Meet Lyndsey Christofer, EVP, Construction and Real Estate & Hospitality Industry Practice Leader
Lyndsey Christofer’s dedication to her work in the insurance industry is best illustrated by her incredible career trajectory. She is the first woman at Chubb to lead its Construction and Real Estate & Hospitality Industry Practices, and she is the only person who oversees more than one Practice.
Lyndsey details how she got her start in insurance, top industry trends, and why the Construction and Real Estate & Hospitality Industry Practices complement each other below.
Lightning Round
Years in the industry: 18
Years with Chubb: 10
Hometown: Wyckoff, New Jersey
What she never leaves the house without: “A positive attitude!”
The best advice she ever got: “Bad news is best delivered early.”
Favorite travel destination: “Anywhere with white sand and blue water.”
Favorite book: “Anything by Jodi Picoult.”
Get to know Lyndsey
How did your career lead you to Chubb’s Industry Practices?
I started my career in insurance as an actuary, but I quickly realized I wanted to be more involved with the business side of the industry. I sought out a role in underwriting and my first underwriting job was in excess construction, and that experience led to my first role at Chubb underwriting primary construction. The more I worked with construction projects, the more I fell in love with the industry and the unique nature of the individual projects – from skyscrapers to bridges to tunnels to a new airport terminal, no day is the same. I rose through the ranks and was named Construction Industry Practice Leader in 2021.
Then, in 2022, I was also named as the Real Estate & Hospitality Practice Leader. Real Estate & Hospitality is a natural complement to the work I do on the construction side, and there is overlap in both clients and exposures between the two Industry Practices. It was a good fit for me to oversee both.
What are some trends you’re watching closely right now?
In the construction space, the labor shortage has been an ongoing issue that continues to be front of mind. There’s been a large increase in funding for public sector projects from the Infrastructure Bill and the CHIPS Act, but a lot of contractors are having to turn down work because they don't have the manpower. So, we're watching that. A lot of construction projects are also facing difficulty in procuring materials, which is putting pressure on schedules and completion times, which in turn adds more cost because you're not completing your job on time.
On the real estate side, we’re watching a shift occur in the types of assets that companies are buying and selling, which is changing the risk within portfolios. Over the past few years, due to the pandemic, there was a big decrease in in-office and hotel exposures, but now they’re rebounding. There’s also been a shift into distribution and warehousing facilities, as well as affordable housing. We’re really watching that shift in dynamic and how that changes the portfolio from both a property and casualty standpoint.
What sets Chubb’s Industry Practices apart?
The specialized services that we provide. Every line of coverage that we touch in the Industry Practices benefits from the industry-specific expertise of our people. We don’t have generalists working in these groups, we have true specialists who understand their industries on a very practical and detailed level.
