100 influential women in re/insurance


What has been the highlight of your career so far? Talking about a career implies something that is planned, consistent and managed, and my life has been anything but that! I have worked in a range of sectors and geographies, tracing a squiggly line through the years where the connection between all my roles has been the opportunity to make a lasting difference to others. As I look back, my work with the Corporation of Lloyd’s of London in the early 1990s stands out for me because of what was at stake—the future of Lloyd’s—and the really tough and unique nature of the problems I was asked to solve: old and open years and the introduction of corporate capital.


What has been Name: Fields Wicker-Miurin


Company: SCOR Job:


Board of directors and member: risk committee, audit committee, nominations and remuneration committee, strategy committee


Timeline: 2007—Awarded OBE 2002—Co-founder, Leaders’ Quest 1994—CFO and head of strategy, London Stock Exchange


Fields Wicker-Miurin, an American and British citizen, studied in France, at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and then in the US and Italy. She has degrees from the University of Virginia and SAIS, at the Johns Hopkins University. Wicker-Miurin began her career in banking, before joining Strategic Planning Associates (Mercer Management Consulting) as a senior partner where she was the main advisor to Lloyd’s of London, leading the work which underpinned the creation of Equitas and later which brought in corporate capital. In 1994, she became chief financial officer and director of


strategy of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), where she led the transformation of the exchange and the London equity markets. She went on to become a member of the Nasdaq Technology Advisory Council and one of a panel of experts who advised the European parliament on financial markets harmonisation. In 2002, she was one of the founders of Leaders’ Quest, whose


purpose is to improve the quality of leadership in the world through experiential learning programmes for leaders from all sectors and countries. In 2007 she was awarded the OBE— Officer of the British Empire. Wicker-Miurin is also a non-executive director of BNP Paribas,


the senior independent director of BILT Paper (India’s largest pulp and writing paper company) and an external director of the UK Ministry of Justice. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.


106 | INTELLIGENT INSURER | 2015 the biggest challenge you have


encountered? The biggest challenge of my career came when I was CFO and director of strategy of the LSE. I was relatively young (36), American and female, in a very male-dominated world. My goal was to develop a strategy that would propel the LSE into the 21st century and make it competitive internationally in an increasingly electronic world (this was in 1994 and the internet was very new). Our solution was to make the exchange completely electronic


and change the way the market worked, making it more transparent and trustworthy for investors. This meant shifting the balance of power in the market away from our owners, the traditional powerhouses of the equity markets, and towards investors, creating a more level playing field for all. In the interest of the longer-term competitiveness of the wider market, we had to get the big banks to vote for their own demise, like turkeys voting for Christmas. They did. And the LSE and the London markets were changed forever.


What are your career aspirations now? SCOR continues to grow and innovate at pace—integrating strategic acquisitions, entering new markets, developing new instruments, and strengthening long-term relationships. It is a privilege to serve as an NED for this type of well-run, visionary company. And it is a constant—and delightful—challenge to bring insight and value to the executives, who know their business better than anyone else. Being a good NED requires a different mind-set, approach and


use of skills than being an executive. It is all about figuring out how to be useful and relevant when it is not your day-job; how to think creatively, strategically and globally; how to challenge and support successful executives in their work—both as leaders within the organisation and as leaders in an increasingly competitive marketplace. I am passionate about the difference good leadership can make,


especially in an uncertain and rapidly changing world full of opportunities and of inter-connected risks. I want to bring my experience in leadership, gained through a 30+ year career in all different sectors and working around the globe, to my work at SCOR.


www.intelligentinsurer.com


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