Beth Robertson | NFP (Photo: Patrice Gilbert)

A PERSONAL TOUCH

When Beth Robertson was beginning her career, she had a supervisor who was hard to please. "I would send her my reports, and everything I wrote, she would mark it up with a red pen and send it back—everything! That experience was pivotal, because it taught me how to communicate well," she says.

Those communication skills have helped Robertson, who works in the D.C. area, become a top producer at New York-based brokerage NFP. Robertson says the company prides itself on its personal touch. "Our model is a little bit different," she says. "We're very client-focused. NFP has acquired many smaller firms, but we tend to maintain each office and the culture of the office that was with the original organization."

Robertson's clients range from companies with 100 employees to 5,000 employees, and two-thirds are self-funded. "I try to ensure that every client is receiving the exact same level of service, the same level of thoughtful strategy, from me and my team," she says. "I believe that because the benefit spend is usually number two or three for most companies, every organization has to put thought behind their strategies."