The Insurance Coffee House (Insurance Search)

“Generative AI, it's going to change the world in an incredibly positive way”, says Alex.

“In the long term, I truly believe that we will elevate the role of HR because we'll be able to not only remove a lot of the friction from finding complex answers around HR policies and programs, but we'll also be able to augment our services to be able to do more.”

Alex charts her career journey to falling in to consulting.

“15 years ago, I'm not even sure I really understood what human resources was. How I ended up in this was focussing on how organizations manage their people and how they build relationships with their workforce. I constantly asked myself, could we make work better?”

“I understood that technology and data were huge drivers in how organizations think about their people, how they make decisions about their people.”

Alex gives insight in to how technology and humans can combine to make HR better. How we can use technology to deliver a more personalized experience as employee expectations continue to shift.

“It's incredibly difficult to make the argument for more human resources in human resources.

There are times where humans should be the main point of contact, but we should be digital first where we can so that the limited human resources we have access to can be there for those human moments like a promotion or something unfortunate, like a death in the family or even just a difficult coaching conversation.”

Alex emphasizes the biggest impact embedding AI will have on business functions and the steps we can take to deploy AI effectively into our organizations.

“Build off the things we're used to, things we're comfortable with things that we have already built into our spaces.

My number one piece of advice would be to embrace it as an individual because it will make you feel more comfortable in the workplace setting. Use it in your personal life so that you can then better understand the applications at work and be open-minded.”

Alex highlights simple AI use cases that can lead to wider organizational buy-in.

"There are a number of smaller use cases that organizations can begin to embrace today. Job descriptions are a great example. Ask ChatGPT to write a job description for you, then ask it to rewrite that job description from the perspective of a cool or edgy company.”

“I would never suggest that you put your internal data in any sort of open environment, but asking to write a job description for an HR Business Partner is absolutely something that you can use.”

Alex discusses challenges around AI, biases and DEI.

“We hear things like we've removed anything that could create any sort of bias towards one particular group or another. We know however, that, that is just beginning to scratch the surface. The real trick here is something called humans in the loop. There's no world where I would recommend using artificial intelligence that doesn't include humans in the loop.”

In conclusion, Alex advises HR professionals and talent acquisition professionals to use AI to enhance our skills.

“The best advice I can give is to only use generative AI to augment your area of expertise.”

“We should be using the years of expertise that put us in our jobs to analyze the output from generative AI. It should never replace the areas of expertise we already have.”

Connect with Alex Zea on LinkedIn or find out more about Mercer Leapgen

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO of 

Season Two - Episode Six

In an Insurance Coffee House first, we welcome father and son Insurance Business Leaders, Duane and Jason Smith to the show. Duane is the former CEO of TrueNorth Companies, L.C. a position he held for over twenty years until he was succeeded by Jason in January 2020.

In this episode we take a deep dive into the succession process and hear how TrueNorth planned and executed the succession transition and hear how it worked from both the incumbent’s and successors perspectives.

Listeners can hear how the success they have enjoyed with this process can be linked back to their vision statement of building a legacy company with continued internal perpetuity.

It is clear that TrueNorth are committed to building a legacy business, with continued internal perpetuation giving high performing talent an incredible long-term opportunity to be highly rewarded both professionally and financially.

They give us an amazing insight into how the transition of leadership can be successful when you have a clear strategy, effective communication and defined company goals that apply throughout the business.

Jason encourages listeners to reach out to him after the show with enquiries about their succession story or opportunities they have at the business. You can do this via his LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-d-smith-955a5811/ or email at jsmith@truenorthcompanies.com .

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

On the podcast this week, we welcome Andrew Couper, Chief Actuary at Conduit Re.

Andrew talks to Nick Hoadley about: 

• qualifying as an actuary in 1995 and working in the London Market
• joining Conduit Re in November 2021 and his experience of working in Bermuda and London
• Conduit Re’s growth from launching in 2020 to writing $2.6bn of premium by Q2 2024
• the characteristics and culture that make it a great place to work
• impacting the local community and offering green loans
• opportunities for high performing local insurance professionals who want to progress their careers
• doing your research and speaking to those who have their ear to the ground, for anyone considering a move to Bermuda from overseas
• if he was moving to Bermuda now, what he’d do differently

Connect with Andrew Couper on LinkedIn or find out more about Conduit Re

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, London and Bermuda.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.

“Anyone stepping into a predominantly 100% remote opportunity, assuming it's not their first time, they know what they're getting into and what to expect from the day-to-day”, says Blair.

“In terms of building a culture, the onus is really on the company, but also us as individuals to engage with co-workers. You have to be intentional about over-communicating.”

On the Insurance Coffee House Podcast this week, Blair Kamrass shares her journey from studying political science to an HR and people leadership function at a growing Insurtech, Coterie Insurance.  

“I've been in a leadership position now for about 7.5 years, overseeing the whole HR department, all of the functions. People are so complex that it keeps things interesting. A lot of what we do isn't ‘set it and forget it’, we have to constantly be evaluating policies, programs that we've put in place to make sure that it's staying up to date with the modern-day workforce.”

Blair highlights the role HR plays in internal communications.

“It’s partnering with people leaders, our ‘S-team’ is what we call our executive team, to make sure everyone is as updated as they can possibly be about upcoming changes. We know change management in any organization is huge and trying to stay ahead of that the best you can. It’s helping leaders develop their own unique, authentic selves and making sure that all of the communication channels are firing on all cylinders at any given point.”

Blair discusses attracting insurance talent to the business and the impact of its 100% remote nature.

“We’ve set up an organization that truly supports the employee’s whole self because we know there is life outside of work and life gets very complicated. Having those structures, helps attract the insurance talent we're looking for.”

She discusses the tools Coterie uses to keep people in engaged and communicating. Including Slack channels and bi-annual engagement surveys.

“One thing we do really well is communication. Every month we have a company ‘All hands’ with more formal reports from our ‘S-team and every week we have a meeting called ‘Friday Wins’.  This is a more casual gathering, but the intention is to come together, express gratitude and shout out your coworkers, discuss your wins for the week.

It's a combination of making sure you're creating the opportunities to come together in a formal way to hear business updates, but also to have fun because we need to always make sure that we're building fun into our work.”

Blair advises senior leaders coming for interview at Coterie, saying, “I would say over-communicate. I can't express that enough with a 100% remote company. Be intentional about thinking, ‘OK, who do I need to follow up with? Who needs to be in the know about this? We want to make sure everyone feels they're in the know.”

To hire the best insurance talent, Blair counsels fellow insurance people leaders to have a good grasp on the demographics of their workforce.

“Have in the back of your mind that people are complex. They're not robots. Everyone is in a different season of life. Do your research. Know what's going on in the world socially, economically, politically because it will filter into the organization and it will impact our teams.”

In terms of attracting a diversity of insurance talent, Blair highlights, “We make sure all of our hiring managers receive on average at least three pre-qualified diverse candidates to progress through the interview process.

Our goal is always to build out a diverse workforce whenever we can. We use a people dashboard, so at any point in time, we can see the makeup of our organization. By gender, age, race, location, our turnover rate at the executive level and so on. That way we have a pulse on how our organization is looking.”

Blair highlights how Coterie is using experiential exercises as part of the hiring process and what she...

On Episode Two of the Insurance Coffee House USA, we are joined by Jon Loftin who is the President & COO of MJ Insurance who are a Top 100 privately owned insurance broker based in Indianapolis and Phoenix.

Jon shares with us his journey at MJ and describes how he went from a starting in a leadership position with little experience in broking to becoming the President and COO of the company and achieving significant growth.

Jon encourages all insurance professionals to "be proud of what you do" and highlights his proudest achievement being the crystallisation of the purpose of the business and being unapologetically committed to it.

He advises us that by having an honest and open attitude of admitting what you don't know and then learning along the way, you can become a successful leader and he encourages us all to adopt this when stepping up to new leadership opportunities that are presented to us.

Jon is very proud of the culture they have built at MJ and encourages listeners to reach out to him after the show with any comments or questions. You can do this via his LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-loftin-4149656/ or email at jon.loftin@mjinsurance.com.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

“We wanted to make sure that there were slates, they were diverse and had all the groups represented. It isn't a case of trying to stop someone from getting something they deserve. What you're trying to do is make sure these other groups get the opportunities they deserve", says Don.

"I'm not a believer that we favor one group or another. I'm just a believer that everyone should have an opportunity.

Because we're just human beings and we follow patterns of behavior, we're not necessarily inclined to give everyone an opportunity.

Most of what we focused on was really just creating a more holistic opportunistic environment.”

On the Insurance Coffee House Podcast this week, Don talks about:

his journey from CFO and Sales to CHRO and the 4 key factors that attracted him in to the insurance industry

creating an institutionally consistent employee experience with opportunities for all

driving DEI change based on the evidence of data to create hope and purpose

meeting, coaching and exposing underrepresented groups to development and promotion opportunities

balancing beautiful traditions with a need to be modernize and not being able to town hall your way to change

the importance of understanding and representing clients’ cultures and communities

the scope of his role, covering HR, people and operations, as well as managing a team of 500-600  

his advice for leaders at interview and why he believes we’re going to become a skills-based economy

“The most important thing people need to do, whether it's my HR colleagues or people interviewing for roles, is to make sure you understand the relevant experiences and skill sets that are needed.

Roles and titles are going to become less important. Skills, capabilities and experience are going to be what rules the day.

We're going to become a skills-based economy, especially as things get to be more technology driven.”

Connect with Don Robertson on LinkedIn or find out more about Northwestern Mutual

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO of Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

“Everything we do is about working from the customer backwards”, says Dax.

The serial entrepreneur talks through his journey of co-founding Pie Insurance, and how the company uses technology and data analytics to fuel the rapid growth Pie has achieved.

Pie continues to change how commercial insurance companies do business.  

“We want people who are curious, people with the right mindset”

Connect with Dax on LinkedIn or find out more about career opportunities at Pie Insurance

This episode of the Insurance Coffee House Podcast was first published on 2 July 2021

Podcast hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“As you progress up the corporate ladder, your focus becomes less about your technical skills and more your people management and communication skills”, says John.

Having previously held leadership positions with Marsh and Willis Towers Watson, the industry veteran, who joined Risk Strategies in 2017 and became CEO in 2019, reflects on his career progression and transition in to the C-suite.

“Effective self-reflection and awareness have helped me understand my skill set and continue to grow it”, explains John as he emphasises the need for effective delegation skills, time and calendar management in his position as CEO.

John shares his biggest career achievements - highlighting how he’s preserved the culture and values of Risk Strategies founder, as the business has grown to revenues of $1bn and over 125 offices – as well as how’s he dealt with being overlooked along the way.

“What I realised was that I had an imperfect view of my skill set. I turned that view in to a plan of action.” John stresses the importance of sharing our career ambitions and aspirations with management and the importance of constructive feedback, maintaining that too often there’s an emphasis on technical expertise and not enough focus on the soft skills of personal brand, public speaking and human capital management.

John imparts how the business is investing in tech & digital for the benefit of both clients and associates and gives his thoughts on the biggest challenges for executives and the industry, as well as the characteristics that make Risk Strategies such a great place to work.

Sharing the three skills and behaviours of change agility, self-reflectivity and a focus on growth, that he demands in new talent, John also emphasises his frustrations when recruiting.

“There’s a lot of people out there who want to move but lack the confidence to pull the trigger. They believe their value proposition is the company they’ve worked for, not the skill set they’ve developed.”

He concludes by encouraging us to challenge ourselves. “I tell our associates they’re capable of doing so much more than they know. It requires us to get a little uncomfortable at times, but that’s where the real growth occurs.”

Connect with John on LinkedIn or find out more about Risk Strategies.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

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“There is this misconception that the only way to grow or advance is to move into leadership. Some people just don't want that or aren’t sure”, says Andrea.

“We want to give people an experience who aren't sure if they want to. We'll find opportunities to allow them to try their hand in things like the mentorship program, where they have an unofficial way of helping to grow talent.”

On the Insurance Coffee House Podcast this week, Andrea shares her career journey in HR.

“It all started with a knack for numbers and data. I was drawn into the world of compensation because it beautifully combined my analytical side with that human aspect.

In compensation, you have to know the business inside and out, you have to know how your sales people are motivated, how the company earns money.

I always found myself really closely connected to our leaders in the business and working on programs to incentivize and drive performance in the organization.”

Andrea discusses what she learned from being part of staffing business, TrueBlue, where she rose from Director of Compensation & Benefits to Chief People Officer over 12.5 years.

She joined AssuredPartners as Chief Human Resources Officer in June 2023 and highlights the transition from staffing to insurance. 

“One of the things that I was drawn to at AssuredPartners was their unwavering dedication to people.

There's such a strong connection to fostering a culture of learning and development and that's something that really resonated with me.

Believe it or not, there’s a lot of similarities.  Whether it's on the staffing side or on the insurance side, you really need to know your customer, what impacts them.

In insurance, the thing that is really compelling is there's such an incredible tie to protecting people's livelihoods. Whether it's their business, their health, their employees.

There's something really heartwarming about helping people protect the things that are most important to them.”

Based in the US, UK and Ireland, with just over 10,000 employees, Andrea shares her passion for nurturing and advancing talent at AssuredPartners.

“I am incredibly passionate about ensuring there's a clear path and trajectory for their growth and the importance of our employees feeling valued, recognized and knowing their company envisions a future alongside them.

Discussing the initiatives to foster growth and development, Andrea says,

“Our mentorship programs are game changers. There's something truly magical about pairing up employees with seasoned pros.

And we're cooking up something extra special this year, which like a Master's degree in AssuredPartners leadership. It's almost like a VIP experience, tailored just for them and their success.

We also recognize there's another piece of the puzzle, which is heavily focused on building content and experiences for our individual contributors. It makes our employees fiercely loyal.”           

Andrea highlights that developing in your career doesn’t always equate to going in to a leadership role.

“When it comes to fostering growth and development, there's more to it than just your typical learning programs. First off, there's the structural piece around job or role architecture.

These give employees that framework for career paths and for development. A road map that helps show them exactly what they need to do to move up that ladder.

For those who really do want to help us grow to the next level, it’s really helping them to learn how to be a leader.”

Andrea showcases the outcomes the business has seen as a result of learning and development initiatives.

“In 2023 we promoted over 550 people in our organization with 77% of those being women.

Our employees are highly engaged and we have very low voluntary turnover...

On the Insurance Coffee House Podcast this week, we welcome Allison Keavey Luther, Deputy Chief of Human Resources at Boston-based Plymouth Rock Assurance

Allison talks about her career journey from TV producer at CNBC to catching the start-up bug, working as General Manager for early-stage businesses.

From there she rode a massive wave of growth at Wayfair, where she was ‘pulled’ in to HR.

She joined Plymouth Rock in 2023 to work alongside CHRO, Mary Strong, and support the next phase of business growth.

Allison gives an insight in to Plymouth Rock’s 40-year history, with the business now managing over $2 billion in auto and home insurance premiums, across Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

She highlights the top-down culture, embodied by founder Jim Stone and the desire to create an environment where employees are happier than they would be anywhere else

Allison discusses some of the initiatives in place to drive culture forward, including being intentional about how they work together in the physical environment.

On-site gym facilities, drop-in meditation sessions, online recognition program all contribute to creating a culture of friendliness, good citizenship, integrity, loyalty, hard work, and the pursuit of excellence.

She shares her one recommendation for insurance leaders coming to interview there at Plymouth Rock.

“Let us see who you are. When we are making a hire, particularly at the senior level, culture matters just as much as technical qualifications.

Our culture statement is such a critical part of our success that we need to have folks who can advance our culture in the right ways.”

Allison urges her HR peers to set the bar high and not to make short-term trade-offs when looking to fill roles.

She shares some of the tools and technology Plymouth Rock are using to support talent and help people do their jobs better.

As for the one lesson her job has taught her, she wants everyone to learn, Allison emphasizes the power of active listening.

“Whether it's a talent or a business challenge, taking the time to really get the full picture. Hear whatever sides of the story are there to make the best decision for the business and the people in it.”

And for anyone considering an insurance career move, Allison concludes by advising people to consider how they feel at work every day.

“Sometimes we don't check in regularly enough with are we feeling valued? Are we feeling respected? Do, do we feel like there is growth for us ahead? At Plymouth Rock, those are the standards for our people and for our leaders.”

Connect with Allison Keavey Luther on LinkedIn or find out more about Plymouth Rock Assurance

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on 

On the podcast this week, we welcome Andrew Thornton, Head of Advisory at Grant Thornton Bermuda.

Andrew shares:

• an overview of his career journey from trainee accountant with Ernst & Young to joining Grant Thornton 20 years ago
• moving to Bermuda 2 years ago to run the advisory side of the business
• the outcomes of acquiring and merging with local firm, Arthur Morris
• having the ambition to grow from 20 people and seeking insurance experts to join the team
• what makes Grant Thornton Bermuda a great place to work
• talent development and career progression opportunities within Grant Thornton
• how he engages within wider aspects of island life
• the tips he’d give to someone moving to Bermuda
• and what he’d do differently if he had his time again

Connect with Andrew Howie on LinkedIn or find out more at Grant Thornton Bermuda

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, London and Bermuda.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.

“Insurance companies like to put out perfect products and perfect products take a long time”, says Tim Attia. “But when you put them out they're not perfect.”

The Toronto-based CEO talks through his insurance journey to co-founding Slice.

Driven by removing as much expense as possible, algorithms outperforming people in terms of underwriting & claims and delivering a better user experience, Slice partners with MGAs and Wholesalers to distribute white labelled or co-branded small business insurance products.

Tim talks about the importance of starting with the customer and journeying backwards as well as the team’s cultural values.

“The whole company is built very distributed. Our decision-making is distributed. We have a big culture of experimentation, what does the end user think, it’s not what do we think.”

Tim concludes by emphasising the importance of removing silos and layers, explaining “our tech people know insurance and our insurance people know tech. The product is a combination of technology and insurance. There’s no separation.”

Connect with Tim on LinkedIn or email tim@slice.is or find out more about Slice

This episode of the Insurance Coffee House Podcast was first published on 10 May 2022

Podcast hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“We really look for a person that lives the Graham values versus having insurance technical expertise. Of course, there's times where you really need that but if we're proactive and know how we need to hire, what our growth goals are, how we've historically performed, then we're going to prefer to grow our own, even if they have 15 years experience”, says Karen.

Sharing her 15 year career journey from HR Assistant to SVP Human Resources, Karen discusses the growth of Graham Company over the past 60 and the company values that hold strong today.

She discusses how the firm’s positioning as an outsourced risk management function working with higher complexity organizations has impacted talent attraction.

Karen highlights how Graham Company are developing and training their own to mirror the values of founder, Bill Graham.

With small cohorts progressing through both technical and supplemental training, everyone gets the same.

“38 years ago, we started our training department. Bill always said, let's hire the right person and we will teach them insurance. We will teach them our way of providing and servicing our clients. Today we have 8 full time people responsible for technical training.”

Karen emphasizes how this ongoing investment has reduced staff turnover and allows people to create their own destiny.

She encourages senior and leadership talent coming to interview to “Be yourself. Don’t put on front.”

Highlighting how Graham Company are using tech to aid the recruitment process, Karen says, “We've been using AI for help with job descriptions. It's a huge time saver, especially if you have a position that you're filling that you haven't had to fill in a while.”

Sharing the one lesson her job has taught her, Karen says “If you’re in a support role, learn about the business as a whole. Ask questions. It will help you make a bigger contribution to the business as a whole.”

As closing advice, Karen shares the importance of having a mentor.

"If you don't have a mentor, get one. Find someone that you connect with, that you really respect. If your organization doesn't have a formal mentor program, go find one because it will be valuable to you.”

Connect with Karen Boyle on LinkedIn or find out more about Graham Company

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses around the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“We found there to be tremendous value in having an insourced model. It’s more expensive but we view it as an investment,” says Kevin.  “There's nothing better than having a TypTap employee, answer the customer service call or answer the claims call.”

Kevin shares his journey from joining TypTap Insurance’s parent company, HCI Group in 2013 to becoming TypTap President in 2019. Working with independent insurance agents, the business has grown quickly from providing flood insurance in Florida to offering homeowners insurance across 12 States.

He explains the factors that TypTap consider when expanding in to new States, the growth challenges it’s encountered along the way and the benefits on offer to agents.

“Having an internal technology arm (Exzeo, launched in 2012), we’re able to develop a full suite of technology and software that allows the agent to be more efficient.”

With a team of 180 spread across the US and 100 in India, Kevin outlines growth plans for the next year and discusses how remote-working is broadening their prospective talent pool.

“We're always on the hunt for talent. Covid has caused an adjustment to that thought process, we are agnostic to where those employees are located."

Kevin highlights the culture TypTap are building, the impact of remote-working and the value high-performing insurance can bring to the business. “What we're looking for is people that aren't entrenched in traditional thinking.”

“The vast majority of policyholders are good people, hard-working people that are out there just trying to provide for their family. We think TypTap can provide an insurance policy that is able to help good people protect their largest asset.”

Connect with Kevin Mitchell on LinkedIn, email kmitchell@typtap.com or find out more about TypTap Insurance.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2022 – All Rights Reserved.    

“We’ve set ourselves ambitions to have 40% of women in leadership by 2025. You've got to do a lot over many years. It is not a short term change. We've got a range of programs throughout the employee life cycle", says Rachel.

"For us it's not just about diversity. It's also about inclusion. We want to make sure we have less than 5% variation in people's sense of belonging no matter what part of the business they come from or their gender, race, ethnicity, disability status.”

QBE North America’s Chief People Officer highlights her early career in transformation and change in FMCG and banking, before joining QBE 14 years ago. 

“Coming from a change management background, I saw that the insurance industry was ripe for transformation. It was a deliberate choice to step into insurance. It's been an exciting place to be.”

Rachel shares the variety of roles she’s held and the move from her native Australia to heading up the insurance business’ people function in New York.

With 3000 team members in North America, Rachel gives insight in to QBE’s North America’s core product lines – Specialty, Commercial and Crop – as well some of the cultural differences in a business operating across the globe.

“Headquartered globally in Sydney, my prior roles were global, so I'm used to working with the differences that a global organisation needs to navigate to be successful.”

Rachel outlines QBE’s Employee Value Proposition.

“We asked ourselves, ‘why do people want to come work with us? Why do they want to stay with us?’ We took a really employee centric approach to answering those questions. We now have an Employee Promise as we like to call it.  For us it's around three major areas. Being the right size, building momentum and the power of ‘We’.”

She shares the drive and desire within the organization to empower and develop women at all levels of the business. From interns and campus programmes to Women in Agriculture and Julie Wood’s appointment as the first female CEO of the North America business.

In terms of interview advice for insurance executives coming for interview, Rachel says, “This is around authenticity. We want to know who you are. Bring your best self to work, share who you are and what makes you unique and special.”

For that to happen, Rachel believes it’s key for insurance hiring managers to make candidates feel comfortable in an interview.  

Rachel emphasizes what QBE look for when partnering with an executive search business . She shares the partnership the business has with Workday to support HR processes around the globe.

As for the one lesson her career has taught her, Rachel concludes,

“Love what you do. We spend so much of our time at work. You’ve got be fulfilled by what you do. When you love what you do and put your passion into it, you'll normally shine.”

Connect with Rachel Pollack on LinkedIn or find out more about QBE North America.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO of Insurance Search.

Insurance Search is a global Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses with Critical Hires, Executive Search and Market Intelligence Services.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best...

Season Two - Insurance Coffee House USA

Kicking off the brand-new season of the "Insurance Coffee House USA", we are privileged to have Mark Holweger, CEO of Legal & General America joining us on this first episode of the show.

Mark is a leading insurance executive in both P&C and Life, and he shares with us his leadership journey which is “all about making a difference."

Resilience is the key to success for Mark and he discusses how consistent high performance and most importantly delivering results, will get you that promotion or next leadership opportunity.

Being a Brit, now leading the US region, Mark shares his advice to executives looking to relocate internationally or interstate and the secrets of making that transition successful for both you and your family.

Listeners can reach out to Mark after the show with any comments or feedback via his LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-holweger/ .

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

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Season Two - Episode Twelve

Joining us in the Insurance Coffee House USA this week, we have a great guest in Dan Keough. Dan is the Chairman and CEO of Holmes Murphy & Associates, Co-CEO/Co-Founder of BrokerTech Ventures and Founder & Chairman of Innovative Captive Strategies.

A leading insurance executive with his fingers on the pulse of technology and insurtech, Dan shares with us an insight into his world as leader of three successful insurance businesses and how he manages his time and attention between each one.

Holmes Murphy & Associates is the third largest independently owned insurance broker in the United States and it is this business that we focus our attention in the Coffee House today.

Dan advises us on their considerable growth plans - to double in size every five years and explains how acquiring the best talent and being the employer of choice for that talent is crucial to that success.

He talks openly about the unique opportunities available for high-performers at Holmes Murphy, which include the unique chance to be involved in collaborations with BrokerTech Ventures.

If listeners would like to reach out to Dan after the show, they can find him through the Holmes Murphy website https://www.holmesmurphy.com/

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

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“You have to be able to flit between the strategic, operational and tactical”, says Caroline as she shares her journey of being involved in an insurtech start-up.

“There’s been days when I’ve been operating as a Claims Handler as well as Chief Insurance Officer, thinking about underwriting strategy.”

With an insurance career spanning 25 years, Caroline talks about joining Flock in the midst of the pandemic and how the business pivoted from drone insurance policies to entering a new vertical of commercial motor fleet insurance at the end of 2020.

After a $17m Series A fundraise in June 2021 allowed the business to grow from 20 to a headcount of 60, Flock now use data to analyse road risk and incentivise good driving behaviour for connected motor fleets.   

Caroline outlines the challenges to scaling the business and gives insight in to Flock’s values, including ownership, growth, curiosity, transparency and creativity. 

Whilst the lead time to recruiting new talent is a source of frustration, Caroline shares Flock’s multi-faceted approach to recruitment, saying, “If you want a breadth of opinions and ideas, you have to take people from all walks of life. We try not to fish in the same pond.”

Caroline explains Flock’s approach to hybrid working as well as the value an insurance career can bring to the business and her advice to anyone looking to start or scale an insurtech, emphasising the importance of mapping out your hiring strategy.  

“Your first hires are hugely important. You can easily burn through cash at the start with the wrong people.”

Connect with Caroline on LinkedIn, email caroline.garrow@flockcover.com or find out more about Flock.  

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

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On the podcast this week, we’re delighted to launch our new Bermuda Series by interviewing Katie Partington-Howarth, Chief Capital Officer at Ariel Re

Katie talks to Nick Hoadley about:

• Her career background and joining Ariel Re in 2005
• The culture and characteristics that make it a great place to work  
• How she engages in wider aspects of Bermuda life
• The opportunities Ariel Re provide for high-performers
• Her advice on how to build a successful career in Bermuda
• What she’d do differently if starting her time on island again   

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn or find out more about Ariel Re

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, London and Bermuda.

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“We allow people who have an idea or want to start selling insurance to come to the table”, says Michael.

Hear about Michael’s transition from traditional insurance in to the New York-based start-up, which offers the full-stack insurance process in-house, including product development, a reinsurance facility to help place new business and R&D on insurance products.  

“We mix it in with the tech to find a way to integrate the insurance process with any front end.”

Michael shares Boost’s growth plans and ambitions as well his thoughts on how the industry will adapt and change in the coming years.

With 25% of the team coming from an insurance background, Michael emphasises the value of high performing insurance talent, commenting, “If you get too wrapped up in being innovative and creative, sometimes you lose an idea of how the industry really works and the different mentalities.”  

With a recent successful Series B funding round, Boost offers opportunities across the business to take things to the next level. As a huge proponent of education, Michael encourages insurance professionals to take time to understand the tech part of insurtech.

“It’s all about education. Learn everything you can and be willing to take a risk.”

Connect with Michael on LinkedIn or find out more about Boost

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

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“People work across multiple platforms. The nature of their relationship with work and the providers of work has changed”, says Benjamin.

The former lawyer and director of strategy & operations at Virgin Unite has taken his passion for social impact and co-founded Collective Benefits. The business has developed a range of financial and digital products to help solve the problem of financial wellness for independent workers, partnering with some of the largest & most forward-thinking on demand platforms, to serve 200,000 freelancers and gig workers across 18 countries. 

Whether it’s sickness, accident, injuries, independent workers have known risks. “The best way to solve a known risk is to underwrite it”, says Benjamin, “So insurance was a fantastic product for us to start with.”

Benjamin talks about underwriting and reaching a new demographic, working in a different way as well as clarifying how the benefits work for people who work across multiple platforms and have multiple jobs.

As a fast-paced growth business, Collective is looking for purpose-driven missionaries who want to make a social impact.

“There is a huge opportunity to fix the protection gap in financial wellness for a rapidly growing and significant demographic.”

Connect with Benjamin on LinkedIn or find out more about Collective Benefits.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

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“Customers are coming to expect that when they purchase a product or interact with a brand online, protection is a given”, says Darcy.

Joining Cover Genius in 2018, the former lawyer shares her pivot in to the insurance sector and transition to insurtech, following varied roles with AIG, Liberty Mutual and The Hartford.

Darcy explains the journey to the launch of Cover Genius and the benefit on offer from its core technology product, XCover – a global distribution platform for all lines of insurance. 

“The core feature is that it’s product agnostic. We can be a central integration point for a business to be able to offer any types of insurance products in any of the markets where they’re doing business.”

Working across a broad spectrum of sectors and with some of the world’s best known brands – including Booking.com, Ryanair, Intuit, eBay, Wayfair and Amazon, Darcy outlines the advantages Cover Genius offers to customers, clients and capacity providers, as well as their approach to using anonymised data from partners. 

Darcy shares her thoughts on the future of the insurance sector and discusses the value those with insurance knowledge can bring to the team, emphasising the importance of a growth mindset at all stages of a career journey. 

For those looking to transition in to the insurtech space, Darcy highlights the importance of research, understanding the different value propositions on offer and building a network.

“Once you know people, they’ll want to help you out. If opportunity doesn’t exist today, it might in a year or two.”

Connect with Darcy Shapiro on LinkedIn, email darcy@covergenius.com or find out more about Cover Genius.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

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“Every employee, even the most entry level positions, gets bonus company stock at the end of the year.

You start thinking differently, about improvements in processes. It doesn't just benefit you. You're looking for things that benefit the whole organisation“, says Ryan.

On our insurance executive search and talent acquisition podcast this week, Ryan discusses growing up in a farming family to his father launching his own insurance agency in the 1980s.

“As soon as I was able to help, I was employed in the agency, updating paper manuals. I got insurance producer licensed in high school.”

After college, Ryan joined a Fortune 500 Company, where he learned underwriting and claims. He ended up managing and buying an independent agency before merging it with his parents’ insurance business.

“I always knew of RLI Insurance, the culture and the reputation. I got a phone call one day where they just said, we have an opening to help us recruit folks.”

Ryan explains how his role as Talent Acquisition Lead has evolved over time and the current market position of RLI.

The business with over 1100 employees - 450 based from its Peoria, Illinois HQ - operates in the specialty, mostly commercial space across 50 States.

"We've seen property take off here in the last couple of years. That’s been one of our fastest growing areas.

One of the things that makes us unique, is our product groups all have the autonomy and the freedom to decide what coverages they want to offer the distribution channels.

It’s not a top down, one chief underwriting officer dictating the same process for everybody. We hold our product VPs to a very high standard. It’s like running their own business.

We give them the tools and the resources, but that ownership mentality is critical for success of their particular insurance product.”

Ryan highlights RLI’s ESOP model and its impact on team unity, accountability and support.

In his Insurance Talent Acquisition role, Ryan emphasizes how he balances the demands of the hiring manager with attracting and retaining the very best insurance leaders.

“You want people that get it, coming in the door with that ownership mindset. Not everybody comes in fully understanding what that means and what that's going to look like.

We want people who want to think like an owner. It's actually better for the business overall, because people care more. They're treating it as their business.”

Ryan shares what he looks for in leaders coming for interview and the advice he’d give to fellow insurance people and talent acquisition leaders in the insurance industry.

“There's a lot of smart people in the insurance industry. If it's not a cultural fit for your team, group or organization, it's going to be frustrating for both sides. We look for what we call ‘hungry, humble, smart.’ All the questions filter into those three categories.”

Ryan clarifies what he seeks when working with an external insurance executive search partner.

“I want a partner that understands my needs, but also the organisation at large, our total compensation package, or total rewards. What  our corporate mentality is. It again goes back to culture.”

Ryan concludes with the one lesson his job has taught him, he thinks everyone should know.

“I'm a big believer that we are all in sales, every job, every role. I don't mean that in a stereotypical car sales way.  Whether it's internal or external roles, you're influencing others. We're all in sales. It is a people business.”

Connect with Ryan Hite on LinkedIn or find out more about RLI Insurance Company

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“I think the first step was real conviction in my mind”, says Steve as he describes his journey to co-founding Branch, the Columbus, Ohio-based auto and home insurance insurtech.

Steve shares how important it was to find a credible tech co-founder, how the structure of the business is obligated to social good as well as shareholder value and how they use tech to benefit their community of clients.  

He highlights the growth the business has achieved since its launch in 2018 and the challenges of scaling a start-up and adding 240 ‘Branchers’ in the last 6 months alone.

Describing the cultural values – or roots as they call them – Steve emphasises the importance of having a clear mission and pruning the tree as well as the value those with insurance industry experience bring.

“We like everybody to be challenging the status quo and each other in a positive way, with positive intent.”   

Steve offers advice to anyone looking to scale an insurance business, and says, “If you've got a clear problem to solve which becomes your mission, you've got the right team and you've got the right capital, I think you’ll be off to a great start.”

Connect with Steve Lekas on LinkedIn or find out more about Branch.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

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“The only reason we’re here is to support our carriers”, says Bob as he shares his journey of setting up shared services operations and his transition from media in to insurance.

“There’s a sense of stability of being in an industry that’s required by law to sit on giant pools of assets.”

Bob gives an overview of Tokio Marine and the setting up of Tokio Marine NAS to provide pooled professional services - accounting & finance, actuarial, legal, internal audit and technology - primarily supporting Tokio Marine America, First Insurance Company of Hawaii and Philadelphia Insurance.

“Each of our group companies has different needs. They’re at different moments in their system lifecycle, operational change and transformation.”

Bob shares his thoughts on the future of insurance both through a technology lens and on the sector holistically, emphasising that, “Any insurtechs we adopt, we have to stitch in to an already complex environment. Sometimes you can plug it in, often it’s not that simple.” 

He talks about the personality traits that fit Tokio Marine and the diversity of opportunity for those with an insurance background and those from outside of the sector.

“The more we speak insurance, the more it draws our business colleagues in to speaking tech. If everyone’s speaking a little insurance and a little tech, we’re all speaking the same language.”

Connect with Bob on LinkedIn or find out more about TMNA Services

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

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Walking by the Lloyd’s Building one day, Emma said to herself, “I like the look of that.”

Chomping at the bit to work in the City as an 18 year old, Emma took a non-traditional route in to the Insurance world. Following stints with BMS, Swiss Re and Canopius Group, Emma has risen to take the helm of Lancashire Syndicates and sits on the Executive Management Team of Lancashire Insurance Group.

In her conversation with Nick Hoadley, she discusses her love of compliance, being a working mother of 2 children and maintaining perspective through adversity.

“We’re capable of more than we think we’re capable of, the market’s at an exciting point”, says Emma as she reflects on the impact of Covid and coming out of lockdown. 

Emma shares her thoughts on mentoring, the future of the industry, fear and her mantra of ‘never, never, never give in.’

Listeners can reach out to Emma via her LinkedIn profile

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

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“It’s one of the most uncomfortable things we've ever done, hiring people that aren't like you, particularly in your senior leadership team”, says Andre.

The London-based co-CEO discusses his route to joining Genasys in 2011. Founded in 1997, the business now services 40 MGAs, Brokers and Carriers across 22 countries from its offices in London, Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Andre describes how the business has repurposed its technology over 25 years and kept up to date with an exceptionally high revenue to R&D ratio.

“The one thing as a small organisation is that you have to make sure your technology is better than the bigger ones. Otherwise, what is the point of people looking at you.”

Andre discusses tech implementation costs, competing against VC-backed insurtechs  and having a long-standing obsession of customer experience.   

“Driving down the cost to implement new technology will ultimately improve [our clients’] business and therefore our ultimate goal of improving the policyholders life without breaking the bank.”

Highlighting plans to hire 80-100 people over the next 12 months, Andre emphasises the need for strong leadership alignment throughout the divisions of the business, balanced with the desire to have fun along the way.

He shares the advice he’d give to those looking to build a career in the insurance space and those in the insurtech space that he admires most.

“Too many insurtechs are more concerned about trying to create value for the sake of an exit rather than trying to create value for a customer.  The people I respect in the industry are genuinely trying to do something to improve the policyholders life."

Connect with Andre Symes on LinkedIn or find out more about Genasys

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“They couldn't give me data or any sense whether or not I had the right coverage. The answer was always ‘just trust me’.  I was convinced that there was a real opportunity to address some of these data problems.”

Leo charts his transition from Wall St to starting a small commercial real estate investment fund – where he was responsible for overseeing the portfolio’s insurance - and the motivation to setting up New York-based LineSlip Solutions.

“When I went in for my renewal conversation, I was shocked at the quality of the deliverable.”

Leo explains how he went from idea to creating a viable business.

“Serendipitously I ran into somebody who was struggling because their largest customer, a global top five private equity fund, wanted to see their commercial insurance data across all 200 of their portfolio companies and they had multiple brokers obviously, they had many different carriers or markets. I said, ‘I can do that’”.

Investing in data science, LineSlip were able to extract and aggregate meaningful insurance data and develop relationships with brokers to cater for their private equity funds.

Leo highlights the benefits on offer to clients and shares his outlook for the insurance sector, the culture LineSlip is building and the importance of hiring people that understand both the challenges of risk managers and the value that LineSlip can bring.

"I came to the conclusion that I wasn't the best at everything a long time ago. The key is to hire people that are better than you, resource them appropriately and empower them." 

He concludes “You have to focus on the core value proposition. These gathering clouds around our economic outlook, it's going to raise the bar as to which solutions a customer invests in.  The way you transition from being a nice to have to a must have is offering a clear return on investment.” 

Connect with Leo Bernstein on LinkedIn or find out more about LineSlip Solutions

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“You have to take a step back and do some reflecting. I made the decision I wanted to do something different, which is something you shouldn't take lightly.”

Justin shares his insurance career journey from General Electric to joining the Vantage team in 2021.

Talking through his transition in to senior leadership positions and the C-suite, Justin explains how it was his time at XL where doors opened and his confidence grew.    

“I was regularly working on operational planning and there was a desire with senior leadership, to expose me to other business units, other countries and strategic planning.

It really gave me an opportunity to spread my wings and develop a reputation.  I found that doors started to open.”

Justin highlights his biggest achievement and his reaction to being overlooked.

He shares how Vantage is adopting technology to exceed its clients’ expectations, its impact on talent attraction, and the skills Vantage demands from aspiring leaders.

Justin concludes with advice to any executives considering a career move.

"Take some time and look around and figure out what you want to do. Really think about what makes you happy, what you want to do long term."

Connect with Justin on LinkedIn or find out more about Vantage Risk Companies.

This episode of the Insurance Coffee House Podcast was first published on 9 August 2022

Podcast hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“We’re looking at skillset rather than location. Skillset and culture matters much more”, says Damien as he shares how Zelros is maintaining its culture and values alongside ambitious growth plans.

With offices in Paris, Montreal and New York, Damien - who is spearheading the company’s move in to the North American market - describes his journey from engineer to entrepreneur and the rationale behind co-founding Zelros with his two business partners.  

“We are a recommendation engine specialised for the insurance industry, leveraging data and AI”, says Damien as he details how Zelros is preparing for their Series B next year, following their initial $16m fundraise.  Responding to new and emerging risks, Zelros provides benefits for policyholders as well as brokers and carriers.

“For policyholders, we provide comprehensive and personalised advice on how they’re covered. For brokers and carriers, we drive more growth and increase loyalty,” maintains Damien, describing how the business is making relevant recommendations to 250 million policyholders across Europe (60% P&C, 30% Life and 10% Health).

Damien shares the challenges to going international, operating across different markets and timezones as well as how the business is aiming to grow by 30-50 people upon closing its Series B. He talks about how the culture - ambition, humbleness and trust - has been defined over time and the challenge of maintaining those values as they grow their presence in Montreal.

Highlighting the value insurance product knowledge and understanding new markets brings to the team, Damien explains how Zelros is looking for people who love insurance and technology.  

“Your mindset should be rollercoaster proof. You’re never prepared enough for the ups and downs”, concludes Damien as he shares his advice for fellow founders and emphasises how experienced strategic advisors and marketing positioning & messaging will fuel success and educate the market.

Contact Damien via damien@zelros.com, connect on LinkedIn or find out more about Zelros

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

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Season Two - Episode Twenty Four

Joining us for the second episode we have with Marsh this week, we are delighted to have Julie Wood, Southeast Zonal Leader for Marsh and McLennan Companies.

Julie heads up this large region for the Marsh corporate business and discusses with us her keys to leadership and career progression at a large global practice leader.

She shares with us a story of how she landed a new role by meeting a hiring executive at an airport when she was pregnant and successfully pitched her business plan to him… a great example of owning your own career development!

Julie is a dynamic leader and actively encourages talent from outside of the industry to join her team at Marsh, which builds a more diverse workforce and secures the best people for the role and not just the best people in the market.

Julie is happy for any listeners to reach out to her after the show with any comments or questions you may have and you can do this via her LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-wood-5bb29230/ or preferably via email at julie.wood@marsh.com .

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

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Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

“No insurer in the U.S. has any digital infrastructure for the native Spanish-speaking population”, says Nestor, “despite the U.S. being the second largest Spanish-speaking country in the world after Mexico.”

Born and raised in New Jersey, the son of Uruguayan immigrants shares his journey of stumbling in to insurance after helping his aunt with monthly budgeting.

“I had no idea how hard it was for some immigrants and working class people in the U.S. to access auto insurance”, explains Nestor, as he highlights the challenges of credit score, education, employment and postcode as well as the dearth of digital infrastructure.

With minimum liability limits, Sigo Seguros launched its own auto insurance product in August 2021 with a focus on providing affordable, accessible insurance.

“We’re working towards starting to remove some of that bias that a lot of the legacy products have.”  

Nestor talks loss ratios, customer-centricity and the benefits on offer to policyholders.

“Ultimately, there's the opportunity here to provide a fully digital experience for a market that's a little different.

When we talk about our target customer, we're fully bilingual and end customers can onboard digitally, pay, receive proof of insurance in their native language.”

Nestor goes on to highlight the impact of technology, future growth plans, the biggest challenges to scaling and the evolving culture.   

“We're willing to talk about the tough topics. Culture changes, culture shifts, it evolves.  I think it's driven by the team and who you hire.”

Nestor shares his thoughts on business sustainability, remote-working and the value insurance knowledge brings to the Sigo team as well as moving from growth to managing a book and harnessing potential demand.

“Many states have billions of dollars of premiums of auto insurance, when you look at the immigrant and working class population  The demand for the products is there. We're looking how to build and reach the massive market not only in Texas but beyond.”

Nestor concludes by encouraging entrepreneurs to learn from other founders and underlining the importance of clear communication and story-telling.

"Grow as a communicator and storyteller. Find the right talent, motivate the team and learn from other founders. It’s unlocked a lot for me.”

Reach out to Nestor on LinkedIn, email nestor@sigoseguros.com or find out more about Sigo Seguros

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or 

“I have this thing that I like to say which is ‘Remember to do your job. Job - J.O.B - stands for ‘Joy of Being’, says Bill.

Bill shares his career journey from working as a Farmers Agent to launching and growing his own Insurance Agency for 10 years, before heading off to make movies.

“I wanted to be getting out of bed with passion because I love what I do. To me it needed to have a creative component to it.”

Working with some of Hollywood’s biggest names – Brad Pitt, Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and The Rock, producing 34 films over 15 years – Bill explains how working alongside such high-performing talent has impacted his return to taking the reins at Liberty and the stark differences between the two industries.

“The film business is very transitory. You make a movie, pull a big team together then everybody goes their separate ways.  Here in this business, it’s a community of long-term relationships. For me, it’s the opportunity to give service to that community and focus on creating a special culture and a special environment.”

Bill says that being a place that feels good to be a part of, has translated into attracting talent to the company and fuelled Liberty’s commission revenue increase from $11m to $125m and driven the team’s growth from 50 to 650 over the past 3.5 years.

Bill talks about his biggest achievements and how he’s dealt with setbacks along the way.  “One of the great things about getting knocked back is it's a great opportunity to observe the people around you and see how people behave, to really observe other people’s character.”

He shares what he perceives to the challenges ahead for the Insurance Agencies, maintaining, “It’s a people business. People want a relationship and so as we look at this company and we look at this industry, taking care of your people and then having your people taking care of the clients seems paramount.”

Bill highlights the importance of health, happiness, how he leads regular company mediation sessions and the company’s dream circles as well as the key characteristics Liberty seeks when recruiting.

Forecast to have a 1000-strong team by the end of 2022, Bill explains the leadership opportunities on offer and the challenge of scaling the culture.

“The way we approach that challenge is just continuing to live it and breathe it every day from top to bottom, ultimately creating opportunity and an environment where people can thrive.”

“We have a thing that we call HABU - highest and best use - which is another way of saying ‘Do what you love’”, concludes Bill.

Connect with Bill on LinkedIn, email bjohnson@libertycompany.com or find out more about Liberty.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

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Joining us for our final episode of Season One, we have Charlotte Lach, a rising star of the insurance industry and Head of Global Multinational Strategy & Change at AIG.

Charlotte shares with us how she has quickly risen from an underwriting role into a strategic position and advises of the benefits of a technical grounding when moving into operational and strategic functions.

She reminds us that the start of the day is the one time where we can have 100% control of our time, so it is up to us to make the very best use of it whether that is through exercise or personal development.

Charlotte passionately believes in the importance of insurance qualifications from a professional standards perspective and reminds us that those qualifications add value which will be with us for the entirety of our careers, whether we change team, division or organisation.

Listeners can reach out to Charlotte after the show with any comments or feedback via her LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottelach/ .

This episode rounds of the end of Season One, but do not despair as we will shortly be launching Season Two where will be interviewing the very best Insurance Business leaders from around the United States…so watch this space and subscribe to the series so you do not miss the first episode!

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

“Being more equipped to translate what you know about insurance to technical people who may not have your background, that's just going to improve your product”, says Katy.  

Katy shares her journey of growing up with parents working in the risk management and insurance space, her initial aspirations to be a vet, to executing her father’s vision for PINS.

San Diego-based PINS is a SaaS that helps municipalities, airports, construction contractors and large sub-contractors request insurance documentation from the third parties they interact with.

“LAX use our software. There's so much activity going on - vendors, limo drivers. As an entity, LAX is so exposed. If one of those vendors does something rogue, even if by accident and there's a big impact to a passenger, they will take up their issue first and foremost with the airport.”

Helping clients reduce gross claims, PINS transfers the risk back to the vendor and provides a simple instruction manual around the insurance process. Vendors know exactly what information they’re required to provide and when.

Katy discusses the challenges she’s encountered in building the business, growth plans and the culture she is seeking to build.

In building the team, Katy highlights the value of in-office interactions.

“There's a lot of knowledge that you can gain just through osmosis. You learn because you’re in the room. I like that in person aspect, but it's not a requirement."

Contact Katy Rose via LinkedIn, email krose@pinsadvantage.com or find out more about PINS

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“DE&I is one of the biggest challenges for the industry. For a lot of our clients in the US, it's one of their biggest priorities”, says Nick

"Before we engage with a client, we really want to make sure they're set up for diverse candidates. It's so important for us as an insurance executive search firm, that if we move someone who's very successful into a new environment, that they're going to be set up for success there.

And that internally, there are no barriers and people will have the same opportunity across the board.

For us as a search firm, it's key for our processes to be as transparent and inclusive as possible.

When we’re working on a mandate, rather than just going to a little book of contacts, that we actually do a thorough market mapping to identify every single person who could potentially do that role.

What that gives us is a more diverse talent pool. The shortlist of candidates we provide is more diverse. When you've got more people in that process, you can scrutinize those candidates more and end up with a better-quality hire.”

On the podcast this week, Nick shares his journey from corporate law to insurance broker to founding global insurance executive search consultancy, Insurance Search.

“I was working for an insurance company. We were looking to hire great quality people, but were really struggling to get the candidates.

I was working with some of the agencies, seeing some of the CV s that were coming in. It could be quite depressing and just thought, there's an opportunity here. I backed myself that I could do better.

I've always been a real people person, helping people in whatever way I can. It just seemed like a really natural fit, putting businesses together with great insurance talent.”

Nick highlights the challenges to launching an executive search consultancy and how he’s coped with adversity along the away.

“We're still very fresh from it, the pandemic. We were doing very nicely as a firm, working with lots of good insurance companies who were expanding.

But then the pandemic came along and the world changed.

We went from all of our clients actively hiring multiple positions to pretty much zero overnight.

That was a real trauma. But it gave me the opportunity to really reflect and decide where I wanted to take the business.

We’d been doing quite a lot of senior, international work at the time, but we are also still doing some quite junior insurance roles, which was an area we weren’t enjoying as much.

And so, we pivoted and really focused at the senior end of things.”

Nick discusses the motivation behind launching the Insurance Coffee House Podcast as a way to highlight the breadth of opportunity across the insurance sector, and to learn from the experiences of C-level insurance leaders.

He emphasizes the executive search, human capital consultancy and market intelligence services Insurance Search provides, both to global insurance brands as well as smaller, mid-market businesses.

“Our core service is insurance executive search and finding senior leaders for insurance companies.

As part of that work, we have a human capital consultancy where we very much look to align ourselves with our clients. Where they are as a business now and work with them to achieve those strategic objectives and where they want to be in 18 months, two years, five years.

And we offer insurance market intelligence studies.

We've got a great team of researchers, who are looking externally for our clients at what their competitors are doing, how those competitors are being successful, looking at some of the aspirational businesses that they want to be like in 24 to 36 months.”

With Insurance Search seeking to make executive search more accessible, Nick highlights the types of roles the team works on.  

“As well as C-level positions, we also work on...

“Given the potential of AI, we should all be focused on ensuring it's part of our strategic roadmap. It is an excellent tool that is going to allow us to rethink, reimagine how we deliver products, services and experiences to our client base”, says Prashant.

“Is it machine learning? Is it deep learning? Is it unstructured data? Is it predictive models? What is it that you really want to achieve?

While it's powerful, it requires other catalysts to function. You can't start building a roof and then look at the foundation. 

Building the right data foundation, having a robust change management plan and then ensuring there are business use cases that are aligned with the outcome.”

On the Insurance Coffee House Podcast this week, Prashant discusses:

• starting his career for a business outsourcing processing company over 20 years ago in India
• transitioning in to managing processes and people mostly in P&C specialty lines and understanding the insurance lifecycle, from acquisition to claims
• being part of the mission to make MSIG USA a data-driven insurer
• change management and its impact on people, infrastructure and day-to-day operations
• AI requiring other catalysts to function properly
• adding skills and embracing the AI implementation journey
• what he looks for in an insurance executive search partner
• being entrepreneurial and keeping a smile on your face
• and the one lesson his job has taught him, he wants everyone to learn

“Change is hard. We use different terminologies in an organization to express our goals, objectives and why we are doing it. But it all boils down to one thing and that is change.

Think about what you're doing as change and keep that in mind, because if you lead with that, it helps you understand how to increase adoption and how to make change stick.”

Connect with Prashant Hinge on LinkedIn or find out more about MSIG USA

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO of Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved. 

Joining us on the second of our two-part series with Gallagher this week, we have Cheryll Rawbone, the former MD and now Chairman of Gallagher Coventry.

Cheryll also discusses the acquisition of her business into the Gallagher group and we find out how she has transitioned into a larger organisation.

Cheryll has extensive experience working with local businesses who have international risk portfolios and she shares with Nick how she has combined that international expertise with local networking and marketing to grow her client base and ultimately her business.

With opportunities to train and work internationally, Cheryll believes that Gallagher is a great place for local insurance professionals to develop their skills and handle global risk portfolios in this ever changing and fast paced climate.

In this interview, Cheryll goes on to share how businesses need to adapt to be successful and how they can use technology to increase their client reach.

You can reach out to Cheryll about any of the issues discussed on the show via her LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheryllrawbone/ .

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

“Health Insurance and Employee Benefits lacks connectivity, lacks infrastructure. That’s what we’ve set out to solve”, says Michael.

With a background in colour printer supplies and medical malpractice, Michael co-founded and leads the team at Vericred, who connect health insurance and employee benefits carriers to insurtech companies to simplify the exchange of data.  

Headquartered in New York City, the 100-strong team is focussed on the US market for the foreseeable future, enabling digital transformation and efficiencies to brokers and carriers.

Michael shares the benefits those with a background in health insurance or employee benefits bring to the team.

“It’s an exceedingly complex space. When they come in with industry experience, we’re that much better for it. They bring domain experience and can ramp up faster.”

For those with grit, agility and tenacity, Vericred offers tremendous opportunities to be part of the journey. “We have to work very hard but people can evolve in to new roles.”

Advising those who are considering a move in to an early stage company, Michael says, “Immerse yourself in the community, understand the problems that are being solved, understand the culture.”

Connect with Michael on LinkedIn or find out more about Vericred.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

Copyright Insurance Search – All Rights Reserved.  

“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, 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 agents, brokers and wholesalers we work with, to educate and empower them that this is so critical. They are the key to helping us fix this.”

Cyrena discusses being founded as a remote-first business 6 years ago, the three strands of the business – Commercial, Residential and Specialty – and her passion for seeing a business grow.

“I have developed a love and passion for people and for work culture. Culture isn't like swings hanging in your office somewhere. It’s how an organization communicates internally and externally.”

She emphasizes how reThought are building a team, passionate about the mission & vision of the business and the initiatives they are putting in place to engage and maintain talent.

“You have to realize that the enthusiasm of your customers and the people that you're working with out in the market are never going to exceed that of the people within your organization.”

Cyrena discusses the importance of communicating and setting expectations, tips for senior leaders coming to interview and the best way to find out what a candidate is really like.

“Take them out for dinner, mess up their order on purpose, then you're going to see someone's true colors. You're going to find out who somebody really is.“

She shares the tech tools the team are using to build a high performing team and the one lesson her job has taught her that everyone else should know.

“Love what you do and you’ll never spend a day at work.  You may have to dig and find that.”

Connect with Cyrena-Marie Arnold on LinkedIn, mail flood@rethoughtinsurance.com or find out more reThought Insurance

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses around the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

Season Two - Episode Ten

We are very pleased to welcome the Chief Executive of Skyward Specialty Insurance, Andrew Robinson to the show this week.

Andrew is one the leading Insurance / Insurtech executives in America and since taking over as the CEO of Skyward Specialty (formerly Houston International Insurance Group) in May 2020, Andrew has led the business through great change and transformation (including the rebranding from HIIG), all during a global pandemic.

Andrew shares how he is building a culture and creating an environment the staff can feel great about and advises how extra employee interaction and engagement during this time has really benefitted the business.

As well as his considerable leadership experience, Andrew can bring his deep knowledge of technology / tech investment from the time in his career spent immersed in advanced insurance technology solutions as he headed up Insurtech Investments.

Andrew has led a stellar career in the Insurance industry and the new brand, Skyward, seems very appropriate as he aims to take the company inter-galactic with him and propel Skyward to long term, sustainable success.

Andrew encourages listeners to reach out to him about the podcast and Skyward’ s future plans via his LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewsrobinson/

or email at arobinson@skywardinsurance.com .

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

“Many people you'll work with and meet in business will be happy to accept information and explanations in the way it's being presented to them.

Some people you work with will have a real appetite to go one level deeper because they'll want to know the drivers of the things they are seeing.

They'll want to have a proper understanding about how that part of the business or that part of the market or that customer behaviour really works”, says Steve.

“My push would be to go one level deeper than that. When you work with people that want to understand not just the drivers but the drivers of the drivers or the footnotes of the footnotes, often that is where you find the opportunities that others have missed.

One thing I am really passionate about is some of the best opportunities exist there. It's really worth going one level deeper to not just really understand your market, but to discover things that other people haven't and in a really competitive business, those are the things that can separate you.” 

On the Insurance Coffee House Podcast this week, Steve talks about how his early career working as an analyst on the equities trading floor in a Dutch investment bank, taught him about the importance of discipline and attention to detail.

“But when businesses came to see us to talk about how their business was performing, I had a real feeling of envy. I really wanted to be on the other side of the table. I wanted to be in businesses and solving the kind of problems they were solving.”

A move in to start-ups followed, providing the opportunity to work in high-performance, fast-moving environments.

“Anyone who's had a career in the early-stage part of a business, will know that you get some real successes and you get some failures along the way as well. We had both.

But I learned a huge amount, worked with some fantastic entrepreneurs and learned about thinking big.

The other thing I got to see firsthand, that value can be created out of thin air. Working in a successful start-up or scale up will really teach you to see that with your own eyes and to know it can be done is quite a powerful thing to experience. It gives you a lot of confidence for the future.”

Moving in to product leadership and general management roles at bigger, more mature businesses took Steve on a journey to joining insurance price comparison business Confused.com as COO in 2019, before becoming CEO in 2023.  

Steve reflects on his leadership journey, saying:

“I used to look at my career path almost like a game of Trivial Pursuit, where you were trying to collect all the skills that you needed to be the ‘rounded leader’.

You’d go around the board, collect those wedges and when you had them all, you could move to the centre, and that's the game complete.

But unlike trivial pursuit, when you move to the middle, you don't win the game, you just discover there's a whole new game below, and you start again.

I realised that it’s going to be an infinite journey. Instead of just accepting it, it’s really learning to love the experience of learning new things.”

In this podcast episode, Steve talks to host Nick Hoadley about:  

• if you acquire a lot of skills and experience, your next career move will be obvious
• how price comparison businesses are the main distribution channel for UK general insurance
• why he looks for super smart people and insurance leaders who want to go one level deeper and challenge the givens
• why he wants Confused.com to be the place where people do the best work of their careers
• and the one lesson his career has taught him, he thinks everyone should learn

“Whatever your career goals are, be open to the fact that the moment you hit them, there'll be a whole new mountain to climb. Learn to love that. Get yourself into the frame of mind of enjoying the...

“Our M&A work has been tremendous. We have sought out companies that we believe fit our culture.  You don't grow as rapidly as we have without having a strong M&A presence.

We love to find entrepreneurs who care about their employees and want to grow their business. If you acquire the right type of leader and then they refer to a friend or someone else they do business with, that helps have alignment. 70% of our acquisitions have come through referrals”, says Jeff as he highlights PCF’s approach to M&A activity and the power of referrals.

On the podcast this week, Jeff shares his career background and transition in to the insurance sector. From senior people roles with brands including Ancestry.com and Mastercard, Jeff joined PCF Insurance Services as VP of HR in November 2021.

The fastest growing company in Utah for 3 consecutive years, PCF has grown from 700 employees to over 3500 since Jeff joined the business.

“Integration is key. The one thing that we value so much is the human interaction or the relationships that get built. We bring our partners together twice a year and spend a lot of time networking. We talk about culture, who we are and what we value.”

Jeff shares what he believes insurance people leaders need to be doing to attract more talent in to the insurance industry, He discusses PCF’s drive to hire for traits not for experience when it comes to talent attraction.

"It's one of the best kept secrets out there. I don't know why we're not yelling from the rooftops about careers in insurance because there’s incredible opportunities and great people.”

“Insurance is a career path that young people don't know enough about. I really think that we have an opportunity to think about the person. I love finding someone who is just great at service, great with people and seems very detail oriented. If they are, let's give them an opportunity.”

Jeff gives insight in to selecting an external search partner and the one lesson his career has taught him, he wants everyone else to know.

“It's all about one team, one goal. It's on my walls in my home. It's in my office. My team knows it. The lesson I've learned is look, you can't do it alone.”

Jeff clarifies the team's approach to work life balance.

"Work should be fun. There should be balance. I've always said that when you're on vacation, I want you on vacation. But it's a people business and when people need you, we want to be there.”

He highlights what he looks for when recruiting senior insurance leaders in to the business.

“Talk about your people. If we spend 10 minutes with a leader and they don't talk about their team and the people they lead, they're probably not a fit for us. I'm not hiring them as an individual contributor. I'm hiring them as a leader."

Find out more about PCF Insurance Services or connect with Jeff Hutchins on LinkedIn

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO of Insurance Search.

Insurance Search is a global Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses with Critical Hires, Executive Search and Market Intelligence Services.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best insurance talent to your team or being a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast, reach out to Nick via 

“In that early stage, you really have to leverage your network and those around you who have done it before. Because they're only advisors, they can only go so far. It's kind of wild in that first year of having nothing and creating everything. You have to trust your instincts”, says Lauri.

She shares her journey from growing up in a family of entrepreneurs through to joining Pie Insurance at its launch. Lauri gives insight in to her discussions with Co-Founder John Swigart and the vision for building the team in those early days.

“The idea of making something much more accessible affordable and easier to understand for small business owners was a mission that I could rally around. But I shared with John, ‘Why don't you call me in six months to a year?’

He said no for two reasons. He said he wanted to surround himself with a team that he trusted. The second reason was he and Dax (Co-Founders) were committed to getting the culture and the hiring right from the outset and they were willing to make the investment to do so.”

Year one was spent establishing the core HR functions of the insurance business and recruiting from their networks. With 2 employees on day 1 in 2017, the business now has over 400 pie-oneers and has expanded from Workers’ Comp to offer Commercial Auto Insurance, General Liability and Business Owners Insurance.

“We wanted to make sure the individuals we were bringing in, understood the business, understood what it was like to join an early stage start up because it's not for everyone.”

Lauri highlights how being a remote-first business impacts culture.

“It's definitely a dichotomy a lot of companies face. On the one hand, being purely remote gives you access to much of the talent across the US. But it also has the challenge of building a culture.”

“You have to have a fantastic on-boarding program. How you set up your new team members for success on day one, those first six months is everything. But it’s important to have some live collaboration. We don't believe it should be 100% remote all the time.”

Lauri discusses the investment in tech to facilitate communication as well as the complexities of supporting team members based across different States.

She gives her advice to candidates coming to interview and shares her thoughts on best practice for fellow people leaders across the insurance industry.

“You have to have a very thorough and tight talent process. You have to execute it similarly across the business. We do competency-based interviewing. We prep all of our interview panels before we interview and then we debrief together as a group. That ensures that everyone is on the same page going into and leaving the process.”

To drive their insurance careers forward, Lauri encourages people to be integrative thinkers.

“Something that's helped me be successful in my career is being an integrative thinker. It’s not looking at a problem as ‘I've got path A or B’ as the solution. It’s considering all of the perspectives and all of the needs and ‘how do I solve for that that greater needs set’.

Lauri shares the importance of working with an Executive Search firm that understands the business culture and calibrates with their recruitment needs.

She concludes by sharing the value of mentoring and leveraging your insurance network.

“I don't have all the answers and I'm not supposed to. I have points of view and perspectives but I hold them loosely. I try to take in other perspectives that will refine my views on things. If your early in your career, don't ever give up on your network and cultivating it.

Connect with Lauri Putt Needleman on LinkedIn or find out more about Pie Insurance

The Insurance Coffee House...

“Find a problem that you have connection with, in your past career and you're passionate about, because entrepreneurship is hard”, says Matheus.

The Brazilian entrepreneur charts his journey from joining peer-to-peer car-sharing business Turo to starting up Tint.

Having raised $30m VC-funding, the California-based insurtech provides insurance infrastructure, helping tech companies protect their users from the inherent risks of using their platforms whilst creating additional revenue streams.

Matheus outlines the benefits on offer to carriers and discusses the rising demand for embedded insurance.

“Platforms are really looking for ways to increase the value of what they offer and to increase their margins. Embedded insurance is typically a board level conversation today.”

Matheus describes Tint's ambitions to treble its headcount in the coming 12 months and the core values they are seeking to build in a remote-first environment.

He shares his tips for candidates looking to join a high-growth business and advises those looking to found a business to be ambitious.

“If you're ambitious, you can develop an exciting vision that helps attract people. If you’re not, it's much harder to tell the story of why your company would really make an impact.”

Connect with Matheus Riolfi on LinkedIn or find out more about Tint

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“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 impact on values and culture as the team has grown from 300-4000 employees.

“Our goal is to double the size of our firm over the next 5-7 years. The market conditions are pretty challenging in some ways but we are laser focused on profitable organic growth.”

Derek highlights building DE&I in to the fabric of the business, identifying talent from diverse communities and the importance of training leaders as the business expands.

“Our organization and our operating companies, we are seeking diverse talent. We have to make sure that our leadership is ready to embrace and invest in diverse talent and culturally, once people join the firm, we have to really back up everything that we say on the recruiting side.”

For senior executives seeking to join a business like Galway, Derek advises them to be prepared, operate with passion, desire and establish their professional messaging and differentiation.

Derek counsels hiring managers or recruitment leaders to think outside of the box when it comes to attracting the best talent.  

“Ask people questions more than just work, try to get a feel for who they are. What is their drive or what is their motivator?"

Derek concludes by advising fellow leaders to pay it forward.

“Treat people like you want to be treated. If you wanted opportunities when you were young, provide opportunities. If you were a benefit of mentoring, mentor people. It's a new day. We're dealing with people that have had different experiences. We've got to figure out how to lead in a new way.”

Find out more about Galway Holdings and its growing brands here or connect with Derek Thomas on LinkedIn.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses around the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

Season Two - Episode Six

This week we are very happy to welcome Jeff Lumpp to the Insurance Coffee House. Jeff is the President of the Grand Rapids, Michigan office at Hylant and we are delighted to have him join us on the show.

Jeff shares with us his journey from a background in Corporate Finance to his leadership position in the insurance industry. He advises on the importance of quickly building credibility with your peers and colleagues when entering into a new profession, so you create mutual trust when leading a team.

Hylant live and breathe a family culture within their teams and Jeff advises that fitting into that culture and being a well rounded business person, as opposed to a pure insurance technician, gives them great success with their clients and provides opportunities to create great initiatives in the local community.

Jeff believes that a best in class service team leads to incredible things happening, so it is important for producers and execs to ask about the retention levels of the service team when interviewing for a new role, as that will be a major factor in your success. 

Jeff is happy for listeners to reach out to him after the show with any comments or questions you may have about Hylant or the subjects raised in the interview. You can do this via his email at jeff.lumpp@hylant.com .

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

“I have a human first philosophy. Ultimately maths is the easier part of the equation, humans are hard”, says Amy.

Amy shares her background as a management consultant with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and joining Principal almost 21 years ago. 

“I had a leader and a mentor, people around me had belief in me”, as Amy shares her rise to the c-suite and her biggest achievement.

Amy talks about her reaction to being overlooked and how she reacts to negativity.

“I don’t block all of it out. I say ‘wait a minute, there’s a market need. Someone, some day is going to fill it. Why on earth could it not be us.’ My motivation is more externally focussed.”

Sharing how Principal are using tech and digital, Amy comments, “Innovation often looks at the beginning or the end of processes, at customer acquisition or claims. We’ve been focussing on those middle processes – administration and servicing.”

Amy talks about future challenges for insurance executives and the industry, urging us not to go back to pre-pandemic normal. She explains the characteristics Principal seek when looking for high-performing talent as well as her recruitment frustrations. 

“We’ve been mathematicians more than story-tellers. We have plenty of technicians in the industry, we’re light on people who understand the human experience.”

Connect with Amy on LinkedIn or find out more about Principal Financial Group.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2022 – All Rights Reserved.    

“At a start-up, you can’t afford delays, you have to pivot faster”, says Ruth as she shares the journey from her 10-year corporate insurance career to launching a bakery business with a friend, before starting-up Anapi, a tech-enabled insurance intermediary for start-ups, small businesses and entrepreneurs. 

Frustrated with not being on the frontline at Zurich, Ruth put her MBA in to practice by diving in to the world of cookies in Hong Kong. Relocating to Singapore, she joined the Anapi team as a co-founder and took over as CEO in September 2021.

“The bakery business was a good transition to Anapi,” says Ruth, explaining the transition from an internally focussed corporate role to wearing multiple hats at a start-up.

Ruth talks about the work Anapi is doing to help smaller businesses access insurance faster and manage it in a much more digital manner, as well as how the business has pivoted from its early days of trying to use big data to help companies manage their risks themselves.

Discussing the key benefits for insurers, end clients and multiple policy holders, Ruth gives her views on the future of the insurance market, the personalities best suited to Anapi and her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

“Don’t do it alone. Find someone who can complement your skills.”

Connect with Ruth on LinkedIn or find out more about Anapi. 

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

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"You can't de-risk every decision that you make beforehand. We're always making decisions saying, ‘We know 20% of the information, but it gets us 80% of the way there, so let's go that route’” says Bill.

Launched in 2018, ForMotiv operates in the behavioural intelligence space, collecting users’ digital behaviour to help insurance carriers drive a better user experience in real time.

“The more data we capture, the more expertise we glean, the more it enhances our products and drives value for our clients”, says Bill.

CEO, Bill and Head of Growth, Woody Klemmer discuss how new dimensions of data and real-time insights are benefitting clients.

With Covid having accelerated many business’ roadmaps from 5 years to 18 months, ForMotiv is making the digital experience more human. “Whoever can understand user intent will survive”, says Woody.

With 40% of the team coming from an insurance background, the team offers swift upward mobility for resilient and consistent new hires. “It’s fun and fast-paced. A company that’s looking to double and double again isn’t for everyone.”

With ambitions to expand in to the UK, Europe and across the globe, the team is looking to build out its platform and expertise.

"We’re trying to find doers, people who’ve made decisions and taken risks”, explains Bill.

Connect with Bill Conners or Woody Klemmer on LinkedIn or find out more about ForMotiv

This episode of the Insurance Coffee House Podcast was first published on 13 November 2021

Podcast hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“Executives who’ve been in this business for 30-40 years and have a lot to offer, go for a role where they can really impact younger people coming into the business”, says John.

Sharing his journey from joining Chubb Underwriting direct from school, John maintains that one of his greatest advantages early on, was learning how to underwrite, before moving back to his Californian roots, where he joined Heffernan Insurance Brokers as employee no. 19 in 1991.  

John charts the organic growth of the business before moving in to M&A 6 years ago, with Heffernan having a current team of 540 and being one of the few independent retail brokers in the U.S. over $100m.

“My background has been bringing young people on, mentoring them in a very collaborative environment.  It's impossible to have organic growth as a company without a very strong collaborative culture.”

John discusses moving in to a leadership role at Heffernan, biggest career achievements, pushing peers out of their comfort zone and draws similarities between the early days at Heffernan and launching London-based Costero Brokers.  

“I'm in kind of a similar situation here but I'm further along and more mature in my career. But it's a challenge when you're pushing your peers out of their comfort zone and pushing them to trust you. Not that they don't, but you're kind of getting to the limits of that trust. It's challenging, but I also find it somewhat invigorating.”

John explains how he’s dealt with setbacks along the way, “It's really important that I'm surrounded by people that I trust and I care about. A lot of the setbacks I've had would have been impossible alone. I don't know how people do this stuff when they operate in a bit of a vacuum.”

Clarifying Heffernan’s approach to embracing tech and digital change, John talks through his outlook on the industry, challenges for executives and the opportunities for high-performing talent.

“We let people create the careers they want. I've always thought that my job is to keep really good people and facilitate their growth. It's not to manage them.”

John concludes by sharing his concerns about the impact remote-working is having on mentoring and developing the next generation and his advice for insurance professionals considering their next steps.

“It’s a good business. If you’re not enjoying it, find something else.”

Connect with John on LinkedIn, email jt@heffgroup.com or find out more about Heffernan Insurance Brokers.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, 

Season Two - Episode Three

Joining us on Episode Three of the Insurance Coffee House USA, we have Carl Bloomfield who is the Managing Director of the New York City office at the Graham Company.

Carl shares with us his passion for leadership and gives us a great insight into what he believes you need in order to be a successful leader.

Carl explains how leadership and position are two distinct things, so when opportunity in management positions become available, those who have already proved themselves as leaders in non-leadership positions will be front of the queue for promotion.

He also advocates taking 100% responsibility for your own career development and advancement by committing to self-improvement so you can attain those roles that will interest you and progress your career.

Carl feels that his biggest successes have been the next generation of leaders he has brought through under him, who have gone to become Presidents of businesses in their own right.

Finally, Carl shares with us the growth plans for the Graham Company including the big ambitions for the NYC office. He is very proud of the high quality and sophisticated risk advisory work The Graham Company provides to their clients and encourages listeners to reach out to him after the show with any comments or questions. You can do this via his LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlbloomfieldconstruction/ or email at CBloomfield@grahamco.com.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

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Season Two - Episode Fourteen

We are delighted to host Keith Mann, COO & CFO of Scott Insurance on this weeks’ episode of the Insurance Coffee House USA.

Scott Insurance are a large independent agency headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia with multiple offices across the state and in Tennessee and North & South Carolina.

Keith shares with us his story of his career, before going on to discussing the rewards and opportunities an ESOP business provides.

Keith has spent most of his career in FC and CFO positions in construction and manufacturing, so he had a strong understanding of the buyer’s journey being a corporate purchaser of insurance himself.

Scott Insurance have a very strong culture of serving others first, continuous improvement, ownership, teamwork and trust and it these values that connected with Keith and attracted him to the firm.

He has not looked back since joining Scott and would encourage other colleagues from outside the insurance industry to explore and find out about the great benefits our industry has to offer.

One of the secrets to Scott’s success is their ESOP ownership scheme, allowing employees to have an ownership stake in the business from the start and wealth building opportunity this provides. It also brings a strong culture of togetherness across the firm as new clients and “big wins” are celebrated across the firm as they all have a vested interest.

His final call to action is inspiring each of us to be the change in our organisations, be the change in our communities and be a good example to others… what better way to round off the show!

Keith encourages listeners to reach out to him after the show with any comments or questions. You can do this via his LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithlmann/  or through Scott’s website https://www.scottins.com/ .

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

“People do not apply for agency owner opportunities. The way that you find candidates is definitely by hunting. Referrals is our number one source”, says Regan.

“Going to current agency owners and asking for referrals is critical. We have sales leaders that are in the community. Being in the community is critical.” 

Regan charts his own career journey from Deloitte accountant in to the insurance sector. Inspired by his father-in-law, Regan talks through his experience of owning his own Insurance Agency before moving in to an in-house Talent Acquisition role.

“The success of my agency was dependent upon my ability to do the work and I wasn't afraid to do the work. I'm a big believer in systems processes. It is about managing your sales pipeline and your funnel.”

Highlighting American Family Insurance’s history and growth over the past 10 years to being a Fortune 300 company with $14.5bn in revenue, Regan shares the current distribution model and the importance of financial strength as a Mutual Insurance company.

“We've purchased, acquired and merged with several companies and have many ways that we distribute insurance. We have exclusive and independent agency owners. We have partners like Progressive, Geico and Costco and then we've got direct to consumer.”

“We’re not publicly traded. Financial strength is critical so that we can be there when our customers need us.”

Regan discusses hiring 3000 people in to the organization and how his own experience helps in recruiting 250 exclusive agency owners.  Regan outlines the benefits of being an agency owner, the support on offer and the traits he looks for in those that are considering that option.

“Our goal is that within a five year period, 60 to 70% of our agency owners are successful financially. An agency owner has to be willing to do what it takes to start a business. We will be in their corner and support them as much as they allow us to support them.”

“Grit is probably the number one factor I'm looking and folks that are willing to stay true to the process. Some of our most successful agency owners were former teachers. The reason teachers are good is because insurance is not about selling to people. It is about teaching and educating.”

Regan concludes by sharing his love for talent acquisition and the opportunity he has to impact people’s lives.

“Whether it's an agency owner or an employee, this should be a life changing experience. I think sometimes in talent acquisition we think they're just swapping that job for this job. We’re not making widgets, we are changing people's lives.”

Connect with Regan Fackrell on LinkedIn, email rfackrel@amfam.com or find out more about American Family Insurance

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses around the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com

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Season Two - Episode 18 – Empathetic Leadership

In the Insurance Coffee House this week, we have not one, not two, but three senior leaders from the insurance industry simultaneously joining us as guests on the show.

Amy Evans, Maggie Jaltorossian and Jayne Miller sit on the leadership team at Intercare, a national and privately held TPA leader in Workers' Compensation and Liability Claims Administration, Managed Care Services and Risk Management Solutions.

The major theme that comes from our discussion is Empathetic Leadership and that is something all three of our guests promote, particularly with employees working from home and being based remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Amy, Jayne and Maggie advise us to first become experts in our field before then proactively seeking promotion and career developing opportunities that will lead to greater financial reward.

This is a great episode about building an environment that allows people to succeed, not only in their professional careers but also in their personal lives and work in the community.

Our guests encourage listeners to reach out to them after the show either through the Intercare website https://intercareins.com/ or via their LinkedIn pages – Amy Evans https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-evans-aa72325/ Maggie Jaltorossian https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggie-jaltorossian-8a2aa445/ and Jayne Miller https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayne-miller-99aa30a/

The Insurance Coffee House is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO of Insurance Search, the executive search consultancy for the Insurance and Insurtech sectors in the United States and UK.

If you would like to contact Nick about the podcast or to discuss growing your leadership team, please reach out to him via LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-hoadley-78a498143/ , contact Insurance Search via www.insurance-search.com or email info@insurance-search.com

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“Every industry has its own myopia and we think, you couldn't possibly bring something from media or manufacturing into insurance”, says Bob as he shares his transition from media in to insurance.

“As a technologist, running a whole career in insurance is extremely valuable but so is someone who brings insights from other industries that are frankly often highly applicable to insurance.”

Bob discusses setting up shared services operations at Tokio Marine North America Services to provide pooled professional services - accounting & finance, actuarial, legal, internal audit and technology - primarily supporting Tokio Marine America, First Insurance Company of Hawaii and Philadelphia Insurance.

“The only reason we’re here is to support our carriers. Each of our group companies has different needs. They’re at different moments in their system lifecycle, operational change and transformation.”

Bob shares his thoughts on the future of insurance both through a technology lens and on the sector holistically, emphasising that, “Any insurtechs we adopt, we have to stitch in to an already complex environment. Sometimes you can plug it in, often it’s not that simple.” 

He talks about the personality traits that fit Tokio Marine and the diversity of opportunity for those with an insurance background and those from outside of the sector.

“The more we speak insurance, the more it draws our business colleagues in to speaking tech. If everyone’s speaking a little insurance and a little tech, we’re all speaking the same language.”

Connect with Bob on LinkedIn or find out more about TMNA Services

This episode of the Insurance Coffee House Podcast was first published on 29 March 2022

Podcast hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“We give underwriters an extra understanding of how they should view, assess and price risk”, says Nick.

With a background within the technical side of the insurance industry, Nick shares how Reask is solving some of the challenges surrounding the building and development of catastrophic risk models. Taking global climate data and extracting insights and views - using AI and machine learning - that help predict the likelihood, frequency and severity of extreme weather.

Nick explains the key benefits that Reask’s global approach offers to underwriters & risk carriers as well as the value insurance professionals can bring to the business.

“Insurance is a people business. We’re looking for people that can help translate the scientific and technical approach in to pragmatic business solutions.”

Connect with Nick Hassam on LinkedIn or find out more about Reask     

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

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On this week’s episode we are joined by Phil Barton, CEO of Partners&, who demonstrates to us that you can achieve anything in insurance if you think big enough and work hard to accomplish your goals.

Phil shares with us about his time as CEO of Jelf including how he helped turn around the business whilst he was on the board and then led the group through a huge journey of growth and consolidation culminating in the sale to Marsh & McLennan.

He explains the benefit of gaining experience in different C-Suite positions before taking on the role of CEO and reveals his drive and motivation to provide great advisory services to his clients as well as career development and opportunity to his leadership team.

In his new role as CEO of Partners&, Phil brings industry leading expertise to this boutique start up brokerage and explains to us his characteristically bold plans for the business to be “the best insurance advisory company in the UK.”

This is a must listen for ambitious insurance professionals and senior leaders alike, so please download and enjoy the show.

Listeners can reach out to Phil about his career or the work he is now doing at Partners& via his LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-barton-25407323/ or on his email phil.barton@partnersand.com (although we would be grateful if you can be respectful of his time).

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

“You can’t find an industry as a whole that does more to secure people’s lives and livelihoods than the insurance sector”, says Kenneth Saldanha.

Lifelong consultant Kenneth, who has spent over 20 years consulting in the insurance sector, stepped in to the global leadership role of Accenture’s Insurance business in 2020 is joined on the podcast by Guidewire’s Chief Innovation Officer, Paul Mang.

Kenneth and Paul speak about their journeys to the c-suite and the functions of their respective organisations. They discuss behavioural data, new and emerging risks, as well as usage and behaviour-based offerings.

“Insurance increasingly becomes about risk mitigation, not about risk indemnification”, says Kenneth. “It’s not about being there when something goes wrong, it’s about preventing something going wrong.”

Paul gives his thoughts on the insurtech space and the need to build something great that stays great. He highlights the importance of culture and management, saying “Everything can’t rely on the passion of one person.”

Discussing talent attraction in to the industry, Kenneth believes, “there’s a brand and storytelling problem”, when it comes to selling the array of opportunities on offer across the sector.

Paul highlights the skills Guidewire seek when recruiting talent, stressing the importance of domain expertise together with comfort with ambiguity and the changing dynamics of the industry.

Kenneth and Paul discuss what makes the insurance sector such an incredible career option. Whether it’s sales, underwriting, claims, technology, “there’s so many roads to the top of the hill”, says Kenneth. “Find your passion.”   

Paul concludes by encouraging us to, “Be the manager or leader, you want yourself”.

Connect with Kenneth Saldanha or Paul Mang on LinkedIn, email kenneth.i.saldanha@accenture.com or pmang@guidewire.com or find out more about Accenture or Guidewire

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

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Season Two - Episode Sixteen

Joining us in the Insurance Coffee House USA this week is Ed Page, President and COO of Relation Insurance, a leading insurance agency based in California.

Ed has a fervent and infectious passion for culture in the workplace and teaches us how to establish and embed it into insurance businesses.

This burning ambition to create a great place to work started during his career in management consultancy where he was very successful and led to him making the leap from advising to doing. He has never looked back and enjoys making the decisions together with the senior leadership team and being able to create an environment where people are excited to come to work each day.

Ed clearly lives and breathes this passion for a creating a collaborative and creative culture, providing a platform for high performing insurance professionals to really thrive and take their careers to the next level.

Ed encourages listeners to reach out to him after the show with any comments or questions and you can do this via his LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-page-03096/ or through Relation’s website https://www.relationinsurance.com/about-us/leadership/

The Insurance Coffee House is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO of Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for the Insurance and Insurtech sectors in the United States and UK.

If you would like to contact Nick about the podcast or to discuss growing your leadership team, please reach out to him via LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-hoadley-78a498143/ contact Insurance Search via www.insurance-search.com or email him at nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com .

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“We look for a willingness to re-imagine the entire underwriting and rating process, how that’s distributed through brokers and the relationship with insurers,” says Andy who has a background in underwriting as well as stints at Lloyds and AON UK.

Partnering with Xceedance, NuVenture launched in 2020 and is an incubator focussing on helping those who have a desire to run their own MGA. Difficult to achieve in isolation, NuVenture identifies founding teams - often led by an entrepreneurial individual - provides the funding, the outsourced services required and the full support to get the business up and running in return for equity.   

Andy talks through breaking in to the C-suite, his biggest achievements – including setting up NuVenture and two MGAs in the midst of lockdown – and how he’s dealt with setbacks in his career.

Discussing how NuVenture is adopting tech, Andy says that the starting point must be the customers, “Who needs to benefit from the tech and digitisation?” 

He maintains that there’s too much cost in the insurance system and one way to change that is through embracing new technology. As a start-up NuVenture aren’t burdened by huge legacy systems and can enjoy the benefit of being able to access Xceedance’s tech solutions.

Andy talks through the characteristics NuVenture look for when attracting talent and the challenge of reaching enough of the right people with an entrepreneurial mindset who want to do things differently.

If you’re considering setting up an MGA, Andy advises to think it through as it’s not for everyone. “Start to write a business plan. It starts to give you momentum. It’ll help to bring it to life or not”  

Listeners can contact Andy via andy.colbran@nuventure.com or find out more about NuVenture

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

“We usually start off with a base job description, and then we have conversations with people, it's really important that we grow our own”, says Danielle.

ONEGROUP’s Chief of Staff charts her career journey from hospitality in to insurance and overseeing the business’ marketing, communications, IT and agency operations.

Danielle highlights the growth trajectory the company is on throughout the North East as well as South Carolina and Florida. 

She talks through ONEGROUP’s strategic M&A plans, overcoming growing pains and emphasizes the importance of maintaining culture.

“We've always been not only a client focused organisation, but also an employee focused organisation. We really everybody to have the opportunity to grow, no matter what seat they're in.”

She discusses how leadership engage and consult the entire team in shaping and delivering the 5 pillars of the ONEGROUP Way.

Danielle also emphasizes the open door, supportive leadership style and what those coming in for interview can expect.  

“Pierre (CEO) and Chris (President) both wander the floor and are willing to sit down and have a snack with somebody. They're no different in an interview. They really want to make you feel welcome so that you can have a real conversation.”

Danielle shares the one lesson her job has taught her that she thinks everyone should know.

“Don’t put yourself in a box. You’ve got to love your journey. It’s yours to own.”

Concluding with her advice for industry HR executives, she says, “Be open-minded. The resume never represents what a true person is. That person you’ve got a good feeling about, sometimes you find a diamond in the rough.”

Connect with Danielle Spaulding on LinkedIn or find out more about ONEGROUP.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses around the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“We’ve had 115 acquisitions. That’s 115 individual small businesses who’ve become part of Inszone. How do you connect that? How do you make people feel like they're part of one company? says Matt.

“We put this quarterly meeting in place where we have the whole C suite on and focus on three things, ‘Where are we at? Where are we going? And how are we going to get there?’

On the podcast this week, Matt talks about his accidental fall in to the insurance industry.

“It’s a little story about dumb luck. I saw an ad in the paper. I called and got an interview but went to the wrong place. They were in a hiring frenzy because they had just come to town. I ended up in the insurance department that settled total losses.”

He discusses feeling like the dumbest guy in the room whilst working for NASA and his love of organizational development.

Matt joined Inszone Insurance Services in June 2023 as Chief HR Officer. In January of that year, the business had a headcount of 220. By the end of the year, it was over 500.

Continuing on their acquisition of 50 insurance agencies per year, Matt is responsible for fostering an inclusive and collaborative work environment.

“In the next couple of years, we will be several thousand people. I was brought in to help usher through the next 2 to 3 years of incredible growth. To make all of these individual small businesses feel like one. To bring team members together.”

Matt explains the key to Inszone’s success being a three-legged stool approach. Employee culture, carrier relations and being client centric.

“Taking care of folks, Chris and Norm started another business in 2014 called Staff Boom. That business has 1500 employees. 350 are dedicated to Inszone, all the back-office functions and administration.  

The insurance agents can spend their time either selling or servicing the clients’ needs. It frees them up to have a decent work life balance.”

Matt highlights how Inszone create moments of connection and embed new insurance talent in to the business. 

“We call out everybody that's a new acquisition and make sure that they feel welcomed. The cadence of doing that quarterly is really important.

If you're not always talking about where the company is at and where it's going, it, it disconnects people. They don't feel like they're part of something.”

Matt emphasizes the importance of management training within the Inszone culture.  

“Traditionally, owners pick the best widget maker. They’re the best at doing what they do, but might not have any idea how to manage people.

A business can really struggle they don't have the skill set of how to communicate, solve conflict, motivate teams. Or how to drive results and make the business unit feel cohesive.

When I came into Inszone, I asked for a list of every manager we have in the company. I broke them up to groups and every single month we have management training. 78 people where we talk about best practices.”

Matt discusses insurance talent retention, employee recognition and creating a collaborative culture.

“Those moments of connection where a manager just lets people know that they care about them. Calling out good things. That form of employee recognition is missing in so many businesses. People will stay at a workplace where they're treated well.

Most companies have no idea how much money it costs them when a great employee leaves and walks out the door with their institutional knowledge.”

When it comes to hiring high-performing insurance talent, Matt encourages leadership candidates to be real.

“Be yourself. Be transparent with your strengths and weaknesses.

I’ll use myself as an example. I love training and development. I love culture. I love organizational development. But if you need me to do spreadsheets all day, Math was never my strong point. If somebody says, ‘I just work too...

“Digitising the most common experience with a customer, felt like a pretty important thing to enable”, says Andrew.

Purpose-built for insurance, the all-in-one payments platform is on a mission to improve customer experience, loyalty and retention as well as reduce operational workload for agencies, brokers and carriers.

“Insurance in the US is one of the biggest industries that relies on paper cheques. They’re outdated, a bad customer experience, unsecure and very expensive to handle.”

Ascend is white-labelled to power the checkout for whoever is collecting the payment from the insured – the retailer, the wholesalers or the carrier – whilst also offering point of sale financing for eligible policies.

Andrew talks about the importance of customer empathy, whether you’re an engineer or in sales and the long-term opportunities for those joining the team to truly modernise, not replace to the insurance industry.

For those considering a move to a high-growth insurtech, Andrew says, “Companies are very well funded now. It’s not a massive career risk but people should have a rightful degree of scepticism.” 

Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or find out more about opportunities at Ascend

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

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In this episode we are joined by Willis Towers Watson's COO of Global Captive Practice and we explore the increasing opportunities in the Captive market for insurance business leaders.

As the insurance market hardens, corporates across the world are seeking alternative mechanisms for managing their risk which has led to increased demand for captive creation.

Sumit shares how this alternative mechanism can provide a great career opportuntity for insurance business leaders and explains his own journey from three month intern to Global Captive Practice COO in just thirteen years.

Sumit believes that hard work and a consistent daily routine is the key to his success and he invites listeners to reach out to him on email sumit.mehra@willistowerswatson.com or via his linkedin page https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumit-mehra-28b5511/ .

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

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“We're able to move mountains with far fewer people because of the fact that everybody in their role is exceptional and they’re that 90th percentile.

It's really hard to maintain that talent density, especially as we've started to scale. But we absolutely refuse to just put bodies in seats because we need them”, says Datha.

On the podcast this week, Steadily’s Co-Founder & COO shares her career journey.

“I've spent my entire career in the insurance industry. Geico heavily recruited in the university I went to. They ended up recruiting me into their Emerging Leaders program.

Then I was recruited again by Brown & Brown, a large international insurance brokerage. They recruited me into their internal audit program. Within that role, I learned everything about insurance.

She discusses the steps she took to weigh up the risk of leaving an established insurance leadership role to co-found insurtech Steadily.

“I'm an insurance person, I'm very risk averse. The idea of going out on my own and doing something that could fail. That was terrifying. 

I sat down and calculated the risk. I thought, ‘Ok, let's model out worst-case scenario and best-case scenario. We raised $4million in a seed round, so we had 12 to 18 months to prove our concept.”

With a recent Series B fundraise of $60m and a team of 100+, Datha gives an overview of the business' current position and the insurance solution Steadily provides.

“We wanted to make sure that real estate investors, no matter where or what type of property they had, could come to a single place to find somebody who could help them and who could do it quickly.

Steadily does have a product of its own but we also have very strong relationships with retail partners. That allows us to support virtually anyone who comes to us with any type of rental property. Some are using it for short term, some are using it for long term.

Our sales agents during the hours of 7am to 7pm have three minutes to respond to a customer. When a customer is on our website, they're going to hear from us within just a few minutes. That's why we're winning.”

To achieve this level of service and achieve a continued growth trajectory, building a high-performance insurance leadership culture is paramount. Datha highlights how she weeds out the B & C performers from the A-players.

“When we bring somebody in to interview, the entire process is designed to figure out, ‘Are they the person or the few people who were carrying the weight for their whole team at their previous company.”

We have a culture deck for everyone who applies to Steadily to look at. Our philosophy for hiring is to hire a company that’s only made up of 90th percentile team members.

We save money in other areas so we can pay people the max, so we can attract the very best people in their fields. It can be painful sometimes, but if you drop that bar then very quickly your talent density starts to go downhill.

It’s easier to get in to Harvard than get hired at Steadily.”

Datha shares her approach to hiring the best insurance talent.

“As one of the co-founders, I still meet every single candidate in my downstream. I want to know who they are and who is joining our company before they come on board.

So much of my calendar is spent interviewing people. It's worth it because by doing so, we are able to keep our talent density high.

As for her advice to candidates coming to interview, Datha says,

“We talk a lot about our culture deck in the interview process. Sometimes people bow out of the interview process after they read it.

Make sure you know the culture deck inside out. Make sure it gives you warm and fuzzy feelings. If you don't like the culture deck, you will not like it here.”

Advising fellow Insurtech founders and insurance people leaders,

“You have to prioritize money to pay them. You need

“I realised that big company culture just wasn’t for me. I operate best in the start-up space”, says Jon.

The lifelong entrepreneur and insurtech pioneer talks about launching his second business Overalls, after selling Life.io in 2021.

An early stage business with a current team of 10, Overalls is reinventing workplace protection and changing our psychology and attitude towards insurance. Through its three-pronged product offer – Hassle Helpers, Mighty Moments and Pocketbook Protector – Overalls is helping employers and their people reclaim the time, money and joy that are often lost to life’s hassles.

“It allows us to engage people at the moments that matter most and help position the right insurance products for them at that time”, says Jon.

Jon shares how access to capital and a team of culturally aligned, experienced entrepreneurs is providing a solid platform from which to scale, but highlights how cracking the code of remote-working keeps him up at night.

“We’re trying to figure out how we allow people the freedom to be independent, while maintaining that culture and connective tissue on the team.”

Jon discusses future growth plans, T-shape leadership and maintaining values as the business scales, highlighting the transparent culture from top to bottom and the weekly ‘show & tells’.  

“It gives you a window in to what everyone else is doing and how it fits together.”

Jon talks about access to talent, the value insurance knowledge brings to the team and work-life balance, as well as how infrastructure is allowing insurtechs to launch and build quickly.

In conclusion, Jon gives his thoughts on the common misperceptions of being part of a large business versus a start-up.

“People underestimate how risky it is being with a larger company. There’s a randomness to things outside of your control.”

Connect with Jon Cooper on LinkedIn, email jon@overalls.ai or find out more at www.overalls.ai  

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

Copyright Insurance Search – All Rights Reserved.  

Season One, Episode 18 – Bonus Episode

Rowan Bamford, President of Liberty’s Global Transaction Solutions division joins us for a special bonus episode of the Insurance Coffee House.

Liberty GTS is a global insurance carrier specialising in underwriting policies for international M&A transactions and have teams based across North America, APAC, EMEA and London.

Rowan discusses his career transition from being a private practice Corporate Lawyer to M&A Underwriter and explains the many benefits of leaving the legal profession for the insurance world.

Rowan swapped a life of working through the night, targets based on time recordings and a long, slow career path to senior leadership, for a career based on meritocracy, relationships and a fast road to success based on performance and personal responsibility for your own career.

Like many M&A Underwriters, Rowan is a big advocate of moving from private practice into corporate insurance which matches the upside of exposure to intellectually challenging work for international clientele with opportunity to travel, whilst also benefitting from better hours, more responsibility, faster career progression and having similar earning potential to Private Practice.

Liberty GTS embrace a culture of sacrificing one’s ego to benefit the team and Rowan encourages loyal dissent to get the very best ideas from all levels of experience within the team…it’s that meritocracy again!   

Listeners can also hear how Rowan dealt with the challenge of losing his North American team around the Ironshore / Liberty merger and the steps that he took to rebuild the team and come back stronger.

A major factor in Liberty GTS' success lies in its strict hiring process, ensuring new recruits meet intellectual, academic and corporate knowledge requirements and have the personality that would be a good cultural fit for the firm.

Rowan encourages listeners to reach out to him after the show with any comments or questions about the business or careers in M&A Underwriting. You can find his email and phone number on the GTS contact details page as follows… https://www.libertygts.com/our-team-1/

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or 

“You have to love the product, you have to espouse the product, you have to want to be part of the product”, says Sharon.

Having raised over $200m in 3 years, Unqork has reached a £2bn valuation and a headcount of almost 500.

As the first enterprise no-code application in the marketplace, Sharon explains the benefits of agility and flexibility that Unqork offers its clients.

With a strong cohort of insurance industry specific expertise to help navigate and chart the waters, Sharon talks through her own journey of moving from a large corporate insurance business to the influence she has and the change she can drive at a fast-paced insurtech.

“The leap of faith has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me”

Find out more about career opportunities at Unqork. 

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

Copyright Insurance Search – All Rights Reserved.

Season Two - Episode Eleven

This week we are delighted to be joined Kristen Martin, who is the President and COO of leading multi-line insurance carrier Utica National Insurance Group.

Kristen joins our list of guests who started their careers as lawyers before moving into risk management and leading successful careers at the top of insurance businesses.

Kristen shares with us her journey at Utica National which has featured several leadership positions across the business and feels the experience of working in different components of the business helps her in her role as President and COO.

Kristen encourages insurance professionals to step outside of their comfort zone, to never settle and to reach out and grab career opportunities.

In her time as President, one of the major achievements has been the ratings upgrade to an "A rating", which has been a huge team and company accomplishment and puts Utica National in a great position to grow and expand over the next few years.

Aspiring leaders at the business can receive training on all the commercial aspects of the company, which helps them to understand the bigger picture of the organisation and opens up opportunities for career progression into different areas of the business.

Kristen encourages listeners to reach out to her after the show via her LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-martin-375947102/ or email at kristen.martin@uticanational.com .

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

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Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

Season Two - Episode Four

Joining us on Episode Four of the Insurance Coffee House USA, we have Frank Costa who is the COO of World Insurance Associates.

World Insurance Associates are very much on the Acquisition Trail and as COO, Frank is a leading driving force both on the new target strategy and also the integration of the acquired businesses into the company.

Frank shares with us how to thrive when on the Acquisition Trail so that the new company integrates successfully, the existing company continues to perform and grow organically whilst also pipelining up to eleven acquisitions per month!

It's no wonder Frank has changed his coffee of choice from a skimmed vanilla latte to a double espresso and he joins us on the Insurance Coffee House USA to also talk about the opportunities for talent at World Insurance Associates as well as the culture and ethos that makes it such a great place to work.

If you are an Insurance Business Owner considering selling your business, or an Insurance Business Leader considering acquisition opportunities at the moment, this is a must listen for you.

Frank encourages listeners to reach out to him after the show with any comments or questions. You can do this via his LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankpcosta/ or email at frankcosta@worldins.net

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

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Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

“We looked at our telematics data and found that a car is moved for about 4 to 5% of its lifetime, so there is life outside the car. We can enhance telematics services outside the car”, says Harald.

With a background in electronic engineering, Harald shares his journey in to telematics and co-founding Austria-based Dolphin Technologies in 2001, highlighting his passion for preventing accidents and saving lives.

“We try to make people avoid wrong decisions and we want to fill the gap of missing information”, as Harald explains Dolphin’s product offering following a study of 40,000 drivers over a 2-year period.

Harald emphasises the benefits on offer to both policyholders and insurance companies. “Bringing risks down means bringing accidents down, bringing losses down, bringing bodily injury down.”

Dolphin is also helping carriers improve CX and up-sell. “Touch points are not very positive and not very frequent, so we help insurance companies and their customers to stay in touch and have a meaningful relationship.”

Harald gives an overview of growth plans and challenges moving forward, the culture & values the team are seeking to maintain as the business scales and Dolphin’s desire to be a ‘holistic risk partner.’ 

He concludes by advising fellow founders to, “Look for a real problem that adds value to humans and to the environment. If you become scalable, then it becomes doable.”

Connect with Harald Trautsch on LinkedIn or find  out more about Dolphin Technologies

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2022 – All Rights Reserved.    

“70% of employees in the US say they have no clue what they’re covered for”, says Guy. 

The Israel-born entrepreneur shares his journey from 12 years in the Israeli Air Force to co-founding New York-based Healthee and how the business is helping customers and users understand their health benefits.

“Healthy employees are a strategic asset for a company. If employees are healthy, the company will be healthier, society will be healthier”, as Guy explains how Healthee’s platform, Zoe, can take any 600 page healthcare plan, convert it from unstructured to structured data and provide employees with health recommendations specifically for what they need.

“It takes a lot of the aggravation and anxiety out of the process of using our healthcare. Zoe learns about the user to find preventative care benefits”. 

Guy shares how the business raised $22m seed funding and has grown from a team of 5 to 40 in 6 months, with the aim of doubling or trebling in size within the next 12 months.    

“We’re super-fast paced, we’re in the trenches. We need people that are excited about the vision.”

Guy talks about the benefits Zoe offers employees, employers and insurance carriers, how the pandemic has impacted the scaling of the business, the value of insurance knowledge and flexibility within the growing team.

“I want the marketing person to tap the sales person on the shoulder and ask the question, but I don’t need that every day”, says Guy.

For those looking to launch in to the insurtech space, Guy emphasises the importance of having investors and partners that really understand the vision.

“I speak to our funders once a week, even once a day because I value their opinion.”

Connect with Guy on LinkedIn or find out more about Healthee 

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2022 – All Rights Reserved.    

“We don’t like to think of it as head to head competition”, says Ron.

Having taught his computer at university to summarise his 1000 page course textbooks, the Toronto-based founder of Chisel AI, shares his vision for how machine learning can work with humans. The goal is to make processes faster and better, reducing what usually takes an insurance carrier or broker 4 hours to 30 minutes.

With 55% of those working in the insurance sector retiring in the next 10-15 years, Ron maintains that “Companies will need to be more efficient just to operate at the same capacity and scale they are today, let alone grow.”

Ron challenges insurance professionals looking to gain experience in insurtech to examine their motivations and have realistic expectations.

“Dream big. The industry is very old but it’s ripe with opportunities.”       

Connect with Ron on LinkedIn or find out more about the Chisel story

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

Copyright Insurance Search – All Rights Reserved.

“Cultures are not just based on what we measure and how we reward, but they're based on storytelling. At the end of the day, a culture is really just ‘what do we care about and equally what do we not care about’”, says Tom.

“We don't care about bureaucracy, we don't care about hierarchy, we don't care about titles. We do care about creating an empowered organization, where everybody can bring their true authentic self to work.”

Tom shares his journey, from being in HR his entire career with roles in banking, high tech and insurance to joining the Skyward team in June 2020. He highlights the contribution he has made from the company rebrand to the first successful IPO of 2023, all supported by the passion, enthusiasm and vision of CEO, Andrew Robinson.  

“We had the opportunity to build the company we always wanted to work for. I've worked for large companies, small companies are a lot more fun. It's like it's like being the captain of a speed boat versus the captain of an aircraft carrier. We can turn on a dime.”

Tom discusses the IPO process and its impact across the organization.

“It's been a tremendous boost to all of our staff. We shared in the celebration with our entire team. Every single employee received equity in the company as part of the IPO”

Tom talks about building a wining culture and cascading information and key objectives to the entire team in a consistent way.

“What that means is every single person understands what they need to do in order to contribute to the success of Skyward Specialty.”

He emphasizes how hiring is based around hiring in the model of the ‘go forward’ organization, where people can truly practise their craft.

“People don't want to be encumbered by a bunch of bureaucratic rules. Super accomplished individuals – whether that's underwriting, claims or the various support functions - want to be able to bring their expertise. They want their ideas heard, they want to be able to contribute.”

Tom highlights Skyward’s approach to hiring exceptional talent and encourages applicants to know that interviews are a two-way process.

“I always encourage candidates to interview us and understand if this is the right environment. We give candidates an opportunity to meet a number of different people and ask the same question to different people and see if they get the same answer.”

Tom concludes by sharing an interview experience that has stuck long in his mind.

“Education, skills, competency, that's table stakes. Character, drive, work ethic and never ever giving up is what wins the day. And that's what we look for in candidates.”

Connect with Tom Schmitt on LinkedIn or find out more about Skyward Specialty Insurance

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses around the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com

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"We’ve been around the insurance industry a long time, but we didn’t want to compete head to head”, says Tim.

The Toronto-based CEO talks through his journey from CGI Inc and working on core systems for carriers to co-founding Slice, a full digital insurer.

Driven by the three factors of removing as much expense as possible, algorithms outperforming people in terms of underwriting and claims and delivering a better user experience, Slice focussed on gig workers – offering commercial speciality insurance to the new world of AirBnB hosts and Uber drivers.  

Tim talks about the importance of starting with the customer and journeying backwards. “Starting with a minimal viable product, we stayed with all the superhosts, and said ‘what else are we missing?’”

Outlining the benefits on offer from Slice and growth plans for the year ahead, Tim gives an insight in to the team’s cultural values. “The whole company is built very distributed. Our decision-making is distributed. We have a big culture of experimentation, what does the end user think, it’s not what do we think.”

Tim concludes by emphasising the importance of removing silos and layers, explaining “our tech people know insurance and our insurance people know tech. The product is a combination of technology and insurance. There’s no separation.”

Connect with Tim on LinkedIn or email tim@slice.is or find out more about Slice

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2022 – All Rights Reserved.    

“Everything we do is about working from the customer backwards”, says Dax.

The serial entrepreneur talks through his journey of co-founding Pie Insurance, and how the company uses technology and data analytics to fuel the rapid growth Pie has achieved over the past 4 years.

With a 300 strong team (pie-oneers) and operating across 36 states, Pie continues to change how commercial insurance companies do business.  

“We’re growing so fast, we need additional talent. We want people who are curious, people with the right mindset”

Connect with Dax on LinkedIn or find out more about career opportunities at Pie Insurance

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

Copyright Insurance Search 2021 – All Rights Reserved.

“The world is changing. Technology is driving economic proliferation around the world. With that increase in technology at scale comes tremendous risk”, says Shawn.

Head of Insurance Shawn Ram, shares his transition from Aon to joining the founding team of rapidly expanding Coalition, the San Francisco-based cyber insurtech.

“What really drives our value is the fact that our insurance is active. Alongside our cyber product, we provide active risk assessment”, explains Shawn.

Having recently raised $250m in a Series F funding round, led by Allianz and supported by Kinetic Partners, Shawn shares the Coalition’s approach to data collection and assessing policyholders’ vulnerabilities.   

“We track how often there's vulnerabilities in software, what technology isn't patched appropriately, any lookalike domains or any compromise. It's the same view generally that an adversary would have.”

With Coalition currently establishing a UK presence and with further expansion in to APAC planned for 2023,  Shawn outlines how the business is aiming to double its headcount over the next 12 months as well maintain its culture amidst scaling.

“We desire to remain humble, we sweep the floors, we’re authentic”, says Shawn.  “When you build a new operation where the individuals that are being hired in country have no background, no experience with the coalition culture, it's critical that you get that right.”

Shawn gives an insight in to Coalition’s ‘remote-first’ culture, the opportunities for high-performing talent and his experience of transitioning from large corporate to tech start-up.

“There's something that happens in a start-up environment. There's no alternative, it's like success or failure. There's no middle ground. As a company or as an individual, it breeds a different level of commitment, diligence and vigour.”

Shawn concludes with offering advice to anyone seeking to join a tech-enabled business.

“Evaluate the mission, evaluate the vision, evaluate the people. The people you surround yourself with are critical. And be honest with yourself.  Do you have the attributes needed to grind in a start-up environment? Are you comfortable with the pace and speed in which it operates?"

Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn or find out more about opportunities at Coalition.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2022 – All Rights Reserved.    

“You want to sell a tech solution on the business use case and not on technical capabilities. We are here to help people perform better”, says Jacqueline.

She talks through her journey from starting her career with IBM to falling in to the insurance industry and holding senior leadership Brokerage positions across four continents, before co-founding New York-based insurtech Maptycs in 2016 as response to client need.  

“I knew they needed some type of geo-spatial visualisation combined with analytics to have really a good view of their exposure”, says Jacqueline as she explains how Maptycs is providing a solution for property risk exposure assessment, climate risk analysis and real time weather event monitoring.

Discussing how Maptycs is working alongside brokers and carriers, Jacqueline highlights the benefits on offer to each before going on to share her thoughts on the insurance sector over the next 5 years.  Highlighting the continued investment in technology across the sector, Jacqueline maintains that successful businesses, “will have to invest in people because they will always have very complex processes to manage.”

Jacqueline talks about the value of high-performing insurance talent and shares Maptycs’ desire to hire those with an insurance background.

“It's critical, because the insurance industry is a world in itself. We are not here to replace the old with the new. To speak the lingo and understand the dynamic, the fast changing landscape and the business challenges.”

She emphasises the personalities most suited to a business like Maptycs, stresses the importance of having time to think and be creative and underlines what she feels is missing when recruiting from the insurance sector.  

In conclusion, Jacqueline encourages those looking for a career shift towards insurtech to read a lot and understand the stare of tech and says that being part of a fast-paced start-up is a matter of attitude and speed. “What you do has a direct impact on your company’s outcome.”  

Connect with Jacqueline on LinkedIn, email jacqueline.legrand@maptycs.com or find out more about Maptycs.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2022 – All Rights Reserved.    

“We’re not the type of company to put lipstick on the pig”, says Sasha. “We want to fix the pig first, then make it pretty.”

Sasha shares his journey in to travel insurance in an emergency medical assistance role with Travel Guard to the launch of battleface, a full-stack global travel insurance company.

“A lot of policies were created decades ago. The travel industry has changed so much, but travel insurance hasn’t kept up”, as Sasha explains how battleface works direct with consumers or through affinity partners to enable customers and partners to easily select custom-built products and services that perfectly fit their needs.

Having grown from a team of 10 to 120 over the past year, Sasha talks about the challenges to business growth and maintaining the culture and values as the company continues to grow across the US, UK, Europe, Canada and Australia.

“We’re dealing with a lot of cultures and nationalities, you have to be extremely flexible.”

Highlighting the importance of uncomfortable conversations, Sasha says, “Every person in the company can challenge my opinion or each other’s opinion. It doesn’t matter what level of the company you’re at.”

Sasha talks about the value an insurance background can bring to the business, managing a team spread across multiple time zones and the foundations needed for growth.

“Flexibility, we’re changing all the time. We’re seeing what works and what doesn’t work. And even though we’re custom-building the insurance product, building systems that can be easily replicated is key.”

About Sasha Gainullin

With over 25 years of experience in the travel insurance industry, Sasha Gainullin is an innovative leader and industry disruptor. Launched in 2018, battleface unbundles travel insurance, being first to market in connecting travellers with customised insurance policies. Under his leadership as co-founder and CEO, battleface has grown to more than 120 employees spanning 11 countries across the globe.

Connect with Sasha on LinkedIn

About battleface

Backed by global partners and a commitment to delivering superior experiences, battleface face uses cutting-edge tech to make buying and using travel insurance a seamless process. battleface is on a mission to deliver peace of mind and relevant products to today’s travellers. Find out more

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2022 – All Rights Reserved.    

“The DNA of many people in insurance works well for our business”, says John.

Hailing from Scotland and combining knowledge gained from roles across 5 continents with AXA, QBE, EY and Manulife Asia, John co-founded Coherent in 2018.

Learn John’s lessons of moving from large corporates to start-up. Hear about Coherent’s growth to a 200+ team and how their discrete modular products are helping insurers improve product administration, distribution and customer engagement & acquisition.  

With 65-70% of the team coming from an insurance background, John encourages those looking for a move in to insurtech to do their research.

“Segment the different types of insurtechs. Determine the stage of business you want to join.”

Connect with John on LinkedIn or find out more about Coherent

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

Copyright Insurance Search – All Rights Reserved.

"We are in professional services. We're going to treat people like adults and with that is individual responsibility with freedom”, says Janine

“It’s giving them the ability to do what they do best without all the other stuff that gets in the way. It's refreshing, it attracts people.”

Janine charts her career journey from HR Administrator and the different view of HR at HNI that led her to joining the business as Director of People in 2014.

Janine gives insight in to HNI becoming an agency partner of Acrisure and the HR advisory services she now offers clients across a broad spectrum of industries.

“Not only do I do HR for the employees, but I get to do advisory for our clients. I love being able to come in as that neutral party and just hear the facts and help them work through that.”

She discusses HNI’s lofty goals, aiming for double digit growth and their approach to unlimited PTO.

"You're going to know how much time you need to take off because your job is to take care of the client, take care of the team and take care of yourself. Get those all in order and take the time that you need.”

She shares her advice for fellow people leaders, emphasizing how important it is to show your company’s culture from the first interaction.

“Be very transparent, communicate along the way. We have to put ourselves in an individual’s shoes because that will attract the people that you're trying to find.

Janine describes the traits HNI look for when hiring and advises leaders coming for interview to ask the deep questions.

"I'm surprised at how many at a leadership level come to interview and don't ask the deep questions. Every company has skeletons. I would rather be completely open and honest with the candidate, than start off on the wrong foot.”

Connect with Janine Tracy on LinkedIn or find out more about HNI Risk Services

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses around the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“It’s been a tremendous place to explore my own curiosity about business, to work with people and build something really unique.”

As an aspiring lawyer, Sean fell in to the insurance industry with a claims role. Warmly embraced by the leadership team, Sean’s passion for the industry grew as he was entrusted to build his team and handle complex problems and negotiations.

Joining the EPIC team in 2017, Sean talks about how he was recognised as having a strong capability to align people around an idea.

“I was tasked with building a young, smart, aggressive claims team and recruiting new talent to the industry. A role was created to do those two things. There was no roadmap.”

Sean shares how he’s dealt with adversity and being overlooked and says, “There’s always a context that we don’t understand in the present moment.

You can be so focussed on what it is you want to achieve or accomplish, that you may not understand some of the other forces at play.”

Explaining EPIC’s approach to adopting tech, Sean gives his thoughts on the future of the industry, the characteristics that make EPIC such a great place to work and the opportunities on offer for high performing talent.

“It’s an entrepreneurial place. We’re not done yet. We look for collaborative, communicative and tenacious people.”

Connect with Sean Conrad on Linkedin or see more about EPIC Insurance Brokers

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

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“When you think about insurance, the essence of what they do from a consumer perspective is to be able to handle claims, the moment of truth to deliver on its promise to policyholders”, says Oded. “Many insurers still miss this opportunity.”

He shares his career background from the Israeli military to joining Goldman Sachs, working as a CFO in the energy sector in London to returning to Israel to co-found claims management insurtech, Five Sigma.   

Oded highlights how the use of technology and data to be able to optimise and improve decision making processes and to communicate and serve customers well has been the driver to the growth and success of Five Sigma, a next generation claims resolution platform.

Operating in the U.S, U.K and growing quickly, the business serves P&C carriers including property, home and auto, various specialty lines - from pet to jet and everything in between as Oded calls it – cyber, commercial general liability and workers’ compensation.

“It’s very deep in terms of the workflow perspective, what we provide functionality wise.”

Oded discusses algorithmic perspectives, data collection and the benefits on offer to adjustors and customers as well as customer acquisition versus customer retention.

He shares the challenges of scaling quickly and transforming from a chaotic start-up. “I think the biggest challenge basically is to prove and inspire confidence that we can deliver as a start-up company,” as well as managing and harmonising a rapidly expanding team.

Oded highlights the culture & values Five Sigma is looking to build, maintaining those foundations as the business continues to scale around the globe in to new markets and emphasises the need for boots on the ground.

“You've got to focus on it from the from the get go, you cannot all of a sudden remember that you need to take care of your team overseas, you need to engineer the process.  It needs to be engineered into HR and the entire company’s human capital process.”

Oded talks through the infrastructure and foundations needed to scale an insurtech, stressing the need to be able to turn and change quickly.  He concludes by giving advice to anyone looking to transition from insurance to an insurtech.

“You are bringing a tremendous amount of assets and power with your knowledge. I see at times folks coming apologetically in to insurtech. The market needs  you. You can help other people design the tools to create the value.”

Connect with Oded on LinkedIn, email oded@fivesigmalabs.com or find out more about Five Sigma

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2022 – All Rights Reserved.    

“Many people just begrudgingly pay their insurance. I think fleet owners, especially on the larger size, want to understand what is driving the rate and how they can reduce it”, says Kevin.

He shares his career journey – moving from Underwriting roles with Gen Re and Swiss Re to Reinsurance with Willis Re before moving to Tiger Risk (now Howden Tiger) where he led the Specialty Casualty division and insurtech segment.  He joined New York-based Cover Whale in 2021.

Kevin describes Cover Whale as an MGA focused on the commercial auto space with a core vision of making the world safer. Emphasizing how loss ratios drive everything the business does, Kevin says,

“By bringing a proprietary tech enabled platform, we leverage and digest massive amounts of real time data to more accurately price risk and equally as important monitor that risk through a continuous underwriting loop.”

He outlines the benefits on offer to agency partners and commercial fleet owners.

“The value proposition is you're going to get an instantaneous quote or a declination from us. We do like to avoid the long maybe. Speed sells.”

Countering the industry norm of using aggregated data to price for the average driver, Kevin says, “We really want to drive that home to an individual risk basis. The hope is to identify those 10% of the riskiest drivers and either coach them to be better drivers or eliminate them from our portfolio because they are driving the overall cost of insurance in the end.”

Kevin shares the value that insurance expertise and technologists bring to the team and gives his thoughts on the road ahead for the insurance industry and Cover Whale.

“We’re on the offensive. We are searching for A-player talent. This is an organization where you have an opportunity to really grab whatever you can handle. We are moving fast and will push everyone outside their comfort zone.” 

Kevin concludes by saying, “We're inspired by where the insurance industry is overall.  Five years ago, it was disrupt, disrupt, disrupt. We're now trying to find ways of leveraging technology in into the nuances of insurance and do it better and more efficiently.”

Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn or find out more about Cover Whale.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses around the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“We look at our people as our number one asset, they are really providing our product. You need the people in order to bring that (insurance) promise to life. When we bring in an entry level person, we’re looking at their development path. We want to know, ‘what do you want to do?’, says Roxanne Nelson as she explains how Falvey create a clear career path for those entering the insurance industry.

On the podcast this week, Falvey’s Chief People Officer shares her journey from underwriting to people operations.

SVP of Marketing, Megan Bell gives insight in to her marketing career in a start-up to natural foods, before joining the Falvey Insurance team in 2017.

“I was one of the first hires into the marketing team. I've worked really closely with Roxanne on the employer branding side. What it's like to work here and why people should work here is a big part of what I do.”

Megan describes what it’s like to work in insurance as a marketeer.

“I feel like it takes too long for someone to realize that this is such an amazing place to be. You don't know until you're in it and you don't know before because no one ever tells you go and work in insurance.

It's so full of passion. Everyone I meet, whether you’re an underwriter or you're in claims, just really cares about what they do. They really care about providing good service and coming up with new innovation. It's just a super inspiring place to be. I feel like there's also no end to insurance.”

Megan explains how the business has transformed from Falvey Cargo Underwriting to Falvey Insurance Group, offering a suite of MGA programs which includes marine cargo, all risk shippers, interest insurance, inland marine vessel pollution, as well as transportation and logistics. The business has also recently launched a wholesale brokerage division.

Roxanne highlights the growth in headcount over the past few years and the role collaboration and support staff have played in delivering first-rate customer service.

“As we've built out our underwriting units, we've also built out our support staff. We are a very technology focused company. That is a big different differentiator to us besides our people.

Along with growing our MGAs, we've had to grow our support staff. We have a fully operational IT department, building our systems in house. We have a business intelligence and innovation department that is really focused on working with our internal departments to find out what they need to be more efficient. There’s lot of collaboration.”

Roxanne discusses how Falvey are moving from more rigid people committees to launching fluid, less formal employee resource groups.

“These groups are set up to give our employees a chance to get together and have discussions about what's going on in their careers, what are the opportunities, what can we do to recruit more people?

They are ultimately helping us drive the business forward and be more ingrained with our employees.”

Megan emphasizes the value of close collaboration between marketing and people operations, when it comes to employer branding.

“Every year we send an underwriter to the Lloyd's Academy in London. That's like gold. It's not promotional content, it's something people want to read. It's great to tell people that this is something we're investing in.

When we redid our website there was a big focus for me on our careers page specifically. There isn't a stock photo there. It's all of our employees.”

Roxanne advises people coming to interview at Falvey to embrace the culture.

“It is so important to us and the employees. It's not just about the number of accounts you're writing or the production level you have, it's about being part of our team and our culture.

If you're an executive and you've been in a very strict corporate type of structure, you're not necessarily going to find that here. We're more...

“It’s not just your IQ. It’s also about your EQ (emotional quotient) and RQ (relationship quotient)”, says Rohit, as he encourages us to build our networks in the market place.

The former computer engineer talks about his journey in to the insurance industry, breaking in to the c-suite at Zurich and his journey to CEO of Crawford, the world's largest claims management business

“I’ve taken every leadership challenge as a way to transform”, says Rohit as he talks about his biggest successes and how he reacted to being overlooked, citing that his connectivity in the market wasn’t there.

Rohit shares his thoughts on technology, decluttering the most aggravating processes and how Crawford are building partnerships with best-in-class insurtech providers.

In response to the “tsunami of retirements coming our way across the sector”, Rohit discusses talent attraction, mindset and the key skills he looks for when recruiting. 

“Empathy is extremely important. We’re in the business of claims. When people call us, we’re talking to them on one of the worst days of their lives. They’re not just a policyholder.”  

As closing advice Rohit inspires us to build our networks and clarify our value proposition.

“Do great work! You don’t have to be pompous about it, but make sure the right people are aware.”

Connect with Rohit Verma on LinkedIn or see more about Crawford & Company

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

Copyright Insurance Search – All Rights Reserved.  

“It was no longer my idea, it was our idea and we had a skill set that was complimentary and we could make this happen”, says Steve as he shares the importance of finding a credible tech co-founder.

The CEO of the Ohio-based auto and home insurance insurtech describes how the structure of the business is obligated to social good as well as shareholder value and how they use tech to benefit their community of clients.  

He highlights the growth the business has achieved since its launch in 2018, the challenges of scaling and maintaining cultural values.

Steve emphasises the importance of having a clear mission and pruning the tree as well as the value those with insurance industry experience bring.

“We like everybody to be challenging the status quo and each other in a positive way, with positive intent.”   

Steve offers advice to anyone looking to scale an insurance business, and says, “If you've got a clear problem to solve which becomes your mission, you've got the right team and you've got the right capital, I think you’ll be off to a great start.”

Connect with Steve Lekas on LinkedIn or find out more about Branch.

This episode of the Insurance Coffee House Podcast was first published on 18 October 2022

Podcast hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

“I am a big believer in continuous learning, in cultures that are rich in performance feedback so that people know how they're doing, what they could be doing better and what they need to focus on in their development”, says Amy.

A first generation college student, Amy describes her multi-industry career journey from Case New Holland through consultancy and in to the insurance sector.  She describes her senior HR roles at AON and Gallagher and explains what attracted her to join HUB International as Chief Human Resources Officer in January 2023.

“It's a business that I love, it's an industry that I love and HUB was an exciting opportunity for me to figure out where we go next with HR, to support where the business is headed. We are celebrating our 25th anniversary this year. We have been so successful through a very strong acquisition model. We're just getting started. It's exciting to be able to think about all the experiences I've had and how I leverage them to really change the way we're going to do things in HR and support the way the business is changing.

With 18,000 employees and $4bn revenues, the company operates in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico.

“We have six super regions and then underneath we have all of our hubs.”

Amy highlights her passion for talent development and career development, explaining how she wants to offer people the chance to move between the spectrum of business functions within the insurance sector.

“One of the things in many insurance companies is there seems to be a little bit of a separation between the sales people or the producers and the servicing team. There's a huge opportunity to help people see that all roles within insurance are valuable and give the opportunity to move between them. That would be really exciting.”

Amy discusses recruiting talent, providing a career path and the importance of leadership development.  

"It feels like the biggest opportunity is really around talent development. How do we create better leaders and make sure our managers have the skills they need to lead teams in a way that creates engagement and creates loyalty. And then for employees, how do we allow people to pursue different careers? How do we help them understand the possibilities?”

She emphasizes how newly acquired businesses and colleagues are embedded in to the organization.

“When we acquire organizations, we fold them into those hubs or if they're large enough, they create their own hub. As a leader or as an employee, you're going to have a much richer experience joining a company like HUB. People that join us through acquisition have the opportunity to grow their career in a very different way because in a smaller agency, there are only a certain number of roles.”

Amy talks about leading the people function at a decentralized organization.

“We've got 35 teams of HR professionals doing things 35 times in 35 ways. The opportunity is not to change that structure. The opportunity is to solve things like onboarding or leadership development at the enterprise level. If we have standardization of these types of things, it allows for more innovation locally.”

Amy shares her advice to senior leaders coming to interview at HUB.

“Do your homework. Understand and value where we've been as a company, because where we've been is what's made us so successful. And think about how would you be able to capitalize on the history and the culture to propel us in the future.”

She encourages fellow insurance industry HR professionals to have a good pulse on what the next generation of talent are looking for in their careers

“It's very different from what many of us who have been in the workforce for a while would be expecting. They’re looking for where they're going to be developed. They want to be a part of organizations that have a bigger mission than just insurance.”

Amy concludes by...

“If you choose to go the franchise route, you own it”, says Megan.

Goosehead Insurance’s, Director of Franchises shares her journey from being brought in to the business to lead on franchise development and corporate recruitment.

With almost 2,000 franchises from coast to coast, Megan talks through her progression in to leadership. “I’ve had the benefit of growing up with the organisation as we’ve transitioned in to a larger company.”

She explains the cultural importance of servant leadership within Goosehead as well as her biggest achievements and her reaction to being overlooked.

“When I look back, it was always the right call. I’ve been passed up for a lot of things because I raise my hand a lot.”

Megan shares how Goosehead is empowering both consumers and agents through digital investment and the key to accomplishing business growth.

“It’s not going to happen without top talent to lead that charge. If you want to attract people with a track record of success, you yourself have to have a track-record of success”

Connect with Megan on LinkedIn or find out more about the skills, benefits and opportunities within franchise & corporate at Goosehead Insurance

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

Copyright Insurance Search – All Rights Reserved.  

“There are a lot headwinds to innovation in insurance but we’re missing a lot of the reasons you can do things”, says Stuart.

The Irish-educated, English major talks through his experience of launching and building Better.com’s insurance practice and founding Marble, the first application that combines all policy types and lines with a shopping experience, overlaid with a rewards programme.

Stuart shares how he leads and benefits from a team of talent spread across the globe, “It’s raised our velocity. As we hire in 2022, we have a global view.”  

While insurance is global, technology in insurance is very localised both in terms of regulation and consumers’ expectations.

“It’s really interesting having team members, who themselves – culturally or nationally – have different views on insurance”, says Stuart.

Stuart explains his vision for responding to the dearth of rewards programmes in insurance and shares his predictions for the future of the industry, focussing on differentiation, parametric and embedded insurance.

When recruiting, Stuart leans towards those with general fintech knowledge but emphasises his desire for strong communicators and positivity.

“Positioning yourself publicly as a knowing bridge between where insurance is going and the thousands of years of history, immediately warms a hiring manager to you. It tells me you get it!”

Reach out to Stuart on LinkedIn or find out more about Marble.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

Copyright Insurance Search – All Rights Reserved.  

Season Two - Episode Five

We are delighted to host Brett Godwin, COO of Sterling Seacrest Partners on episode Five of the Insurance Coffee House USA.

Sterling Seacrest are a large independent insurance agency headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with offices in Tampa, Savannah and other locations across the South East of the United States.

Brett shares with us the story of his career, before going on to discuss the sizable growth SSP have achieved over the last few years.

One of the secrets to this success is SSP’s clear Path to Partnership which it provides to producers and service staff when they join the business. Brett advises that this can give them a competitive advantage for talent against the corporates, who given their size, often cannot offer the same partnership path to their associates.

Giving new talent a clear path to partnership, gives them ownership for their career development and empowers them to take control of their own destinies.

Brett is a big advocate for adopting new technology to “stay relevant” but feels it only works if you have high-performing talent to use it and make the very most from the different software tools.

Brett has “had a blast” since moving to SSP from a Corporate and feels that working at an independent agency allows him to have a greater impact and see the tangible results of his work at the business, as well as in the local community where SSP are a major brand.

SSP are very strong on “cultural fit” when hiring new talent and include a Culture Interview as part of the recruitment process with interviewers coming from different teams to assess the candidates potential fit for the business. They seek individuals who are hungry, humble and smart (not just academically, but people focussed too) and set out a clear path to partnership for them.

Brett encourages listeners to reach out to him after the show with any comments or questions. You can do this via his LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-godwin-0456511b/ / or email at bgodwin@sspins.com .

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or 

“We are very proud of our legacy and where we've come from. We're also really excited to evolve into a more contemporary, consumer focused, compassionate, purpose driven company”, says Stacey as she highlights Guardian’s aim to support consumers through a framework of mind, body and wallet.

"Inspiring well-being enables us to think differently about the kinds of products and services we provide. During the pandemic it became really clear that mental health was a huge challenge across not just the United States but across the world. Opening up our purpose to inspire wellbeing allows us to think about all the other ways that we can help consumers.”

Stacey tells of her journey from Lawyer at GE, specializing in M&A activity, moving in to labor & employment law, through to taking her first HR role and balancing motherhood.   

"The switch to labor and employment was a big turning point in terms of my career. It gave me a lens into all things talent, people and culture, what issues were being presented and how to solve those issues. I was asked to move into an HR job and I said ‘no’ a couple of times and then I was offered a pretty compelling HR role. I made the switch and I've never looked back.”  

Stacey discusses her talent management role for the entire colleague experience lifecycle, overseeing 8,000 colleagues in the US and 2000 in India at the 160-year old Mutual insurance business.

“Beyond talent, it's also culture. It's making sure we have an inclusive and consumer centric culture, and we are doing the things that enable our colleagues to live their best lives and fulfil the purpose of the organisation.”

Stacey emphasizes how Guardian are empowering compassionate leaders, the organization’s hybrid workforce strategy and her dislike of the phrase ‘work-life balance’.

"We’ve spent some time really figuring out what makes you successful as a leader at Guardian. One of the success factors is to be able to connect both internally and externally with empathy and compassion. There’s been a lot of talk in the past few years about the importance of empathy as a leadership trait. But empathy by itself, without compassion is not as impactful. Compassion is really about listening and then doing something about it.”

“Work is part of life, like family is part of life, like friends are part of life. Your spirituality, your community, it's all part of life. For a compassionate leader, it's understanding that we all live and work in this ecosystem that has a lot of different components to it.”

She shares her advice for leaders coming for interview, encouraging people to tell stories and demonstrate impact.

To attract the best talent, Stacey encourages her HR peers to embrace interviewing diversity

“Make sure the people doing the interviewing bring diversity of experience, thought, gender and race. A panel that brings the same thinking isn’t going to bring in the very best talent.

I would also say, focus on skills versus experiences. The ability for someone to learn influencing skills, for example, can happen in a multitude of different environments and industries. It doesn't necessarily mean they have to have come from an insurance company.”

As for the one lesson her job has taught her, she thinks everyone should know.

"Find your passion and be open to your passion being in some place that's unexpected. That can be in the work you do. It could be in the purpose you deliver, the colleagues you surround yourself with. You have to think about it in a multitude of different ways.”

Connect with Stacey Hoin on LinkedIn or find out more about career opportunities at Guardian

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is...

Season Two - Episode Twenty Three

Kicking off our double episode week we have with Marsh, we are joined by Christina Mott, Chief Operating Officer of Marsh and McLennan Agency (MMA).

Christina is the operational lead for MMA which is the entity of Marsh that focuses on the mid-market. With a turnover of $2billion and over 8,000 staff, this company is a substantial brokerage in its own right and seeks to combine corporate capability together with local service for its customers.

Join us as Christina discusses how technology and innovation have been a key driver in building the business and how high performing talent from both large and local agencies can have a successful career there.

Christina encourages listeners to reach out to her after the show with any comments or questions and you can do this via her LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-mott-81664b29/ .

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

"We really take it seriously that the person with the most information is making the decision, so we don't have a whole lot of ‘Oh let me go ask my boss’", says Sean.

The self-confessed nerd and entrepreneur shares how his background as a management consultant exposed him to a lot of business problems and gain the confidence in solving them.

Sean talks through his journey of co-founding Kin, a fully-licensed home insurance technology company that provides affordable coverage to homeowners in catastrophe-prone regions.

Headquartered in Chicago, he shares the core values that Kin offers its growing team and emphasises that the hard things are where the value is created. “We give people an opportunity to practise their craft”

Sean encourages us to maintain a ‘beginner's mind’. “Take nothing for granted, think about every problem from a blank sheet of paper.”

Connect with Sean on LinkedIn or find out more about Kin

This episode of the Insurance Coffee House Podcast was first published on 5 October 2021

Podcast hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.    

Season Two - Episode Twenty One

Joining us this week in the Insurance Coffee House USA we have Maureen Gallagher. Maureen is the Michigan President and lead for the National Real Estate and Workers Compensation National Practices at AssuredPartners who are the 5th largest P&C broker in the USA.

Maureen gives us a great insight into her personal career development, which has involved leading two start-ups, being catapulted into the CEO position of a mid-sized insurance agency and most recently partnering her agency with AssuredPartners.

Her agency was the first acquisition for the business which at the time had revenues of $80m and has since gone on to grow dramatically to a company generating more than $1billion per year.

Maureen wears a variety of hats in the business and manages to balance her time across the divisions and businesses that she leads. These multiple leadership opportunities have come from her entrepreneurial instinct to come up with ideas and then crucially delivering on those projects which have now become a significant part of the business.

Impact analytics have been a big area that Maureen has pushed in order to serve and help her clients with their risk management needs and she feels that these tools have provided their producers with a competitive advantage when speaking to clients and new prospects.

Finally, Maureen encourages insurance professionals to love what they do and this is certainly something we should all remember to do as we progress through our career.

Listeners can reach out to Maureen after the show via her LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/in/maureen-gallagher-3169102/ although we are mindful of her inbox filling up, so please also feel free to pass on any notes through us at the Insurance Coffee House.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.

We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.

Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.

Copyright Insurance Search 2024 – All Rights Reserved.   

Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram

Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, UK and Bermuda.

“A lot of businesses talk about it, but do they really analyse what they need to do to build it? We've spent a lot of time thinking about what high performance looks and feels like within the context of a turnaround”, says Karen.

“When I joined the business, I prioritized improving the culture, establishing values that really mean something, as well as working with Scott Egan (CEO) to ensure we've got the right leaders at every level that exude those values.

We've created a really strong accountability culture. I think the key to making sure culture change sticks is integrity."

On the Insurance Coffee House Podcast this week, Karen shares her 30-year HR career journey.

Starting in insurance, she has moved through some of the most recognizable brands in insurance, financial services, hospitality and media, before returning to insurance with roles at Saga Plc and RSA.  She joined SiriusPoint in November 2022.

Karen discusses working across a wide variety of sectors, and how she has found transitioning back in to insurance.

“When I started my career, for many insurers, there wasn't a big focus on culture and values. People talked about it, but I don't think they did it as well as we did it in hospitality and retail.

I think in the past, in in financial services, technical skills have tended to be rewarded with bigger and bigger roles, and I felt that the leadership aspects were secondary.

What I found in retail, hospitality and also media, is because the customer is just so central and critical, there's just much more focus on leadership of the people, the values and the culture within the business.

It's just such a heartbeat of the business at every level in those industries. I'm a massive believer in values and culture, and I love being part of businesses where these are really central.

I think that's become true, probably now more so in the insurance industry than it was when I started. That's certainly true for SiriusPoint.”

Karen explains how some of her best experiences have come through the tough times and the importance of HR’s relationship with the CEO.

“The relationship I have with Scott and other bosses I've worked really well with, are where you've got mutual respect but sometimes differences of opinion.

That’s where the real spark comes. Sometimes we come at things with different opinions and we'll explain them to each other.

But we'll end up in a different place, and it's a better place than either of us had thought of.

That ability to challenge with mutual respect and actually stand your ground is so important.”

Headquartered in Bermuda, with offices in New York, Liege, London, Stockholm and Zurich, Karen gives insight in to SiriusPoint and the ambition to be a best-in-class insurance business.

“We're a global underwriter of insurance and reinsurance. With over $3billion capital, our business lines include accident and health, aviation, space, casualty, credit, energy, marine, property and life insurance.

Our global headcount is around 1000. In terms of growth, we really want to become a top performing reinsurance and insurance company in the coming years. Our aim is really to be among the names who consistently outperform the market year on year.”

Karen emphasizes how creating a high-performance culture is more than an HR task, as well as the role integrity plays.  

“From day one, our CEO has made building a high-performance culture, one of our executive leader leadership team’s top priorities.

We've created real integrity around what we say we're going to do and what we're actually doing. If there's any mismatch there, people see through the cracks and they just lose trust very, very quickly.

My strong belief is that culture can be built. But culture can also be damaged in a nanosecond. If you don't have integrity, you can just lose trust so...

The insurance industry frequently talks about policy holders, policy numbers or risks. 

“That’s no way to talk about a customer. A customer has needs and demands, they need to be treated as a customer”, says Jonathan.

Built on his 30 years of experience within the insurance space, Jonathan shares the journey of founding HUGHUB, a digital engagement layer which can sit on top of or independent of legacy technology to offer an innovative, new and intelligent way of engaging with customers.

Jonathan talks through the key benefits for customers and the operational efficiencies the tech provides for insurance retailers as well as the entrepreneurial edge the HUGHUB team look for when recruiting.

“There’s a digital transformation layer which customers expect. If you don’t give it to them, they’ll find someone who will.” 

Connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn, email jonathan.davey@hughub.co.uk or find out more about HUGHUB 

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“Development has been a hot topic for us. We’ve launched our first programme for our more junior members of the team. A series of learning sessions about Mosaic, about Lloyds, about the marketplace, about the insurance industry in general”, says Claire.  

“The beauty of being part of an organisation with great growth plans is that we want to make sure that our younger members of the team can grow with us and that there are opportunities for them.”

Claire shares her career trajectory – from 10 years with Accenture in to the insurance industry. She gives insight in to her HR and people leadership roles with some of the best-known insurance brands – WTW and Gallagher – and the opportunity to drive the culture and people agenda at Mosaic Insurance.

Launched in 2021, Mosaic is a global speciality insurer, headquartered in Bermuda operating from Lloyd’s of London with hubs in the US, Canada, Germany, UAE and Singapore.

“We're looking to hit the $500 million worth of gross written premium this year. It’s a real accelerated growth story from a standing start during a very difficult time.”

Claire highlights the bold, entrepreneurial culture that has driven the growth.

“It's an easy thing to say, but our culture is a critical part of our model and our growth story. Our co-CEOs recently said that Mosaic doesn't have a culture. It is a culture.”

“We write proprietary business. Our model means that we are underwriters for underwriters. When clients and partners are trusting you to deploy their capital in that way, it's very important that they trust the expertise and the partnership they have with us and our people.”

Claire goes on to explain the ownership model, where all colleagues receive an equity stake in the business.

“It leads to an alignment of everyone’s interest and purpose.”

Claire emphasizes the three core values of being bold, working together and having fun.

“It's incredibly important that they can see what the Mosaic culture is, what a Mosaic person is and our three core values shine through every day. If you're looking for a structured 9 to 5 day, Mosaic is not the place for you. It’s a very empowering place. We aspire to be very entrepreneurial. We want to identify ourselves in a unique way.”

Claire gives her advice to senior insurance leaders coming for interview

“Do your homework and understand our model. Really Understand what we're trying to be and how we are intending to be different, the growth plans we have. This is a roll your sleeves up kind of organisation.”

She shares her thought on how insurance industry people leaders can attract high-performers in to their respective organisations and discusses her mantra of ‘attitude over aptitude’.

As for two key lessons her career journey has taught her, Claire says

“When something doesn't go your way and you're angry and we want to have a bit of a rant, write it and save it. Come back and reread it or even sleep on it. Then either send it or reword it. I would bet that often you'll just delete it. My second is, ‘it's good to talk’. Sometimes it's so much easier and much more efficient to get things done by just tapping someone on a shoulder or calling them up.”

In conclusion, Claire urges us to embrace change.

“Life, careers and organisations, they're not a straight line. If you embrace change and take risk, then you can reap rewards. There can be some exciting outcomes. Be brave and be bold to coin some phrases from Mosaic.”

Connect with Claire Eeles on LinkedIn or find out more about Mosaic Insurance.

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by

“We want to improve the profitability of carriers, but also help employers by keeping as many of their employees healthy and happy and working as long as possible”, says Tom.

Tom shares his journey from childhood obsession with computers to 10 years on machine learning and AI projects at Google, before co-founding EvolutionIQ in 2019.

Based in NYC with a current full-time team of 55, the bodily injury claims insurtech is offering transformative reductions in combined ratios for carriers as well as significant reductions in the number of people moving from short-term to long–term disabilities.     

As the business moves forward to international expansion, Tom highlights the challenges of hiring and the length of the sales cycle as a result of carriers being new to AI.

“Hiring for AI and data, we have a very high bar. We hire one out of 10,000 applicants. That's been tough.” 

Tom explains how EvolutionIQ is maintaining its cultural values as it expands in to overseas markets with similar regulatory environments.

He concludes by sharing his advice to fellow insurtech founders.

“Find something you’re truly passionate about. It needs to be something you're willing to spend seven days a week on for the first couple of years. And listen very, very carefully to the carriers. Every carrier has a different way of doing things.”

Connect with Tom on LinkedIn, email tom@evolutioniq.com or find out more about EvolutionIQ

The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses across the globe.

To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via nick.hoadley@insurance-search.com or connect on LinkedIn

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