Rising stars


“You don’t have that comfort of sitting behind the computer, you’re pushed through the Lloyd’s market and meeting clients face to face.”


Do you think the industry is Name: Matthew Trundle


Company: JLT Specialty Job:


Manager, aviation broker


Timeline: 2014: Manager, aviation broker 2010: International marketing broker 2010: London placing broker


2009: Aviation claims broker, JLT Specialty


Describe your career so far and current role. I’ve been with JLT throughout my whole career, starting within the aviation claims team, doing market-facing work and not much of the direct broking. In 2010, I started the London placing role, as a junior broker. I went from a market team to a direct team; working within a team of senior brokers, very much learning the ins and outs of aviation policy. This is where I started to meet clients and learn more of the policy contracts we were selling. I then moved to the international marketing team and went from


a team of 10 to 12, to a team of two. I moved from junior broker to approaching the biggest airlines of the world and representing clients, negotiating on their behalf. Last year I moved to be more of a client-facing broker and hands on, operating on behalf of clients in South East Asia. I’m the first point clients come to and I speak to the market in Singapore depending on the type of risk.


Why did you choose the re/insurance industry? My father works in the insurance industry at AIG. From my teenage years I got to know a lot of underwriters and brokers in the market. It interested me, not the topic of insurance but the personal touch. It’s a personal business; it still has the old school philosophy of face-to-face client meetings.


46 | INTELLIGENT INSURER | May 2015 attractive to young


professionals? Yes. It enables young professionals/individuals to learn quickly about certain life


skills and the ability to negotiate and sell.


From a learning aspect, it’s very attractive. You don’t have that comfort of sitting behind the computer, you’re pushed through the Lloyd’s market and meeting clients face to face. You’re forced to learn and know answer immediately. You’re expected to speak to a more senior and experienced underwriter, which makes you attain knowledge of the industry quicker.


Do you think the re/insurance industry offers good opportunities and career development to young professionals? Yes and no. In this industry and especially in aviation, it does. The way you negotiate is very old-style market, you generally learn more the more experience you have with clients and underwriters. The more you know the higher you go up the ranks. This is great, but on the flipside, if you’re a younger individual and want to accelerate through the process more quickly, you’re unable to as it’s a more of a long-term process. The aviation industry has always followed the most experienced individual. It can be said the industry is like a long apprenticeship— you’re always learning from somebody who is more experienced.


What are your aspirations for the future? My immediate aspiration is to continue in Asia. I’ve just moved to Singapore and I’m experiencing the different side of the industry in terms of client facing and dealing with them directly. I’m still in the learning stage on this side of the job and need to better myself for now, using these opportunities and exposures I get to clients and the market. In the long term, the market changes so quickly it’s very hard to tell.


If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been? From an early age I was interested by the industry. It allows and enables you to negotiate things that are worth multi-million dollars. Sometimes a plane crashes and it makes front page news. This attracted me as it’s not a run of the mill job; you’re going into a profession that puts you in the front line. It’s an industry that suits me and I never really had an alternative career path.


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