Women in reinsurance


PrOFILE Name:


Fields Wicker-Miurin OBE, FKC


Company: SCOR Job:


Board of directors


Timeline: 2007—Awarded OBE 2002—Co-founder, Leaders’ Quest


1994—CFO and head of strategy, London Stock Exchange


Fields Wicker-Miurin began her career in banking, before joining Strategic Planning Associates (Mercer Management Consulting) as a senior partner where she was the main adviser to Lloyd’s of London, leading the work which underpinned the creation of Equitas and bringing in corporate capital. In 1994, she became CFO and head of strategy of the London Stock Exchange.


She was a member of the Nasdaq Technology Advisory Council


and one of a panel of experts who advised the European Parliament on financial markets harmonisation. In 2002, she was a founder of Leaders’ Quest, the purpose of which is to improve the quality of leadership in the world through experiential learning programmes for leaders from all sectors and countries.


In 2007 she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire


(OBE). She is also a director of BNP Paribas, CDC Group Plc and BILT (India’s largest pulp and paper company).


“I have worked in a range of sectors and geographies, tracing a


squiggly line through the years where the connection between all my roles has been the opportunity to make a lasting difference to others,” she says.


“As I look back, my work with the Corporation of Lloyd’s of London


in the early 1990s stands out for me because of what was at stake— the future of Lloyd’s—and the really tough and unique nature of the problems I was asked to solve.


“In response to the thorny question of old and open years, the team I


led developed the idea of Equitas. This solution allowed the syndicates with open years to rely on Equitas to run off those years with reserves, so they could focus on their healthy business.


“We then advised the Names on whether to admit corporate capital,


which was needed to ensure the future viability of Lloyd’s. Our advice was to allow in the corporates, and they did. It was really stretching


work, with a lot at stake, and it felt great that we helped Lloyd’s, its syndicates and the Names come through a really tough period.”


The biggest challenge of her career came when she was CFO and


director of strategy of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). “I was relatively young (36), American and female, in a very male-


dominated world. My goal was to develop a strategy that would propel the LSE into the 21st century and make it competitive internationally in an increasingly electronic world (this was in 1994 and the Internet was very new).


“Our solution was to make the exchange completely electronic and


change the way the market worked, making it more transparent and trustworthy for investors. This meant shifting the balance of power in the market away from our owners, the traditional powerhouses of the equity markets, and towards investors, creating a more level playing field for all.


“In the interest of the longer-term competitiveness of the wider


market, we had to get the big banks to vote for their own demise, like turkeys voting for Christmas. They did, and the LSE and the London markets were changed forever.”


Wicker-Miurin says she is very excited to be a NED of SCOR, the


world’s fifth largest reinsurance company. “Being a good NED requires a different mindset, approach and use


of skills from being an executive. It is all about figuring out how to be useful and relevant when it is not your day-job; how to challenge and support the executive without demoralising them; how to think creatively, strategically and globally.”


Her aspirations now are to apply the lessons and insights she has


gained through a 30+ year career to her work as a NED. “I want to make a difference to others through a completely different


role with a global firm whose work deals with some of the world’s biggest challenges and reduces risks for millions of people.”


44 | INTELLIgENT INsUrEr | May 2014


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