Rising stars


In 2013, approximately one year after I was working for Swiss Re I


received this very interesting offer from THB (at the time they were still Colemont): to lead their reinsurance unit in Brazil. The challenge they put to me was to grow the presence of the group’s


reinsurance side in Brazil and consolidate the new brand as a technical reference and preferred option for the Brazilian clients. THB is the brand of Amwina, which only operates in the US and is already the largest wholesale broker.


Why did you choose the re/insurance industry? It was totally by accident that I ended up in reinsurance. At the time, I was still at university studying economics, and was an intern in an investment bank. I saw that professionally, it did not suit me. I was then at a party talking to a friend who worked for reinsurance


Name: Maria Eduarda Bomfim


Company: THB RE Job:


Head of reinsurance, Brazil


Timeline: August 2013: Head of reinsurance Brazil, THB Colemont


July 2012: Senior client manager, Swiss Re


October 2009: Treaty managing director, JLT Re Brazil


2008: Director, JLT Re Brazil


2006: Reinsurance manager, JLT Re Group 2004: Associate broker, JLT Group


Describe your career so far and current role. I started working as a reinsurance broker in 2004 at JLT Group in Brasil, Orypaba. That was on a closed market environment, where technically there were no local operations, but rep offices with an attorney to deal and procure business. At the time IRB was the only reinsurer and had to retrocede all that was in excess of their net capacity and/or outside their risk appetite. In 2007, with the opening of the Brazilian reinsurance market


we became a fully armed operation in Brazil demanding a fully structured back office to deal with IBA accounts, claims handling and documentation. The company I was working for became a JLT-owned business of which I became a local partner and a few years later, in 2009, the managing director for the treaties department. In 2012 I was invited to join the client’s market team at Swiss Re. The


position was basically the face front with the clients, ceding companies and brokers. My specific role was more on the treaties side. I accepted the offer because I thought it was important to have an experience on the other side of the table and in a global scale company like Swiss Re.


broker in Brazil and explained to me roughly what reinsurance was and what he/they did. The next day I was at his office for a more detailed conversation, with him and his partners and within the month I was working with them. I fell in love the industry from day one; you learn something new every day dealing with different industry sectors, with no fixed routine.


Do you think the industry is attractive to young professionals? Absolutely. Looking within the Brazilian reinsurance industry, it definitely has the biggest potential and opportunities for young professionals. There are still some areas for improvement within the industry. There aren’t many professionals who are qualified or prepared enough in this country and what we are seeing, as a result, is big pressure on salaries and a very high rotation among companies. I think that this tends to stabilise in the mid run. However, opportunities


are out there and it will be in the long run too. We just need to have a look at the re/insurance penetration in our economy to see the potential. The reinsurance market in Brazil, in its current scope, is very young, with the market only opening in 2007. Therefore there is, for sure, a green field of opportunities for young professionals.


Do you think the re/insurance industry offers good opportunities and career development to young professionals? Yes. We are talking about an industry that has accelerated growth (in Brazil it is one of the very few sectors presenting double digit increases every year) and receives heavy investments from international and national groups every year. Therefore, whoever wants to invest in this market and decide to put energy to learn about the business and create something new, will definitely have a whole lot of opportunities.


What are your aspirations for the future? I really want to become a reference in the reinsurance market and to continue to train and prepare people for this marketplace, without losing the pace of modernisation and improvements.


If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been? When I was a child I really wanted to be a vet.


May 2015 | INTELLIGENT INSURER | 13


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48