Retiring BB&T Chief Executive Thought Insurance Move Was a ‘Crazy Idea’
September 28, 2015 by Renée Kiriluk-Hill, associate editor, BestWeek: renee.kiriluk-hill@ambest.com
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Over the past quarter of a century, H. Wade Reece helped grow broker BB&T Insurance Holdings Inc. from $6 million to $1.71 billion in revenues. Now chairman and chief executive officer, he plans to retire at year’s end and is to be succeeded by John Howard, who was president and CEO of Crump Group when BB&T acquired its life and property/casualty insurance divisions.
Reece was accepted in the BB&T Management Development Program in 1978, the same year he graduated college. He worked on the banking side of BB&T Corp. as a city executive and area manager, BB&T said in a statement, until 1990, when he was moved to the then-struggling insurance division.
The company said he was charged with making the insurance division profitable by providing “a source of revenue that was not sensitive to fluctuating interest rates.” At the time, BB&T said, its insurance division had revenues of $6 million. Now BB&T Insurance Holdings Inc. is the fifth-largest global insurance broker with $1.71 billion in total revenue in 2014, according to Best’s Review.
Reece said in a statement he thought the move was a “crazy idea” because he didn’t know “anything about insurance, except to trust my agent.”
BB&T said Reece was behind an acquisition program that added “more than 100 agencies and brokerages,” giving the company “the talent and resources necessary to serve much more sophisticated and specialized clients.”
“Wade has demonstrated time and again his extraordinary ability to successfully lead his team,” said BB&T Chief Operating Officer Chris Henson. “His vision and foresight have been a tremendous strength. We will miss him greatly.”
Reece said, “It’s been an incredible experience and a lot of fun. I’ve had the privilege to work with some of the most talented individuals in our industry and for a rare company that has always emphasized values and integrity.”
According to Henson, Howard’s “skills and talent are certain to continue the momentum and success Wade has charted for this very important line of business.”
Howard said he and Reece share a similar belief that “success always comes down to relationships that are developed through knowledge, expertise and shared values … I plan to continue to build upon that legacy” that Reece “built at BB&T Insurance.”
The life division portion of the Crump deal in 2012 sent BB&T into the high net worth client realm (Best’s News Service, Feb. 3, 2012). At the time BB&T said Crump was the largest independent wholesale life insurance distributor in the country.
Share of BB&T Corp. (NYSE:BBT) were trading the afternoon of Sept. 25 at $35.55, up 1.43% from the previous close.
