Women in reinsurance
PrOFILE Name:
Maggie Westdale
Company: Aon Benfield Job:
CFO & COO Timeline: 2009—Joined Aon Benfield
2002—Senior vice president, corporate financial planning and analysis, CNA
2001—CFO, property casualty division, CNA
With her CFO responsibilities, Maggie Westdale oversees both the financial results of the business and also the global operations. Prior to joining Aon in 2009, she spent 10 years at CNA in a number of senior finance roles. With most recent roles as SVP corporate financial planning and analysis, and CFO for CNA’s property casualty operations, Westdale was also an associate of Waterhouse LPP in financial services.
“I have been fortunate enough to work with, learn from and
build incredible relationships with a variety of people,” she says. “I could never have accomplished what I have without the teams of talented people around me.”
Building and cementing relationships has been both a blessing
and a challenge. “People are my favourite part of the job and building strong working relationships is the biggest challenge, but also the most rewarding achievement,” she says.
“Learning to work and communicate effectively across all
groups in a complex, matrixed organisation such as Aon Benfield is very important, as well as having the ability to create value across diverse physical locations and cultures, and ultimately to bridge what are sometimes competing priorities.
“To do this with apparent seamlessness takes no small effort.
But when it works and we all come together to serve our clients and our shareholders, my pride in Aon and our team overflows.”
With 2014 already underway, Westdale has no plans to leave
the company that she has poured such effort into. “I am very happy at Aon. It’s a fabulous firm where new opportunities are constantly available if you’re willing to step up and embrace accountability,” she says.
“My strength as CFO is a profound focus on the business,
on creating value for our clients, on growth and on improving operations. I hope to continue to build on those strengths, to continuously add more value for clients and shareholders, and to have a long career with ‘CFO’ in my title.”
“People are my favourite part of the job and building strong working relationships is the biggest challenge, but also the most rewarding achievement.”
42 | INTELLIgENT INsUrEr | May 2014
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