Strategist of the Year: How Rowan Saunders pulled off the second-largest IPO in Canadian history

Saunders’s resumé is stacked with insurance bona fides. At RSA, he wasn’t just head of the Canadian division; he also sat on the company’s global executive committee. He was chair of the Insurance Bureau of Canada and remains a member of the board of directors. Indeed, when he asked his dad, Brian—who spent 38 years as an insurance broker—whether he should take the Economical job, Brian told his son it was the job he’d spent the past 30 years preparing for.

Saunders had a plan: Improve profitability, enter new lines of business and start investing millions in new technology to bring the company into the 21st century. “We were going to have to make substantial changes, so I asked the board if they were up for a really big cultural change, as well as a big modernization,” says Saunders. “And the board was incredibly progressive and super willing to do that.

It also meant exiting lines that were chronically unprofitable, including long-haul trucking and dairy farms. “You have to play where you have a chance of winning,” he says. “You can’t be all things to all people.” Today, personal auto accounts for only 43% of the $3.4-billion portfolio, and commercial lines make up about 30%.

While overhauling the balance sheet was a major priority, Saunders also had to juggle the responsibilities around demutualization. Canada’s P&C industry has been consolidating over the past decade, as foreign-owned players have sold their operations to the larger domestic companies. Economical had to raise capital from equity investors to keep up.

To get there, Saunders needed the right team—one that understood the ins and outs of running a publicly traded company. In the past five years, there’s been more than 75% turnover among the executive leadership team. At the next level down—which includes Definity’s top 100 executives—more than half are newcomers.

His leadership team combines talent from public companies including Rogers Communications, TD Bank, Canadian Tire and RSA, which was recently purchased by the country’s largest P&C insurer, Intact Financial. “We have such diverse players around the room with different experiences to bring together,” says Pelino, noting the company also added 1,000 employees between 2018 and 2020. “I’ve seen it done in other organizations where it can really hurt the culture.

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