Maurice Saval
Born in poverty, he rose to become an innovative industry and community leader.
Maurice Saval was an authentic pioneer in the surplus lines business and famous for his philanthropy and unlimited support for insurance education.
He was born in Boston in 1900 to impoverished immigrants. An eighth-grade dropout, he was said to peddle pots and pans throughout New England before he began work as a Boston accountant for a managing general agent.
In 1934, he established his own MGA, specializing in serving agents who were trying to insure unusual risks, which standard insurance companies refused to write. To succeed, he had to convince British Underwriters this type of American business could be written profitably.
Later, he became an underwriting member of Lloyd’s of London. Saval expanded his business, operating both insurers and reinsurers. By the time he retired in 1982, the Saval Group consisted of three carriers domiciled in the United States and Canada, as well as American and Canadian managing general agencies.
He also served as a special assistant to the Massachusetts insurance commissioner when surplus lines insurance regulations were being drafted. Saval shared his wealth, giving to schools, colleges and charities.
He received honorary doctorates from Brandeis University, Emerson College, New England College of Optometry, Yeshiva University and the College of Insurance. The Saval Auditorium at the Solomon Schechter School in Newton, Massachusetts, and Saval Campus of the Maimonides School in Brookline, Massachusetts, were named for him.
The Saval Sabbatical Award allows promising young members of Lloyd’s to travel to the United States to study the industry. Saval also established the Frank W. Humphrey Anniversary Award in honor of his mentor. The award is presented yearly to the top-scoring student in The Insurance Library Association of Boston’s Property & Liability Insurance Principles Program. Saval received The Philip W. Lown Distinguished Service Award from the Hebrew College for his work in furthering the Jewish day school movement in Greater Boston. In 1984, Saval donated to 229 charities. He died in 1989.
