LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD
MASON & CARTER, INC.
Four generations of leadership drive agency growth and profits
By Clark H. Carter, CPCU, CLU
Trust, professionalism, integrity, responsiveness, a customer-first mindset, and our reputation in the community are the factors that have influenced our longevity.
Looking back
Mason & Carter, Inc. (M&C), was established in 1901 as Taylor & Company and was situated in the downtown financial district of Baltimore City. Wilmer Carter joined the agency in 1918 as a partner with Dudley Mason, who sold his interest to Carter in 1928. The agency was then renamed Mason & Carter.
From that date forward, it has been a Carter family business. Sons of Wilmer Carter, C. Read Carter and Spencer Carter spent their professional careers managing the agency. Clark Carter, son of C. Read Carter, became president in 1995 and was succeeded by his son, Read Carter, in 2019. Four generations of Carters are driving agency growth and profits.
While the exact location of our office has changed, we remain no more than 100 yards from our origins. M&C is ranked by the Baltimore Business Journal as the 30th oldest family-owned business in the greater Baltimore area.
In 1904, Baltimore suffered a devastating fire that leveled 1,500 buildings in the city’s core. Those were trying times, especially for an independent agency that was providing fire insurance protection to businesses. That the agency survived is testament to its principals’ determination and grit.
Our goal is to perpetuate what we have been doing for the past I20 years and to continue to operate independently.
We have been fortunate to have been appointed by first-tier insurance companies throughout our history. For example, we have been a Chubb agent since 1917. We have remained true to the independent agency model that offers our clients a range of companies to tailor coverage to fit their specific needs.
Like most agencies, we have evolved from a paper- and personnel-intensive organization to one that operates on an automated platform. Our first computer system was Insurnet, installed in the 1980s. This was a rudimentary platform that bore little resemblance to our current agency management system that addresses all of our accounting needs and allows us to operate in a paperless environment.
Our endurance and success over time have enhanced our reputation in the community; we do not advertise in print or media.
Looking ahead
Mason & Carter currently has a staff of 20 employees, many of them having been with our agency for decades.
Sixty-two percent of our written premium is personal lines; 38% is commercial lines. We are not active in the life and health/employee benefits arena, preferring to focus on what we know best. The majority of our business is placed with ten companies. We maintain relationships with many other companies and brokerages to address specific needs of our customers. Today we remain generalists in our mix of business, with an emphasis on the personal and commercial needs of professionals and successful families and individuals.
Trust, professionalism, integrity, responsiveness, a customer-first mindset, and our reputation in the community are the factors that have influenced our longevity.
Our goal is to perpetuate what we have been doing for the past 120 years and to continue to operate independently. We are not for sale. We continue to grow our business both organically and through purchases of books of business that we deem a good fit with our culture.
The author
Clark H. Carter, CPCU, CLU, is chairman of Baltimore-based Mason & Carter.
Main Photo: The Eastern Avenue Pumping Station, completed in I9I2, served as the Baltimore Public Works Museum from I982 until 20I0
