INFLUENTIAL WOMEN IN RE/INSURANCE...Jennifer Kish JRG Reinsurance Company Senior vice president and chief actuary Judith Klugman Swiss Re Capital Markets Managing director 100 INFLUENTIAL

2015

Intelligent Insurer profiles 100 leading women currently making their mark on the re/insurance industry.

INFLUENTIAL WOMEN IN RE/INSURANCE

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THE RISE OF THE FEMALE EXEC

I n January 2014, Lloyd’s of London, a 325-year-old institution and pinnacle of the insurance industry, hired Inga Beale as CEO. This historic hire has been a fundamental step in demonstrating the industry’s attempt at showing women that the door is open and

that they will be encouraged and rewarded in the same way as men.

With this change in perception, a growing number of young, talented people increasingly see re/insurance as a sector of opportunity and exciting career prospects.

Considering the role of women in the re/insurance industry, Intelligent Insurer compiled a supplement including 100 influential women in the re/insurance industry.

In our latest supplement, which builds on the 40 women that we profiled last year, we asked women in the industry why and how they ended up in this sector, the challenges that they faced along the way and what their hopes and aspirations are.

Within our extensive collection of comments, there were several very interesting points raised, including a lack of mentors, fewer opportunities to network and a lack of staff empowerment.

Cory Anger, global head of ILS Structuring, GC Securities, says that the lack of women in the board room, traditionally, is partly due to the number of women in the sector overall, but also a result of the untrue perception that women cannot do as well.

“Women need to find other ways to show their value and even promote their success. They also need to learn how to network in ways that are equally as effective as how men do it,” she says. “Also, having more female representation in all levels of a company gives corporations more women candidates to evaluate.”

Beale, CEO, Lloyd’s, has become a role model for all women in the industry and has already made changes to encourage diversity.

“We have launched our Inclusion@Lloyd’s initiative and have also been running a series of events across the market. We are providing tools and training to help people understand what they can do within their own organisations to understand the business benefits of having an inclusive culture,” she says.

Chantal Cardinez, chief executive officer, Hannover Life Reassurance Bermuda says that the key to diversification is staff empowerment.

“The face of the corporate world is changing—albeit at a slower pace in some industries—and I see women increasingly in leadership positions. My own management team is 75 percent women—a rare sight in the industry but one of which I am very proud. What makes it even more impressive is that the team was not built by a woman, proof that positions are being filled by the most skilled people irrespective of gender,” she says.

Victoria Carter, vice chairman of international operations, Guy Carpenter, agrees and says that diversity should be encouraged.

“It is desirable in any industry to encourage diversity. This brings different perspectives, different approaches and different views and this is surely a good thing for any organisation. It enables people to make considered choices,” she says.

Carter also says that women should not be intimidated by the lack of women in the industry in senior positions.

“Work hard, continue to be ambitious and don’t be intimidated by a lack of women in senior positions. View it as an ambition to achieve,” she says.

Kirsty Whittle, Deputy editor

Editorial

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100 influential women in re/insurance



Name Company PositionPina Albo Munich Re Member of the board of management

Cory Anger GC Securities Global head of ILS structuring

T L Alamelu United India Insurance–Chennai General manager

Reeva Bakhshi Hiscox Re Chief financial officer

Inga Beale Lloyd’s Chief executive officer

Jill Beggs Munich Re America Head of new strategic markets

Nancy Bewlay Swiss Re Head of underwriting casualty, US and Canada

Dawnmarie Black BMS Risk Solutions Senior vice president

Margo Black Swiss Re Head of reinsurance Latin America South and president of Swiss Re Brasil Resseguros

Jackie Bolig Aon Benfield US Senior managing director

Catherine Bourland Aon Benfield France Chief executive officer

Barbara Bufkin Hamilton USA Executive vice president business development

Louise Cable-Alexander Hyperion Insurance Group Chief of staff

Chantal Cardinez Hannover Life Reassurance Bermuda Chief executive officer

Ingrid Carlou Patria Re Managing director

Victoria Carter Guy Carpenter Vice chairman of international operations

Anna Catalano Willis Group Board of directors

Cathy Chen Peak Re Chief financial officer

Julia Chu Guy Carpenter Managing director, global strategic advisory

Karen Clark Karen Clark & Company President and chief executive officer

Clare Constable Canopius Head of global property claims

Monica Cramér Manhem Sirius International Insurance Corporation Chief executive officer

Susan Cross XL Catlin Executive vice president and group chief actuary

Victoria Cunningham Tokio Millennium Re Assistant vice president, underwriting

Cathryn Curia Markel Global Re Managing director, North American property reinsurance

Geraldine Del Prete TigerRisk Partners Partner

Joan deLemps Endurance Chief risk officer

Susan Denike Guy Carpenter Managing director in Guy Carpenter Analytics

Laurie Desmet PartnerRe Executive vice president and group chief operations officer

Isabelle Dubots-Lafitte Odyssey Re Chief executive officer, Europe, Middle East & Africa

Janice Englesbe Gen Re Board member and deputy chief risk officer

Kathleen Faries Tokio Solution Management Chief executive officer

Carole Ferrero Gen Re President and global chief underwriting officer, property/casualty

Ann Field Zurich Group Reinsurance Global head of reinsurance recoveries, claims and asset management

Cindy Foo Asia Capital Reinsurance Group Head, Southeast Asia and India

Mary Forrest Munich Re, Canada President and chief executive officer, North America (Life)

Denise Garland Tokio Marine Kiln Group chief operating officer

Tracey Gibbons Allied World Assurance Company Senior vice president, specialty reinsurance

Heather Goodhew Aspen Re Chief operating officer

Victoria Guest Hamilton Insurance Group General counsel

Jean Hamilton RenaissanceRe Board of directors, private investor independent consultant

Julia Henderson Brit Insurance Senior vice president, property treaty reinsurance

Laura Hunt Everest Re Vice president and head of casualty/professional facultative

Jill Husbands Marsh Captive Solutions Bermuda Managing director, head of office

Elizabeth Ilott PartnerRe Wholesale Underwriting manager

Victoria Jenkins Guy Carpenter Head of technical innovation for Guy Carpenter in EMEA

Hayley Johnston Lancashire Chief underwriting officer

Donna Kinnaird Reinsurance Group Of America Senior executive vice president and chief operating officer

Jennifer Kish JRG Reinsurance Company Senior vice president and chief actuary

Judith Klugman Swiss Re Capital Markets Managing director

100 INFLUENTIAL WOMEN – THE FULL LIST


Name Company PositionWendy Lane Willis Group Board of directors

Beth Levene TransRe Executive vice president, chief claims officer

Leila Madeiros Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers Senior vice president, deputy director and corporate secretary

Jennifer Mangino Arch Capital Group General counsel reinsurance and MI

Anna Manning Reinsurance Group of America Senior executive vice president, global structured solutions

Alison Martin Swiss Re Head life & health business management reinsurance and member of reinsurance executive committee

Dorothée Mélis-Moutafis Guy Carpenter Managing director in the property solutions group

Sarah Mendola Advent Head of property binding authorities

H. Elizabeth Mitchell RenaissanceRe US President & CEO

Carla Moffett Lockton Companies Partner

Alex Moon Novae Group general counsel

Kelli Morash TigerRisk Partners Partner

Lara Mowery Guy Carpenter Head of global property specialty

Judi Newsam Guy Carpenter Country head, Guy Carpenter Brazil

Julie Ng Guy Carpenter Head of client support services Asia Pacific

Olivia Nigh JLT Re (North America) Vice president

Monica Ningen Swiss Re Head of property underwriting US & Canada

Carol Ann O’Dea AXIS Re Executive vice president, chief claims officer

Denise O’Donoghue Lancashire Group Head of investments & treasury

Hanne Olander Markel Syndicate 3000, Zurich General manager, worldwide accident & health, WCA

Sylvia Oliveira Wilton Re Chief executive officer

Sharon Ooi Swiss Re Head of P&C reinsurance

Melanie Ostiguy ABR Reinsurance Chief risk officer & chief actuary

Jayne Plunkett Swiss Re Head of casualty reinsurance

Kathleen Reardon Hamilton Re Chief executive officer

Ellen Rieder Guy Carpenter Managing director, Americas broking

Rebecca Roberts RenaissanceRe Senior vice president, underwriting

Elizabeth Sander Odyssey Re Executive vice president & chief actuary

Karen Schmitt Maiden Re President

Veronica Scotti Swiss Re Canada President & chief executive officer

Julie Serakos BMS Intermediaries Executive vice president, catastrophe analytics

Michelle Seymour-Smith Arch Re Chief financial officer

Penny Shaw Chaucer Risk director

Kelly Smith Aon Benfield US President

Kory Sorenson SCOR Non-executive director, chairman of the audit committee and member of risk, strategy and crisis management committees

Fiona Sperry Canopius Head of claims

Jeanne Steiner BMS Intermediaries Executive vice president–contracts manager

Jayne Styles Amlin Chief investment officer

Laura Taylor Nephila Capital Principal and chief financial officer

Eva Taylor TransRe Senior vice president, Bermuda branch manager

Georgia Tsiakki ArgoGlobal Head of risk

Cristina Ullón Guy Carpenter Country head, Argentina

Linda Ventresca AXIS Capital Holdings Corporate development officer and Director of Investor Relations

Kristine Westall BMS Intermediaries Chief operations officer

Maggie Westdale Aon Benfield Chief financial officer

Peta White Markel Re Managing director, head of North America property reinsurance

Fields Wicker-Miurin SCOR Board of directors and member: risk committee, audit committee, nominations and remuneration committee, strategy committee

Sarah Willmont Canopius Deputy divisional underwriter, property treaty

Danny Yeung Guy Carpenter Head of Guy Carpenter’s Taiwan operations

Tina Youngblood Spencer Re Chief executive officer


members of the executive team at Hamilton Insurance Group is truly the opportunity of a lifetime and something I think I may have been preparing my entire career to do.

What has been the biggest challenge you have encountered?Globally, new approaches to existing risks and emergent challenges require us to rally fresh thinking but also strain our conventional apparatus. What is emerging is even closer collaboration with our clients.

What are your career aspirations now?At Hamilton USA, we believe we can deliver the next generation of small business—and we know that the key to this delivery lies in data.

In simple terms, we are making incremental wins, not with a secret sauce but with a focus on doing more business, more quickly, with better data—delivering value to our partners, our customers.

To support our strategy, we’re attracting best in class talent, talent from diverse backgrounds, talent that wants to join us because they share our passion for what we can and will do.

We’re a team, fostering collaboration and diversity of thought and building a new kind of insurance company with no legacy to constrain us.

We’re excited about making a difference in an industry that I think is ready for innovators. With all humility, I believe this is the team that can get it done, and I’m so proud to be a part of it.

Name: Barbara BufkinCompany: Hamilton USAJob: Executive vice president, business

developmentTimeline: 2014—Executive vice president, business

development, Hamilton USA 2013—Chief operating officer, Global

Strategic Advisory, Guy Carpenter

“We’re excited about making a difference in an industry that I think is ready for innovators.”

Barbara Bufkin’s tenure in the industry has included primary insurance, reinsurance and as a reinsurance intermediary. She joined Hamilton USA from Guy Carpenter where she held the position of chief operating officer, Global Strategic Advisory. Prior to joining Guy Carpenter, she spent 12 years at Argo International Holdings as a member of the executive team, leading corporate business development, growth strategies, corporate risk and ceded reinsurance.

Bufkin has also served as director of Swiss Re New Markets and as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Swiss Re subsidiary Facility Insurance Holding Corporation.

She attended Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy, graduating cum laude from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is an alumna of Leadership Texas.

Bufkin was nominated to the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame in 2000 and selected to the 2004 Class of Leadership America. In 2012, she was chosen as Insurance Woman of the Year by the Association of Professional Insurance Women (APIW).

In 2015 Bufkin has been awarded the prestigious Inclusion Champion Award by the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), a non-profit organisation established in 1994 to leverage the collective strengths of the insurance industry by providing grants, volunteer service and leadership to communities throughout the US. The IICF’s Inclusion Champion Award recognises insurance leaders who are mentors and sponsors to women in the industry.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?Working with Brian Duperreault, Conan Ward and the other


reinsurer that went from a AAA rating to no rating and from an IPO to delisting. If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been? I would have been quite happy staying in the “ivory tower” reading books and writing papers, but I decided to challenge myself and I have no regrets.

Name: Victoria GuestCompany: Hamilton Insurance Group Job: General counselTimeline: 2012—General counsel,

Hamilton Insurance Group 2009—General counsel, Ariel Holdings 2006—General counsel,

RAM Reinsurance Company

“I would have been quite happy staying in the ‘ivory tower’ reading books and writing papers, but I decided to challenge myself and I have no regrets.”

Victoria Guest is a member of the founding management team and has nine years’ experience in the reinsurance industry, as well as 22 years of corporate law experience.

From July 2009 until July 2012, Guest was general counsel and corporate secretary of Ariel Holdings. From January 2006 to June 2009, Guest was general counsel and corporate secretary of RAM Holdings. Prior to joining RAM, she practised for 12 years with law firms in New York.

She received her AB.in Humanities from Stanford University and her JD from Harvard Law School.

Why did you choose to work in this industry initially?I was a senior associate at a New York law firm working around the clock on venture capital, M&A and myriad other transactions when a headhunter called and asked if I would be interested in becoming the general counsel of a reinsurance company located in Bermuda. The word “reinsurance” wasn’t even in my vocabulary at the time, but it was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?Helping to build Hamilton Re, and now Hamilton Insurance Group, from the ground up. What has been the biggest challenge you have encountered?I have endured a number of educational “trials by fire”, but perhaps the most challenging was navigating the 2008–2009 financial crisis as the general counsel of a financial guaranty

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that provided access to a range of insurance products. Reardon also makes a point of paying it forward, taking time to mentor the younger women on her staff. She is co-founder and chair of Women in Reinsurance (WiRe) in Bermuda and devotes volunteer time to providing networking and professional development opportunities for women in the reinsurance industry.

Why did you choose to work in this industry initially?After a recommendation by my high school calculus teacher, I started focusing on a potential career as an actuary. I loved math and statistics and actuary ranked very high in the Job Almanac. During university, I had several actuarial internships at insurance companies and I passed a few actuarial exams. I enjoyed the work, so I continued to pursue an actuarial career. What has been the highlight of your career so far?Making the decision to move in December 2000 from ACE in Philadelphia to ACE in Bermuda and start shifting from a pure actuarial role to more of an underwriting role was a very exciting time in my career. I haven’t regretted it since. What has been the biggest challenge you have encountered?Working for a startup company, Hamilton Re, has a unique set of challenges including building a portfolio of business from scratch. It has been the most challenging, but also most rewarding experience of my career. The learning opportunities are numerous. If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been? Unlike many students, I had a pretty good idea that I wanted my career to involve math. However, looking now at what else interests me; I have always had an interest in improving nutrition and fitness for me and for others, so perhaps a dietician. Add an occasional Master of Ceremonies opportunity to that and I would be content.

Name: Kathleen ReardonCompany: Hamilton ReJob: CEOTimeline: 2014—CEO, Hamilton Re 2012—CUO property, Hamilton Re 2005—Chief underwriting officer

international, ACE Tempest Re Bermuda 2001—Vice president underwriting,

ACE Financial Solutions International 1994—Actuary, ACE USA

Kathleen Reardon is a member of the founding management team and has over 20 years of re/insurance industry experience. From November 2005 to October 2012, Reardon served as chief underwriting officer SVP for ACE Tempest Re Bermuda’s international property catastrophe reinsurance business. Prior to joining ACE Tempest Re, she worked from 2000 to 2005 at ACE Financial Solutions International, first as AVP underwriting and then as VP underwriting.

Before moving to Bermuda, Reardon held various actuarial roles at ACE USA following ACE ’s acquisition of CIGNA’s P&C business in 1999. She began her career at CIGNA in 1994 as an actuarial assistant.

She is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In the midst of one of the most difficult markets on record, Reardon has emerged as a CEO who knows how to build a profitable business and inspire her employees. She led her team in establishing a balanced portfolio, ending 2014 with a mix of business split almost evenly among property, casualty and specialty segments. She bolstered Hamilton Re’s underwriting and risk analysis capabilities, hiring employees with the skills and expertise to support Hamilton Re’s business plan.

She also began to explore the potential for further diversification of Hamilton Re’s book, forging a partnership with Iron-Starr

“Working for a startup company, Hamilton Re, has a unique set of challenges including building a portfolio of business from scratch.”



I n a historically male-dominated environment, Inga Beale’s appointment as CEO of Lloyd’s—the oldest and most iconic of all risk transfer markets—marked an important turning

point for the re/insurance industry, symbolising the rise of women in this industry globally.

Beale has certainly proved that no position is beyond a female executive. Yet some believe that it remains a battle for women to secure senior positions, and more needs to be done to tackle this.

According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), approximately 60 percent of people working in the insurance industry in the US are women. However, an IICF (Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation) study found that women hold only 6 percent of top insurance executive positions (CEO, CFO, COO, etc), 12.5 percent of board seats, and 8 percent of inside business, legal or actuarial officer roles, such as chief actuary or division president, among the 100 publicly-traded or mutual insurers/reinsurers.

Further, a Deloitte Talent in Insurance Survey from 2014 revealed that, among other attributes, male and female business students want to work for companies that support gender equality.

“Although some women have broken through the glass ceiling in our industry, more progress must be made to accelerate the rate of change, and significantly improve gender diversity within the highest levels of companies,” says Elaine Caprio, president, CapLaw Advisors.

“There is also work to be done to attract and retain female millennial talent. This generation of women is more highly educated, entering the workforce in larger numbers than any other previous generation, and will be seeking work with companies who have a strong track record on diversity, as well as opportunities for career progression.

“Increasing the visibility of women in leadership roles will help the industry tap into this vast talent pool.”

Intelligent Insurer has profiled 100 influential women in the re/insurance industry, and asked them how they became involved in the sector, what their aspirations are and what they have found most challenging in their careers to date.

The 100 women we have profiled are by no means designed to represent a complete and comprehensive list and it is certainly not a ranking. Instead, we have included a cross section of senior women who influence the global risk-transfer industry in a variety of ways. While many are chief executives and the majority work in reinsurance, we also included women from intermediaries, insurers and trade bodies and their roles range from underwriter to chief risk offer to in-house legal councel to non-executive directors in some instances. The point is that all 100 women in some way exert influence on the way large risks are managed and transferred globally and we celebrate their successes and the different perspectives they offer.

Within the information gathered from those included in the supplement, many shared interesting views on the way in which women are perceived and treated within the re/insurance industry, and how women have learned to adapt to fit into a predominantly male world.

| INTELLIGENT INSURER | May 2014 www.intelligentinsurer.com4

While men have traditionally ruled the re/insurance industry, a new generation

of career-hungry women seeking top level positions continue to joust for the top spots. Intelligent Insurer profiles

100 influential women in the industry who are paving the way for the new generation and interviews them on

the challenges they face.


BREAKING THROUGH THE GLASS

CEILING

2015



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INFLUENTIAL WOMEN IN RE/INSURANCE...Jennifer Kish JRG Reinsurance Company Senior vice president and chief actuary Judith Klugman Swiss Re Capital Markets Managing director 100 INFLUENTIAL