Jon M. Baker
Innovator, Entrepreneur, and Philanthropist
Jon M. Baker is an innovator, entrepreneur, and philanthropist whose career has spanned more than five decades. He is recognized for founding and growing pioneering businesses, and for his enduring commitment to education, health care, and the performing arts.​
Unconstrained by conventional boundaries, Mr. Baker consistently demonstrates the ability to think outside the box, approaching challenges with originality and insight that lead to transformative outcomes in both business and philanthropy. Whether navigating complex organizational issues or designing forward-thinking initiatives, Mr. Baker brings a creative, solution-oriented mindset that adds significant value to any team or project.
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Challenge
In the early 1970s, Fortune 500 companies acknowledged the need to attract and retain top executives by increasing compensation and retirement packages. The challenge was how to achieve the goal without increasing corporate liabilities or triggering immediate tax burdens to the executives.
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Solution
Baker & Lander pioneered TANDEM, a concept incorporating the use of non-qualified supplemental executive benefits funded through a unique application of Corporate Owned Life Insurance (COLI).
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Challenge
Traditional U.S. life insurance offerings were often ineffectively designed and priced, lacking both the structural efficiency and product innovation needed to deliver optimal value.
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Solution
In 1979, Baker & Lander established the initial mutual life insurance company in Bermuda, offering products designed within a variable cost structure to minimize client cost.​ Bermuda Mutual was formed as "virtual cost structure" in which product design, underwriting, reinsurance, marketing, sales, administration, and compensation were provided at significant savings to all existing U.S. products.
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​​Challenge
High-net-worth families and family-owned businesses worldwide expressed the need for cross-border solutions to effectively transfer assets to their heirs.
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Solution
IPG established key distribution hubs worldwide to represent over two dozen global private banks and their high-net-worth clients, providing customized solutions.​
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Challenge
Major global financial institutions petitioned U.S. insurers to issue non-U.S. products to satisfy the needs of the non-U.S. high net worth markets.
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Solution
In 1994, Mr. Baker founded Global Insurance Services (GIS) to advise North American insurers in establishing their offshore operations. GIS provided end-to-end support, including market entry compliant solicitation processes, competitively priced reinsurance, and ongoing underwriting/ administration powered by proprietary variable cost structure.
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Challenge
Mr. Baker sought to restructure the current academic model of learning in order to better prepare students for the complex, rapidly evolving demands of the 21st century.
Solution
Partnering with The Red House at Georgetown University, Mr. Baker co-developed a “transformative learning” paradigm aimed at fostering deep, proactive learning and societal impact. This new model was established and structured in the form of a trust that mitigated operational control by the University.
The Baker Trust for Transformative Learning is funded outside the University budget (off balance sheet) and ​operates across schools as a university-wide funding engine supporting innovative, collaborative, and educational initiatives to facilitate Georgetown to offer a more relevant, equitable, and transformative education.
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Challenge
Mass General Hospital (MGH) was experiencing a decline in national rankings and faced potential challenges in maintaining its position as a leading medical institution. MGH recognized the advantage of reassessing its core mission and defining a clear, strategic path forward.
Solution
Mr. Baker supported MGH in its core mission of enhancing patient experience and long-term patient outcomes funded by a trust under traditional institutional control.
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Mass General launched the Baker Awards for Patient Experience and Outcomes Research, funding new ideas and expanding proven programs to galvanize cross-disciplinary innovation, strengthen national leadership in patient care, and prioritize patient outcomes.
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Challenge
Mr. Baker wanted to partner with Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales in her capacity as President of the Royal Academy of Music.
Solution
Mr. Baker established The American Foundation of the Royal Academy of Music and in 1989, Princess Diana visited the US where she and Mr. Baker met with prospective donors in order to secure scholarships for exceptional U.S. music prodigies to study in the UK.
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