Coffee connections

It was a slightly sideways journey into insurance. During my degree, I had a placement with an engineering firm in their sales team – while engineering was not for me, I did discover that I loved working with people, networking and problem solving, all of which are core parts of insurance broking. I applied to the Gallagher graduate programme and have done a number of different rotations in areas like account handling, sales and broking.

It has something for everyone and there is so much to learn every day. It can be very technical, though Gallagher offered guided support in allowing me to get involved in highly specialised areas. Insurance touches every part of the economy so whatever you might be interested in, insurance helps to make it happen. Gallagher is uniquely positioned in areas like cyber insurance, which has rapidly grown over the years. So as the world changes, so does specialty insurance.

Having worked in different areas within Gallagher, I asked to stay in broking. I am a placing broker which means that I present the risks to the underwriters. I explain the issues that our clients face, answer any questions they have about the risks, and then work to get the best deal for the client.

We work a lot with large businesses like manufacturers, contractors and engineering firms. Sometimes they are existing clients for whom we are renewing the insurance, other times they can be new clients that we are working with for the first time. I love making the connections, and feel that the other areas I worked in helped to prepare me for this.

I am also currently working on my Level 4 Diploma in Insurance from the Chartered Insurance Institute alongside my job, it’s great that I get to study whilst gaining hands-on experience in the industry.

I also love the social element of the industry. We have a Young Professionals Club which helps us to build our network, and everyone is very welcoming. There is a real community spirit between everyone involved.

The application process can seem quite complicated but if you break it down into bite sized chunks it is a lot easier. It may sound obvious but do read the job description and research the company. Just understanding whether the company is a broker – representing the customer who wants to buy insurance – or the insurer who sells the policy, is a good start to finding out what you want to do.

Also make sure you do spotlight your extra-curricular activities as that will act as a talking point and will help you stand out. And if you are going to talk about skills or experiences, make sure you can talk about real life examples. Finally, smile and enjoy it – the first interview can be scary, but each one serves as a useful learning curve.

I am an orange belt in jiu jitsu which is the fourth level! The first time I ever saw it taking place I knew I wanted to do it, and who doesn’t love a bit of self-defense!

No specific ambition but thought I would do something in finance.

I needed some money to pay for my travelling, so did some temping jobs in the City. One of them was as a technician supporting aviation underwriters in a Lloyd’s syndicate. I liked aviation and space insurance so looked for a permanent position and eventually found one.

Marsh is a broker so most of what they do is on behalf of customers who want to buy insurance but my customers are actually the insurers who sell insurance. Marsh arranges terrorism insurance on risks around the world with a group of insurers. We make sure those insurers have the data they need to improve their marketing and grow their terrorism business profitably.  It’s both marketing and financial analysis.

I like drilling down into the detail of the data.  What risks did they underwrite? Where were they successful? Why were they unsuccessful? Then we can generate insights into how the insurers can improve their performance.

Well, obviously it helps to be numerate and to be able to manipulate and interpret data. But you also need good verbal communication skills as you need to explain sometimes complicated trends to customers.

Network. It’s a people business. The more people you know the more opportunities you hear about.

Well I studied for six months in Hong Kong and am also a black belt at karate.

When I was in Year 10, I attended a careers’ talk to discuss whether I wanted to go to university or look for an apprenticeship, and the idea of working and studying sounded more attractive to me. I loved maths and chose financial studies at A level so knew I was looking for something with a finance element. Throughout my financial studies I learned different topics that included: financial planning, banking, and insurance. I then explored my options to see if I could find an apprenticeship in one of these fields. Initially I applied to the Big Four accountancy firms, but the process was super competitive. I then found that insurance offers apprenticeships as well! I did an online mentoring programme with the Brokerage and was given a mentor. They were working in the London insurance market, and introduced me to Lloyd’s of London. I applied for several Underwriting Assistant roles and eventually gained my role at Atrium.

As an Underwriting Administrative Assistant, I get to see all the areas of business that Atrium covers – as a specialist insurer that can be anything from satellites, jewellery, large ships, or covering a journalist going to a war zone for a day! This industry is as far removed from just houses and cars as you can imagine, it touches every part of the world and almost every type of business. I am working towards my professional qualifications with the Chartered Insurance Institute so that I can further progress in my career. There are lots of other young professionals across the market who are doing the same, so we are always helping each other. An example of this would be when I was struggling with one of my modules, it was someone I met at a networking event who pointed me towards some great learning resources which really helped.

The thing I love most is engaging with other people. Even though I joined in lockdown, there were a lot of online events, bitesize training, coffee catch ups and Knowledge Exchange Programs – I really didn’t feel I was missing out, which is so important when you are getting started! Once we were back in the office, I was a bit nervous to start off as it was a new environment and I had to meet lots of new people. Something I’ve learned is that this is a market that is all about people and there are a lot of networking opportunities so you can build your contacts quite fast! This has really helped me to network and build my self-confidence. Atrium, like many others, has embraced hybrid working but I am in the office three days a week and love that face-to-face interaction.

Outside of work I do Muay Thai and I like baking!

I knew I wanted to do something involving numbers or computing which I was good at, but I did not want to be an accountant. I also grew up in Crystal Palace in south London and always wanted to have a job in the middle of the city.

When I was at university, we were offered the opportunity to have an Insight day at Aon, the large London insurance broking firm.  I attended and I thought “I like this insurance thing”.  The pandemic made applying for jobs difficult, but I was lucky enough to get an internship in the insurance department of a large shipping company and still enjoyed it so started applying for jobs in underwriting. I completed 15 applications, got two offers and finally started with Starr in April 2021. I liked the sound of the role as it was in both construction and property insurance underwriting including on and offshore energy.

You have probably heard that insurance is data driven and our role is to make sure that all the data that underwriters use to price risks and ultimately pay claims is accurate and up to date. We also can get involved in agreeing and documenting changes to the risk and ensuring the contracts are correct.

I work in a great team who support the underwriters across all the types of insurance Starr underwrites.  We are all a similar age and get on really well, even when we were all working from home. I enjoy collaborating with people to get things done and we have achieved a lot as a team in the six months I have been here.

Attention to detail is certainly important as the data must be accurate or bad underwriting decisions will be made. You have to be familiar with common computer programmes such as Word and Excel. And you have to be a team player, we often have to work to tight deadlines and have to share the work to get things done.

I would love to be an assistant underwriter, or by then even an underwriter, probably in Energy insurance. The renewable energy market will be an exciting place to work in the next few years.

I started my career in India where insurance offerings are yet at a nascent stage. I was broking direct risks but had always been interested in reinsurance (that is where insurance companies protect their own risks by buying insurance) and in the most complex specialty risks that are the heart of the London insurance market. But I was told that I had to build my technical expertise and experience, so I came to London to do a second Masters degree in Insurance and Risk Management at Bayes Business School.

It is an undiscovered world – it is different from any other part of financial services. It does extraordinary things, like insurance for FIFA football players and looking at how the world is changing and the risks that it poses – like climate change & cyber risk. It offers amazing options and opportunities to young people looking for an exciting career that has real purpose.

Well, being in a different country can be challenging, however, having a can-do-attitude has got me a long way. Working in the London market has been a great learning curve that provides a solid base and understanding of the global insurance markets. There may be moments when one might feel lost or like an outsider, but I was fortunate enough to come across my mentor, teachers and senior leaders who are willing to give you a chance, and their guidance is an unparalleled advantage in dealing with this change.

The joy of this market is that you get to know and work with a lot of people not just in your business, but also the brokers who talk to the businesses that face the risks and then bring those into the market, and experts like lawyers and the claims professionals who step in when accidents happen. There is a real sense of community that is unique.

First of all, it is the size of the risks that we help solve. The sheer magnitude and the size of the numbers in itself is very intriguing. Then there is the fact that one doesn’t just look at property in the sense of buildings, but it might be insuring a whole portfolio of rare collectible cars. And it goes beyond that. It is technical but at the same time a relationship driven business, thus being able to balance out both these facets is an interesting job.

If you have an interest in something specific, the industry has loads to offer. It might be AI, or climate change, or tech, or it might be analytics. The range of things you can do is huge.

It looks very complicated but don’t be put off by that. I work for a syndicate at Lloyd’s and that is hard to explain. But if you think about it as a marketplace where you can come for a lot of different products then it starts to make sense. I have two Masters’ degrees, but I don’t think the key skills you need are necessarily technical but are around determination, hard work and perseverance. If your looking for a role in the insurance industry, keep trying, you will definitely find something interesting.

It is also a very social place. You walk down the street and bump into people you know, there are a lot of social activities and that means you can have a great job and a good social life.

Once you have a job, dive in with confidence. Go and speak up and ask to get involved, ask lots of questions so you can improve and learn. It’s also worth studying for your CII examinations as that gives you an understanding of how the insurance and reinsurance market works and helps you work more effectively with your team.

I was not all too sure, but I was definitely interested in environmental sciences and that’s why I chose my degree in Oceanography. I felt if I followed studies that I knew I was passionate about, then I would be able to narrow down a career pathway over time. I was based at the National Oceanography centre in Southampton and we studied everything from large scale ocean processes and sustainability of fisheries to our changing climate.

I was very interested in the environment and sustainability but I knew that I wanted a commercial career rather than a career in scientific research. A family friend recommended catastrophe modelling in the London market. It seemed a perfect combination – working in the City but still being involved in environmental science.

I applied for several firms and was lucky enough to be offered a job in Gallagher Re’s Ipswich office which was close to home but which supports the global reinsurance placements in London.

I work with the reinsurance broking team whose role is to help insurance companies understand the potential financial impact of claims which result from natural catastrophes such as windstorm, flood and earthquake.

For instance, we might have an Italian insurance company who insures the risk of property damage to buildings throughout Italy. They will want to understand what the impact on their profitability and solvency position will be if there is a flood in a certain area of Italy.

Once I have all their data on all the buildings they have insured, I will analyse it to see how and why it is changed since the year before – perhaps they are insuring more buildings over four stories or more buildings in a vulnerable area. Once I have “cleaned the data” (ensured it is correct and in the right format) we model it using catastrophe models (statistical models based on historic weather data). The output of the models will show us whether, for instance, the losses the insurer might expect from a flood in a specific area have increased or decreased since the year before.

I will then explain to the insurance company why their exposure has changed. If they believe they have too much exposure to a flood in that area they may change their future underwriting strategy e.g. insure fewer buildings or charge higher premiums. Our reinsurance broking team will also use the information to design and place the best reinsurance programme for them. Other catastrophe risk analysts in the team will model the impact of other weather risks, earthquake and terrorism in all parts of the world. We also have a research team which researches the potential impact of climate change.

I love doing the analysis and what we call “bridging” – explaining to our client why their exposure is changing then discussing with them and our reinsurance broking team what business decisions they can make following my analysis. I have also been lucky enough to be part of Gallagher’s Reinsurance Achievement Programme which means I have had the opportunity to work closely with more experienced colleagues to learn more about how to interact with our clients and their reinsurers.

To get a job in catastrophe risk analysis you usually need to have a related degree such as Geography, Geology, Meteorology and Oceanography although I do know some reinsurance brokers who have ended up as catastrophe modellers and indeed some catastrophe modellers who have become reinsurance brokers.

You need to be comfortable managing data and systems (including some coding) but you also need to work well with people whether it’s the other catastrophe modellers, the reinsurance broking team or our clients.

Well firstly, realise that it’s a great opportunity if you want to combine your interest in environmental science with a job in the City.

Once you have a job, dive in with confidence. Ask lots of questions so you can improve and learn. Study for your CII examinations as that gives you an understanding of how the insurance and reinsurance market works and helps you work more effectively with the broking team.

I love scuba diving – another reason why I am passionate about understanding and protecting the oceans.