Annie Hanna Engel. president and chief operating officer of Howard Hanna Insurance Services Inc.—the largest real estate company-owned insurance provider in the country—is pairing an independent agent with every real estate transaction.
Annie Hanna Engel
President and Chief Operating Officer
Pittsburgh
A lawyer by profession, Annie Hanna Engel found her calling after completing a master's degree in insurance law at the University of Connecticut. “I gained a better understanding of why I was doing insurance defense work, a better understanding of the carrier's position, and I really got into more of the governance and state regulation," she says.
As president and chief operating officer of Howard Hanna Insurance Services Inc.—the largest real estate company-owned insurance provider in the country—and chief legal officer of Hanna Holdings, Hanna Engel is pairing an independent agent with every real estate transaction to create a holistic client experience.
Insurance and Real Estate
Our insurance agents are really involved in the real estate sales offices. They attend meetings and are engaged in the overall cohesiveness of transactions. They are a key part of the real estate and mortgage transactions.
Engaging the Workforce?
Marrying real estate and insurance is another way to really encourage new people, not just younger people, to come into the business. Being part of the overall transaction creates an interesting mixture of all our business entities working toward one common goal.
Advice for Another Agent?
Slow down, take your time and make sure that you're well-
educated in whatever you're discussing. Continue to get education in your field, whether it's an insurance certificate or other designation. Really drive yourself to the get the best continuing education so you can continue to be the best adviser.
Industry Changes?
Mergers and acquisitions between carriers that I didn't think would ever happen is interesting because we are a company that does a lot of mergers and acquisitions ourselves. It was interesting to see how the Harleysville-Allied-Nationwide mergers formed and to see how this is still coming together because they operated in different states in different ways.
Olivia Overman is IA content editor.
PHOTO BY GEORGE LANGE
