that mindset and mentality, people are particularly invested and engaged in trying to help.
Milena: I wanted to just… Obviously agreeing with all of the above that Margot’s mentioned but also… And we’ve certainly, even this past year, have gotten a number of these calls and continue to get a number of these calls that I’ve been a senior distribution professional at one of the multi-asset firms and my role has been restructured. What do I do? And it can certainly be daunting. It’s scary. There’s a lot of emotions that come into that. We’re all human, but I think it’s also just taking a step back and really putting emphasis on that professional brand.
So, yes, it’s taking a broad approach, being open to insurance asset management, insurance solutions, the insurance asset allocator side. You name it, but making a very succinct strategy about also that leverage that one can use. And that a lot of talent maybe hasn’t touched, that is LinkedIn, that professional brand on LinkedIn. Connecting to that network, asking for advice, asking for connections. Having that good story and that elevator pitch of who am I, what am I bringing, what’s my expertise. This is my ideal role, but I’m also open to this. Can you help? Can you point me in the right direction?
And we love search so much, obviously that’s why… We’ve been working together for so long and we launched our own firm. We love to be these strategic consultants and provide advice, but to ask for help. People want to pay it forward, and everyone will always be in this position a few times through their career, but using this to build an external network and then leveraging that network, going forward in their careers. And as long as they continue to expand that and touch on those connections on a weekly basis, opportunities will come to them.
Stewart: Yeah. It’s funny how many people that I end up talking with that have come out and they want to network with me, which is great. I’m happy to do that, but I’ve been through a number of career changes myself. I’ve worked for an insurance company, I’ve worked for a couple of asset management firms. I’ve worked on the consulting side. I’ve been a professor. And then starting InsuranceAUM was out of necessity largely. I had a daughter here and needed to stay in Chicago, and it’s just been fortuitous.
But the thing that I really, what I always tell people, and you both mentioned it, and I really want to bring it home here is take a step back. I think that sometimes people get panicked and that they’ve got to get right back in and it’s like, look, this business is hot right now. Take a step back and ask yourself, what do I like to do? Because I think the confluence of what you enjoy doing and what you’re good at is going to make you a higher likelihood of success.
And so, I want to ask this of both of you. What do you see going forward here as we move into 2024, any market predictions, any prognostications? I mean if there’s a reliable crystal ball in this world, I think one of you two has got it. So, what have you got to say?
Milena: I think the insurance channel, this insurance arena will continue to be very busy and very active. We’ve gotten a number of calls in the last couple of weeks of new insurance solutions, distribution searches, launching in the marketplace with new firms branding and others expanding, as well as on the allocator side as CIOs are looking at their overall portfolio and looking at the external manager search selection process. Fundraising searches will continue to be out there fairly robustly. And then I think, as you go into the end of the year into early next year, it’ll be interesting as bonuses have gotten paid out what moves will have been made and other opportunities through a lot of the change will be created. So, we anticipate a very active year across the world of insurance going forward.
Stewart: From your lips to God’s ears. Margot?
Margot: Yeah, I echo Milena’s thoughts. I think just more of the same will continue. I think we’ll continue to see a focus on privates. I think the space of managers that are competing for insurance assets will just continue to become more crowded. The war for talent will continue, particularly as there’s been a number of key folks that have moved in the last year that just shrinks the population even further of those that you can consider. I think that’s it.
Stewart: And that’s all. No, and that’s not all. We got one going out the door. Are you ready? So, you guys can pick who answers what? I got two questions. Best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten or given, and who would you most like to have lunch with, alive or dead?
Margot: I think we both want to have lunch with Dolly Parton.
Milena: Yeah. Yeah.
Stewart: There you go. That’s a first.
Milena: Oh, yeah.
Margot: She’s an amazing person on so many levels.
Milena: Oh, we-
Stewart: Absolutely true.
Milena: She is.
Stewart: Dolly Parton.
Milena: Dolly Parton, entrepreneur.
Stewart: Both of you. So, it would be Margot, Milena, Dolly.
Milena: Dolly in the middle.
Stewart: Dolly in the middle.
Milena: No, she’s an amazing entrepreneur. She’s such a promoter of philanthropy. She grew up in such poor conditions and look at how much she’s given back. I mean, she’s an amazing… Yes, we’re both huge fans of Dolly. So, we’d love to take her out to lunch.
Stewart: That’s great. What about advice? What advice would you give a person who’s earlier in their career? How about this, how about one of you give early and one of you give later?
Margot: So, for early career advice, I find that sometimes folks early in their career underappreciate the value that they bring to the table. The world is evolving so quickly. There are so many changes around technology and other tools that oftentimes the youngest generation is the most adept to understand and often the early adopters. And so, I find that while they’re always obviously looking to the more experienced generation to learn from and to gain mentorship and sponsorship from, I really encourage them to recognize the value that they can bring to those relationships and to look for ways to share their ideas and their perspective and their lens that is unique to them, in part because of their generation.
When we talk about diversity, it means many things, right? And the more that you can bring people together that have had different lived experiences and different ways of seeing the world, the stronger your team and organization will be. And so, helping them really understand the value that they bring to those conversations and to wrap their arms around opportunities to build meaningful relationships at different levels of the organization.
Stewart: That’s great.
Milena: And to answer the question and views later on in one’s career, I think the best device that I could offer is we’re all in this room getting more and more gray hair because we’re-
Stewart: It’s only visible on one of us. That’s what I’d like to tell you. I am super gray.
Milena: Is that as long as the passion and the drive and that subject matter expertise that one has built throughout their career, that it still truly shines, and one is authentic and loves what they do and doesn’t want to give it up, keep going. There’s so many opportunities now when you even think from sharing that expertise like you do, being the voice of insurance asset management. I mean you’ve built a phenomenal platform and such an extension. Right?
Stewart: You’re so sweet. Thank you.
Milena: But then to also think about it differently. I do think that expertise on having these relationships on the insurance allocator side, and they enjoy distribution, they enjoy the world of connecting, there’s plenty of opportunities because this niche is so, as we’re talking about the experts on the insurance side, is small, defined and niche and not that much talent. And so, if you love it, keep going and new opportunities will arise.
Stewart: I’ll tell you this, I love it. I love this business as you both do. I think we’ve been really super lucky. I just really appreciate both of you. I think the world of you two and in Broad Street Consulting Group, otherwise known as Broad Street, and I really do think it is sweet that one of your clients named you the godmothers of insurance asset management search, but I think it’s fitting and it may stick. So, thanks for being on. I really appreciate it.
Margot: Thank you for having us.
Milena: We appreciate you as well. Thank you for giving us this opportunity.
Stewart: Yeah, absolutely. We’ve been joined today by Margot DeMore and Milena Humplik, who are the co-founders and managing partners of Broad Street Consulting Group.
Thanks for listening. If you have ideas for podcasts, please shoot me a note at podcast@insuranceaum.com. Please like us and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. My name’s Stewart Foley, and this is the InsuranceAUM.com Podcast.
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