Behind the upcoming CEO change at Westland

Westland Insurance Group is looking to evolve its leadership and talent by bringing in different backgrounds and perspectives, the brokerage’s outgoing CEO, Jason Wubs, told Canadian Underwriter in a recent interview.

Effective Jan. 1, 2023, Jamie Lyons will become president and CEO of Westland (in 2019, he was appointed president and chief operating officer). Wubs will transition to the newly created role of vice chairman, head of mergers & acquisitions and strategic initiatives, where he will focus solely on these initiatives.

“As Westland continues to evolve as an organization, it’s critical that we have people within our leadership and broader teams that bring different backgrounds and different perspectives. That’s healthy for any organization,” Wubs said.

“We’re not a small, family-based insurance brokerage in a suburb of Vancouver anymore. I know we haven’t been that for a long time but I think it’s important to bring in people and evolve leadership with different backgrounds and perspectives.”

Wubs has been in the brokerage business for 35 years, starting in his senior year of high school as a part-time student. He said that while he intimately understands broker distribution and operations in Canada, his knowledge and experience is specific to Westland. Looking ahead, having people who look at the world through a slightly different lens will “help sustain the organization in the long run,” he said.

CU asked Wubs why he decided to pass the CEO baton over to Lyons and focus on M&A and strategy.

“Short answer is, frankly, Jamie’s ready,” he said. “He has a tremendous business acumen, he has a tremendous understanding of the industry. He also has a nice humility to him.

“And so, the bottom line is, he’s ready to be CEO. We want to give him the opportunity when he’s got tons of momentum and runway; I don’t want him to wait.… I’m just really excited for him, I think he’s just going to knock it out of the park.”

Wubs noted he will not be stepping back in any way. “I’m not retiring. I’m not leaving the organization. I’m not directing anymore, I’m supporting. And it’s a different way to interact with people and I’m quite enjoying it.”

In his new role, Wubs will support Lyons and the organization “in a more narrowed focus.” Recognizing the importance of M&A in Westland’s growth strategy, he said while the organization is doing a good job, it has opportunities to stretch.

“There’s still room for improvement in terms of not only developing relationships and nurturing partnerships with brokers that we will potentially partner with but, call it post-close or post-letter or intent, to also making sure that the onboarding experience is best-in-class,” he said.

And, part of his new focus will be on a relatively new vertical – employee and group benefits. “Based on my experience within the brokerage business growing up, this is an area [where] I want to start to provide support as well,” he said. “How do we make, for example, the employee group benefits a more integrated part of our overall portfolio offerings?”

Asked Wubs rhetorically: “Do I in some ways want to take my foot off the gas a little bit? Yes.

“But I’m not stepping away. My day-to-day is still 100% full-time committed to really supporting the organization over the next number of years and really being there to support Jamie and the leadership team, just in a different capacity.”

Feature image by iStock.com/erhui1979