Rising stars
experiences thus far and look forward to the future in this industry.
Why did you choose the re/insurance industry? I chose to join this industry as there are many opportunities to work in claims, actuarial, underwriting, sales & marketing, finance, etc. This diversity provides opportunity to grow in an area of a personal strength and also opportunity to step outside your comfort zone to work on a weakness. The industry presents opportunity to develop a diverse skillset as well as learn about many other industries in the process.
Do you think the industry is Name: Christopher Holland
Company: AXIS Reinsurance Job:
Assistant vice president
Timeline: July 2014: Assistant vice president, AXIS Reinsurance
March 2012: Casualty underwriting officer, Platinum Re
December 2010: Senior underwriter— global corporate, Zurich
July 2007: Underwriter, national accounts, AIG
Describe your career so far and current role. I started in claims and then went to work in national accounts— underwriting at AIG during the financial crisis. That was an amazing learning experience where I had the opportunity to learn from great underwriters and managers on various topics. I was provided an opportunity to take a senior underwriting role
for Zurich in a similar role to the one at AIG. This gave me a chance to gain experience outside the Fortune 500 customer base and provide customised insurance solutions for various clients. In 2012, I joined Platinum Re as a casualty underwriting officer—responsible for a wide breadth of treaty casualty reinsurance products. This was an amazing learning experience as well where I had the opportunity to develop my network in this new path of treaty reinsurance. I joined AXIS Re as an AVP in July 2014. It was an opportunity
to continue to grow in the reinsurance industry, specialising in the workers’ compensation and alternative risk product lines (including group captives, state funds, pools, etc). Throughout my journey, I have looked towards leaders of the
various companies and tried to emulate and take away great qualities that
28 | INTELLIGENT INSURER | May 2015 they all had. I’m grateful for all my different attractive to young
professionals? It should be, but we have to do a better job explaining and promoting ourselves to young adults before college—so they can tailor their education towards a future in the industry. The idea that we are going to compete with industries that are
so-called ‘sexier‘ is difficult to achieve unless we reach young adults earlier and discuss all the benefits of employment in this industry. Some of the industry associations and schools for insurance and risk management are active and taking leads in this effort—we all have a responsibility. There are plenty of career development opportunities and
chances to be entrepreneurial, travel/relocate, get involved in projects, take on advanced responsibilities, and/or use your skills for pro bono or charitable endeavours.
Do you think the re/insurance industry offers good opportunities and career development to young professionals? Yes—I use every chance that presents itself to educate young adults and young professionals on the benefits of the industry. I read the study by McKinsey, Building a Talent Magnet: How the Property & Casualty Industry can Solve its People Needs. It was an eye-opening study highlighting the “generational gap” in the insurance industry—this presents a great opportunity for young professionals.
What are your aspirations for the future? The opportunity to create an environment and culture that inspires, creates high performing teams, incentivises and rewards talent while at the same time maximising returns for all stakeholders is my goal. I plan to achieve this goal in two ways. The first is by attracting
top talent and developing collaborative teams to provide quality solutions to customers and execute on goals. The second is through the use of high quality analytics/data & technology efficiencies to lower expenses and operate efficiently in all parts of the insurance cycle and provide consistent superior returns over the cost of capital.
If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been? If I had chosen a different route, it might have been in an area of traditional finance.
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