Rising stars
“The broker skillset is constantly evolving and we are challenged to learn new information every day.”
Name:
Max Aronchick
Company: Guy Carpenter Job:
Vice president, treaty broking & strategic advisory
Timeline: 2015: Vice president, treaty broking & strategic advisory
April 2014: Assistant vice president, treaty broking & strategic advisory
April 2013: Associate broker July 2011: Risk analyst, Guy Carpenter 2011: Internship, Guy Carpenter 2009: Internship, Aon Benfield
Why did you choose the re/insurance industry? From the outset, I had an interest in the business because my father had worked in the insurance space for many years. After two separate college internships in reinsurance broking, it was apparent that the career path was appealing. To me, it seemed like an excellent balance of analytical and
interpersonal skillsets: blending a need to understand—and articulate—complicated deal structuring with an understanding that our industry ultimately trades on relationships. I also saw a very level, and collaborative, reporting structure at Guy Carpenter, one whereby good ideas and hard work more frequently win out over absolute seniority.
Do you think the re/insurance industry offers good opportunities and career development to young professionals? Very much so. Particularly in the broking space there is a lot of room for young professionals to carve their own niche and really take ownership of market segments or trading relationships.
Personally speaking, I’ve witnessed a lot of these opportunities. Moreover,
I believe young professionals in the reinsurance
space—and broking in particular—are exposed to many senior level conversations and issues. This is great for shaping a mindset for future leaders. Finally, reinsurance broking is very dynamic. A former colleague
of ours used to say “in our business you cannot flip to the end of the textbook to find the odd answers … all of our solutions are bespoke”—which is very true. Every deal, every client is completely different and forces you to think on your toes. Most days, our job function is quasi-advisory, quasi-legal and quasi- financial. The broker skillset is constantly evolving and we are challenged to learn new information every day.
What are your aspirations for the future? I would like to be part of facilitating material change in our industry. Reinsurance and insurance are among the oldest businesses in the world, and many of our practices exist for good reason. Change, however, is a relentless agent and it’s incumbent on the emerging leaders in our space to push the envelope of the possible. Ultimately I would like to see more of the world’s sovereign-funded economic risks move into the reinsurance market, and make better use of the industry balance sheet. We’re beginning to see some of that happen now, but the realm of the possible is many orders of magnitude beyond the status quo, such as perils like flood or terror.
If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been? I was finance major in college and I naturally thought that I wanted to work in either investment banking or management consulting—that’s assuming they would take me! Ultimately though, I’m not sure if that would have been a good cultural fit. However, it’s interesting how much all three of our spaces have converged over the last two to three years. I would argue that our current job function as a reinsurance intermediary combines aspects of both of these industries.
May 2015 | INTELLIGENT INSURER | 9
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