Rising stars
“The broking world is entrepreneurial by nature and if an individual shows the necessary attributes, age becomes less relevant.”
Name:
Tom Berry
Company: JLT Re Job:
Associate marine, energy & specialty reinsurance
Timeline: 2011: Associate marine, energy & specialty reinsurance, JLT Re
March 2010: Broker, marine, energy and political risk, JLT Re
Describe your career so far and current role. I joined JLT Re in March 2010 in a graduate role within the marine, energy and political risk team. Initially emphasis was placed on assisting senior members of the team where possible which included creating presentations, market research, client portfolio analysis and junior market broking tasks. Fortunately
JLT Re provides responsibility as soon as
appropriate, which from my perspective is the fastest and most rewarding way to learn in any industry. Thanks to the trust of my colleagues and encouragement to add my thoughts during the decision-making process, I was client-facing within a matter of months. The challenge for any young broker however is to make the transition from client servicing to business production, which is where I am currently focusing my attentions in relation to my career development
Why did you choose the re/insurance industry? I left university in 2008 during the banking collapse and subsequent economic crisis, which affected my thought process relating to career planning. I considered insurance as an option from the outset but, due to the developments in 2008, I thought it best to focus on an industry which I believed to more resilient than others. In my mind the insurance product is an integral component to any robust business framework, is by no means a luxury, and
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What are your aspirations for the future? As I see it the broking world is a relatively flat structure. My aspirations over the next couple of years therefore lie in developing a strong and loyal client-base who value my input beyond the transactional level. Should I succeed in my plans I would review and re-set my aspirations, to look any further than that would be somewhat presumptuous.
If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been? Before entering the insurance industry I was involved in a start- up business selling frozen yoghurt, eventually in two locations in London. If I was to have taken an alternative career path I would have ultimately wanted to have my own business. My father set up and still manages his own business, and I believe that I picked the bug up from him. With such a career path comes a significant degree of risk and, to an extent, this entrepreneurial drive is satisfied within the reinsurance broking world.
should therefore provide more opportunities than other industries in such a climate. While my rationale may have been sound at the time, I have since learned that the insurance market is affected heavily but more by means of rating pressures due to the influx of capital as a result of the relative returns in other financial markets.
Do you think the re/insurance industry offers good opportunities and career development to young professionals? Absolutely. I believe that the insurance and reinsurance markets require a wide range of skillsets that provide fantastic prospects for a variety of young professionals. When I began in 2010 in the reinsurance industry there was a lack of youth across the market, which is fortunately changing day by day. There is now more of a focus placed on graduate training schemes within broking houses than before, with great opportunities in training and personal development. The broking world is entrepreneurial by nature and if an individual shows the necessary attributes, age becomes less relevant.
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