100 influential women in re/insurance
“The biggest challenge was probably taking on the casualty facultative global chief underwriter role, having to quickly learn the facultative product as well as the international world of insurance and reinsurance.”
Name: Carole Ferrero
Company: Gen Re Job:
President and global chief underwriting officer, property/casualty reinsurance
Timeline: 2015—President and global chief underwriting officer property/casualty reinsurance 2012—SVP, regional chief underwriter, treaty, North America 2005—SVP, global casualty facultative chief underwriter 2001—Underwriting manager—manager of the umbrella underwriting team for NA treaty 1999—Account underwriter 1997—Fellow, Casualty Actuarial Society— completed actuarial exams 1990—Actuary—joined Gen Re in the actuarial consulting group 1985—Actuarial student at The Travelers, Hartford, CT
Carole Ferrero is president and global chief underwriting officer for Gen Re’s direct property and casualty operations. She is a member of Gen Re’s board of executive directors. Ferrero joined General Re’s actuarial consulting department in 1990, moving to the treaty department in 1999 to pursue underwriting. From 2005 to 2012, she was the global chief underwriting officer
for Gen Re’s casualty facultative department. In 2012, she returned to the treaty department as the North American chief underwriter, a role she served in for almost three years before assuming her current role in January 2015.
Why did you choose to work in this industry initially? It really was an accident that I landed in insurance. At university, I was pursuing a degree in Mathematics, but became interested in business after taking a Finance class. One of my Math professors suggested that I might really enjoy a career in actuarial science. I looked into it, attended a Math Club career day and initiated
42 | INTELLIGENT INSURER | 2015
a conversation with someone in the industry and it sounded like something that fitted my skillset and interests. I decided to pursue the actuarial exams upon graduation and the rest is history!
What has been the highlight of your career so far? Completing my actuarial exams and getting the opportunity to pursue a career in underwriting. I completed my associateship relatively soon after joining Gen Re and decided to take some time off from exams to have children. After having my daughters, four years later I decided that I wanted to finish my exams and get my Fellowship. It’s an accomplishment that I am very proud of, balancing work and family, to reach that goal. At the same time, I was also thinking about what I wanted to do with my career. I was very interested in working more closely with the underwriting
and marketing teams and interacting with clients. I spoke with the chief underwriting officer at the time and expressed my interest in the underwriting side. I am grateful to work for a company that supported the completion of my technical actuarial training and provided me the opportunity to take those skills and apply them on the underwriting side of the house.
What has been the biggest challenge you have encountered? With all change comes challenge, but the biggest challenge was probably taking on the casualty facultative global chief underwriter role, having to quickly learn the facultative product as well as the international world of insurance and reinsurance. Looking back now, it was probably the most important seven years of my career, being exposed to new learnings every day and understanding how to run a global business. I had tremendous support from my family and my colleagues, which is the only way I could have navigated that challenge successfully.
If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been? Entering university, I thought I would pursue a teaching career. After taking a few business classes, I changed my mind. Luckily, I’ve had the opportunity to be involved in my community, being a Girl Scout leader, a youth softball coach, board president for the high school basketball programme, and participating in various philanthropic activities in our hometown. Those activities provided me the opportunity to work with kids and give back to my community while still pursuing a fulfilling career in business.
www.intelligentinsurer.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109