New Iberia native and LSU grad Shaun Norris, shown at his desk in Metairie, has been promoted to regional president of HUB International.

METAIRIE — Shaun Norris didn’t aspire to help run a major insurance company — it just so happened that way and he just so happened to be good at it.

The New Iberia native studied marketing and business at LSU, earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the late 1990s from the state’s flagship university, and during his coursework Norris did research for one of his instructors Mike Manes, a noted insurance lobbyist, and that led him to his first job at Wright & Percy Insurance where after seven years he left with the role of director, Marketing & Communications. Norris also served as a adjunct faculty member in the marketing department at LSU from 2000-03, and a marketing and advertising consultant for Turner Industries from 2001-04.

In 2004, Norris started working for HUB International Ltd, a global insurance brokerage based out of Chicago, as the chief sales officer for the company’s Metairie-based Gulf South region (which operates offices across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia). Norris has been there ever since and last week was promoted to regional president, replacing the retiring Steven Terry, starting in January. 

Not bad for someone who not that long ago didn’t envision life in the insurance field.

What does the future of the insurance sector look like?

While it’s cliché to say that the insurance marketplace is experiencing rapid change, at no other time can I recall the opportunity that independent agents and brokers now have to shape the future for their clients.  

In health and employee benefits the emerging trend is cost containment and claims mitigation. In the Property & Casualty space the next horizon is enhanced risk control driven by data analytics. And lastly, technology will continue to dominate how tomorrow’s consumer accesses personal insurance.    

In all three arenas, I’m excited about HUB’s position today and into the foreseeable future. Our internal stakeholders work daily to ensure that future is led by HUB.

Is there one thing that you have done at HUB that you are determined to keep achieving with your new role?

We are always mindful of growing organically. Whether that is our growing our agents internally or recruiting the best agents from our competitors. The company has grown from $18 mill to $100 million today and that comes from the mixture of those two approaches of growing our company. 

How pleased are you that the company opted to promote from within and do you feel your day-to-day workalike will be drastically different?

I am relieved that I won’t be working for somebody parachuted out of town and I respected them from making a promotion within. Your day to day outlook won’t change. The president al role is simply this, delegate my weakness, make timely decisions, and be accountable for those decisions.

Why do you think HUB chose you to take over as regional president?

The reason why they decided make me the next president is because I had a great mentor that allowed me to run shotgun with him and watch him do it for years. There is no function or task that I haven’t had chance to take a crack at myself.

Do you feel like you have completed the goals that you set out for yourself when you first joined HUB more than a decade ago?

When I left my prior position to move to this agency in 2004, all I ever wanted to do was help build the best agency in Louisiana. Guess you could say we did that and a little more.