Marlene Okafor

Profile

Senior commercial lines underwriter with 11 years of experience in property & casualty, specializing in mid-market manufacturing and construction accounts. Consistently maintains loss ratios 8–12 points below regional book average while growing a $42M premium portfolio. Holds CPCU designation and deep expertise in risk assessment, coverage structuring, and reinsurance treaty compliance.

Work Experience

Senior Commercial Lines UnderwriterMar 2019 - Present

Meridian Specialty Insurance Group, Hartford, CT

Underwrote and renewed 340+ mid-market P&C accounts annually, achieving a 91% retention rate and growing the assigned book from $28M to $42M in gross written premium over four years.
Reduced loss ratio on the manufacturing segment from 68% to 56% by implementing a revised risk-scoring matrix and tightening eligibility guidelines for accounts with prior losses exceeding $500K.
Mentored a team of three junior underwriters, conducting bi-weekly file reviews that cut referral errors by 34% and reduced average quote turnaround from 6 days to 3.5 days.

Commercial Lines UnderwriterJun 2015 - Feb 2019

Harland Mutual Insurance, Springfield, MA

Managed a $19M book of commercial property and general liability accounts across the construction and real estate verticals, maintaining a combined ratio of 97.4% against a regional target of 102%.
Negotiated facultative reinsurance placements on 22 large single-risk accounts totaling $180M in TIV, securing average cession rates 6% below initial reinsurer quotes.
Developed a construction wrap-up underwriting checklist adopted company-wide, standardizing documentation requirements and reducing E&O exposures flagged in annual audits by 41%.

Underwriting AnalystAug 2012 - May 2015

Northeast Risk Partners, Boston, MA

Supported a senior underwriter team handling 500+ commercial accounts, performing financial analysis, loss-run reviews, and exposure modeling that contributed to a 15% improvement in new-business hit ratio.
Built an Excel-based premium adequacy tool that automated rate-change calculations for 12 coverage lines, saving the underwriting team approximately 6 hours per week.
Coordinated with agents on 80+ renewal submissions per quarter, resolving data gaps that previously delayed binding by an average of 4 business days.

Skills

Commercial Property & Casualty Underwriting · Risk Assessment & Exposure Analysis · Facultative & Treaty Reinsurance · ISO Forms & Coverage Structuring · Applied Epic / ImageRight · Loss Ratio & Combined Ratio Management · CPCU Designation (AICPCU) · Regulatory Compliance & State Filing · Financial Statement Analysis

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