Mike Hessling

Mike Hessling serves as President of Cottingham & Butler, bringing more than two decades of leadership experience in insurance and management consulting.

 

Prior to joining Cottingham & Butler, Mike served as Chief Executive Officer of North America for Gallagher Bassett, where he oversaw a $1B+ claims operation and a team of more than 3,000 professionals. Under his leadership, the business consistently delivered annual organic growth. Previously, he served as Chief Client Officer, leading sales, account management, and analytics functions while achieving client retention rates exceeding 95%.

 

Mike began his career at Arthur Andersen and subsequently held consulting roles at Bridge Strategy Group and Bain & Company, bringing both strategic perspective and operational expertise to his work.

 

He holds a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Penn State University, where he graduated with honors. He is a Certified Public Accountant, having scored in the top 1% in Illinois on the CPA examination. He has been recognized on the Insurance Business Global 100 list three times and received the 2017 Break-Out Award from Business Insurance, which honors the next generation of industry leaders. He founded and chaired Gallagher Bassett's Inclusion & Diversity initiative and serves on the Board of Directors for Youth Outreach Services in Chicago.

 

Mike and his wife Valerie reside in Dubuque, Iowa, with their eight children.