“We're trying to highlight how flood is happening continuously. Since 1996, 99% of the Counties in the US have seen flood in them”, says Cyrena. “It's not an if question, but more of a when question. We're trying to help people understand that 40% of the floods that happen in this country don't happen in a flood zone.” Cyrena shares her journey from meteorologist and stormchaser to CMO at flood insurtech, reThought Insurance and the approach they are taking to close the protection gap, as a non-direct to consumer business. “It’s my responsibility to provide as much information as we can to the ..read more

“The industry has evolved but not as fast as the consequence that climate risks have had on economies and large corporates”, says Violaine. “We are in the right moment to combine both new data capabilities, satellite imaging, connected data sets to those new climate risks in order to really offer something more relevant and more appropriate for today's challenges around natural risks to corporate plans.” Following roles with large corporates Axa and Swiss Re, Violiane says the time was right to move in to the insurtech world. “Moving to Descartes was a bold choice, but I was fully convinced th ..read more

“You don't necessarily always have to have insurance experience for most of these roles. There's a lot of transferable skills. We value people who can problem solve, communicate and build relationships, who can lead inclusively”, says Neil. “Most insurance companies have good training programmes. You can train on the processes and policies and regulations.” Neil shares his insurance journey from a frontline claims role to HR and joining Progressive 33 years ago. “Taking on a frontline role in claims or a call centre is a great opportunity to learn the business and have a really good foundation ..read more

“Instead of having broad job categories that everybody has to fit into, you tailor a person's job around their specific skills and capabilities”, says Jon. “It could be where people work, the work that people do and how much people work. We want to enable as much flexibility as possible.” Jon shares his career journey from the U.S. Air Force to his first HR job with Siemens before transitioning to financial services, holding positions with HSBC and Wells Fargo before joining Principal Financial Group in 2018. He highlights Principal’s global footprint and balancing his responsibilities as CHRO ..read more

“To change it for the long run you have to really invest in people much, much earlier,” says Kristin. “It doesn't necessarily mean that if you're [studying to be] an accountant, you have to go to one of the big four. You can go to an insurance company.” Following in her mother’s footsteps, Kristin shares her HR career journey from NYC-based hedge fund to private equity before joining Transverse Insurance Group in 2022. A common theme running throughout her career has been a passion for engaging with and attracting younger people from a diversity of lifestyles and backgrounds. Kristin highlight ..read more

“We should definitely be expanding and looking critically at where we're attracting talent from”, says Caryn. “But we also need to be extremely deliberate, thoughtful and intentional in terms of our talent development opportunities.” Caryn shares her transition from law to joining Tokio Marine’s relatively small U.S. operation back in 2001. “In many respects, the size [in 2001] was a great training ground for me because it was part of such a larger global entity.” Caryn discusses how hybrid working models allow her to balance her roles of CHRO & Chief Legal Officer at TMNA Services and Glo ..read more

“A large majority of our talent is in the fourth quarter of their career innings”, says Nidhi Verma. “We want to have a very strategic workforce management approach towards buying and building our talent profile.” Nidhi discusses her journey from consulting roles to joining Crawford & Company in 2014, where she oversees the talent lifecycle and ESG strategy at the largest publicly listed claims management organisation. Following a ninth quarter of top line growth, Nidhi highlights how Crawford is buying and building talent to address the challenge of an ageing workforce.     ..read more

“It's important that we're a part of that bottom line and at the end of the year, meet those business goals” says Alisa as she discusses managing and building an internal recruitment team. Alisa describes her journey in to recruitment and joining the insurance industry, which she initially perceived to be ‘boring, slow and old’. Now managing a team of 13 recruiters and adding over 1800 team members to the AmTrust headcount in 2022, Alisa shares the fast-paced, entrepreneurial spirit and competitive culture at the Forbes-listed ‘Top 100 Private Companies in the US.’ Alisa highlights the key rol ..read more

“There is definitely a supply and demand issue with talent. Even if you're all that and everything more, you don't have 20 people to choose from”, says Tony. “When we find someone, the message is, we need to move. It’s not sacrificing quality for haste but always having haste.” Tony shares his journey from tech and publishing in to his first insurance role with MetLife before eventually joining Westfield Speciality as employee number 2. He describes his involvement in shaping the culture, mission and values as well as being part of Westfield’s 175 year history Highlighting his approach to HR ..read more

“Culture is mission critical in this space. We are a people business, we're professional services”, says Derek. “Our messaging really is people first.” Derek shares his career route from the non-profit sector to the insurance industry.  Following roles with Chubb and Aon, he joined Epic in 2013 as Chief Strategy Officer and says, “I really wanted to join an organization in growth mode. My job was to drive profitable growth” Highlighting Galway Holdings’ structure and the growth trajectory the business has been on, Derek discusses growing organically and through M&A activity and its im ..read more