On 26^th September, our Managing Director Ana Mata hosted an engaging event alongside DVF Recruitment that was aimed at those working in HR, Talent Acquisition or Learning & Development within the insurance industry.

The five-hour event brought together professionals and experts for an insightful day of learning and networking at the Novotel London Tower Bridge.

Ana Mata took delegates through a detailed presentation entitled “The New, The Old and The Borrowed: The Skills That Will Shape The Underwriter Of The Future”.

Ana’s talk was designed to give delegates a wide-ranging insight into what skills underwriters need right now, and what skills they will need in the future. The presentation focused on three key areas:

1. The product of insurance

To start with, Ana introduced the delegates to the concept of insurance and explained in detail the ‘Underwriting Management Cycle’, which illustrates the pricing challenges insurance providers face, and the ‘Insurance Cycle’, which displays the effects of both a ‘hard’ and a ‘soft’ market on insurance companies.

2. The underwriter of the future

Ana then explained the skill sets required of underwriters now and in the future, which includes:

• Soft skills – negotiation, communication and organisation (time management)
• Product knowledge – core knowledge of the coverage sold (can be acquired from existing experienced underwriters)
• Proactive and agile – keeping abreast of market intelligence reports and using them for better decision-making
• Technical skills – statistics, understand of actuarial techniques, financial (reading accounts and P&L, business planning)
• Software and general computer literacy – Excel, efficient use of digital models, data manipulation, some have chosen to learn R and Python
• Adaptable – embrace change, the market is rapidly changing

3. ED&I trends in insurance

The event  finished with a look at the current ED&I trends in the insurance industry as a whole, focusing on the need for firms to stand out to new talent and potential employees.

Anthony Webster and Tom Healy from DVF Recruitment gave a very insightful presentation about talent retention and attraction and the importance of ED&I in the workplace. Highlights from their presentation included:

• The importance of ‘mutual investment’ when engaging with potential new hires to get them on board with the vision and strategy of the business
• Eliminating unconscious bias in the process – for example, review CVs anonymously
• To retain talent, think of ‘reward, value and recognition – and don’t just focus on compensation as the only motivator
• Importance of creating a positive workplace environment
• How companies can embrace ED&I initiatives and incorporate them into wider business goals to help stand out from the crowd

This is essential as new entry level jobs and graduate programmes are required to maintain the ‘circle of life’ in insurance.

Feedback from delegates

We have had some great feedback so far from attendees of the event:

“Being relatively new to Insurance I found the high-level overview of each of the sections and how they interact very helpful. I also liked the look forward to the digital revolution.”

“It was interesting to learn more about Underwriting and all the aspects and also with the Recruitment agency coming in, it showed what can be done to help with ED&I.”

“I found everything Ana had to share most valuable. I thought she made the material very accessible and easy to understand! And a useful reminder of the complex way our industry works.”

All attendees were highly engaged throughout the event, particularly during the interactive Q&A with the speakers. Many also found the networking opportunities invaluable, stating that it was one of the event’s highlights.

Following the success of this event, we are already looking forward to our next event where we will continue to explore more valuable topics for those who are new to the world of insurance, or those who wish to increase their knowledge in different areas of the industry.

If you would like to keep up to date with MatBlas, the training we offer and our next scheduled event, please follow us now on LinkedIn or get in touch with us to register your interest.