Some of you may know Tyler Townsend (pictured) from the rink at Canlan Ice Sports Etobicoke, ON, where he plays in a local insurance hockey league. Others may recognize him from the Insurance Business Canada Awards, where his team at INTECH Risk Management picked up the Excellence in Risk Management Award in 2017. Now, Townsend has another string to add to his bow. He’s been selected as one of Insurance Business Canada’s 2019 Young Guns – an accolade he wishes to share with the INTECH team and the long-list of mentors who have supported him throughout his insurance career so far.
Like many others, Townsend fell into insurance by way of another industry. Prior to working in insurance and risk, he worked at the law firm Blaney McMurtry LLP, where he focused on business law and built up knowledge on insurance issues. His first position in insurance was at Aon, where he started off as a process analyst, issuing certificates of insurance in the real estate group. Within a few years at Aon, Townsend quickly worked his way up to account executive, a role that set him up well for when he joined INTECH as senior manager of risk and insurance services in January 2017.
“I had actually worked with INTECH when I was at Aon. They were the risk and insurance consultant on one of my accounts, and I quickly discovered they were tremendous risk and insurance professionals and even better people,” Townsend commented. “I was very drawn to INTECH because of how knowledgeable and great their people were to work with. On top of that, INTECH also has a small, family-type atmosphere, so I felt I had the ability to affect change in a positive manner as opposed to being a cog in a very big wheel.”
Since joining INTECH, Townsend has been promoted to director of risk and insurance services and has helped the department achieve 15% revenue growth. He aims to continue that growth moving forward, while also providing ongoing education and mentorship for his award-winning team. According to Townsend, it’s essential to “surround yourself with great people, because that enables you to learn and grow every day.”
“When I was at Aon, I started off as a process analyst and then worked my way up to account executive within about five or six-years, which was quite a quick move up. There have been many people who have helped me along the way and taught me everything they know – and now I’m trying to pass that along to my team at INTECH,” Townsend told Insurance Business. “I try to mentor younger employees as much as I can because that’s how I got to where I am today – because of all the great people who supported me.
“Ongoing education is very important, and it’s something we’re very big on at INTECH. We hold a lot of seminars, we attend a lot of seminars, and we work with a lot of different brokerages so that we can pool all of that knowledge and continue to provide best-in-class service and consulting to our clients. Throughout my career, I’ve always tried to work hard, work smart, and stay educated. If you do that, the good things tend to come your way.”
Despite falling into this career, Townsend quickly realized insurance is “a really great industry” with a lot of “fun aspects” to it. He noted: “Sometimes, insurance can be thought of as mundane and a whole lot of paperwork, but there are so many different aspects to risk and so many different areas of insurance expertise that you need to keep current in; it’s far from mundane! There’s something in it for everyone.”
