Rising stars
“It is great to see the industry attracting and employing an interesting cross- section of age, experience and qualification level.”
Name:
Sebastian Cook
Company: Aon Benfield Job:
Property treaty broker
Timeline: 2014: Broker, Nordic reinsurance/ retrocession & Benelux reinsurance
2011: Broker, Nordic reinsurance/ retrocession
2008: Broker, Nordic reinsurance 2007: Broker support, Nordic
September 2007: Graduate scheme, Aon Benfield
Why did you choose the re/insurance industry? While at university I interned at an investment bank and also spent time in the reinsurance industry having heard positive things about the trainee schemes the broking houses were offering. In my final year I applied for jobs in both sectors and tentatively accepted a position at an asset management firm. However, I still had a strong interest in the reinsurance market
so attended the Aon Benfield graduate assessment day. After a range of interviews and having had the chance to talk with team members from across the business, it was clear that this was a unique place to work and I was incredibly keen to be part of it. I was lucky enough to be offered a place on the graduate scheme and snapped up the opportunity.
Do you think the industry is attractive to young
professionals? Looking around at colleagues coming through our school leaver and graduate trainee programme the answer has to be, yes. The skillsets required in our industry are incredibly broad and anything but standard, so it is great to see the industry attracting and employing an interesting cross-section of age, experience and qualification level.
20 | INTELLIGENT INSURER | May 2015
Do you think the re/insurance industry offers good opportunities and career development to young professionals? The very nature of our business means we engage with almost all
types of businesses and people around the world and in
providing such an extensive range of services the opportunities for development are close to endless. Our landscape continues to evolve rapidly and therefore new challenges present themselves constantly. It is really exciting that you can work with colleagues who have been doing this for 30 years and yet on a daily basis they are addressing new issues that they have not yet come across.
What are your aspirations for the future? If I have the opportunity to continue to develop our relationships with current clients and work with the team members I do now, then I am very confident I will feel challenged and happy for a long time to come.
If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been? Playing for Arsenal.
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