DeWitt Stern Group


The DeWitt Stern Group, Inc. is a privately held, New York City-based insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm. National in scope, the firm also has offices in North White Plains NY, Jersey City NJ, Chicago IL, and in two California locations: San Francisco and Glendale.
Founded in 1899 by DeWitt H. Stern, the firm is led by the founder's grandson, Jolyon F. Stern, who represents the third generation of family ownership. The firm was ranked by Business Insurance as 62d among the top 100 insurance brokers in 2008. Risk & Insurance, another insurance industry trade publication, designated four of the firm's Fine Art and Entertainment-Media specialists as Power Brokers in 2007 and 2008.

Notable clients

DeWitt Stern offers risk management solutions to clients ranging from international corporations, banks, law firms, and classical artists to individuals in finance, government, law, accounting, entertainment, media, and art. The firm's individual clients have included: Antoinette Perry, violinist Isaac Stern, Albert Einstein, and the prominent actors Bette Davis, Jose Ferrer, and Yul Brynner.

Risk solutions

Examples of risk solutions include formulating cost-sensitive programs for real estate companies and providing broad insurance coverage for fine art and volatile overseas film projects. These risks can be complex and particularly hard-to-place. In fact, “the firm’s entertainment practice—its flagship—provides insurance brokerage and risk management services to some of the largest, most well-known businesses in the theatrical, film, television and music industries,” according to an article published in Rough Notes, an insurance industry publication.

Areas of experience