100 influential women in re/insurance
What has been the highlight of your career so far? It’s very difficult for me to pick just one highlight, but I hate complacency and not feeling challenged so I feel very fortunate that building a career in this industry has given me many opportunities for professional development. However, joining the PartnerRe Wholesale team has to be
Name: Elizabeth Ilott
Company: PartnerRe Wholesale Job:
Underwriting manager
Timeline: 2015—Underwriting manager, PartnerRe Wholesale 2013—Head of professional liability & cyber, EMEA, AIG 2011—COO, UK financial lines, AIG 2008—Vice president, UK professional liability, AIG
Elizabeth Ilott joined PartnerRe in February 2015 as underwriting manager, and is part of the PartnerRe Wholesale management team. She currently leads the international underwriting team based in London, Amsterdam and Paris. With an established reputation in the professional liability market,
she has led several underwriting teams across EMEA throughout her career. Having first joined AIG’s Professional Indemnity (PI) team in 2001, she became the chief operating officer for financial lines before taking on her most recent role as head of professional liability & cyber for EMEA. Ilott is British and is based in London, where she reports directly
to Marc van der Veer, general manager PartnerRe Wholesale. A graduate of the University of Birmingham, she holds a degree in Law.
Why did you choose to work in this industry initially? I read law during my time at university and wanted to make use of the technical and regulatory skills I had acquired during my studies, but without necessarily following the vocational route and becoming a lawyer. The skillset I developed has been particularly well suited to the
reinsurance industry and it was a natural fit for me. Activities ranging from deal structuring to policy drafting and negotiating with clients and brokers, mean that no two days are the same. That’s what makes it an exciting industry to work in and it’s one of the biggest reasons I am still in the industry almost 14 years later.
54 | INTELLIGENT INSURER | 2015
one of the best so far; the opportunity to lead the international underwriting team from London and to drive what is a really innovative market proposition is very exciting. The wholesale space, partnering with insurers, brokers and MGAs to provide services for SMEs is one the major growth areas for the reinsurance industry. PartnerRe Wholesale are ahead of the curve in this sector, so I’m looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that await. Prior to that, my career highlight has to be that before I
turned 30, I was appointed to lead the UK Professional Liability portfolio of American International Group (AIG), where I successfully managed a team of underwriters and P&L within a book of business worth $150 million in gross written premium (GWP). I thrived during my time at AIG and now being part of another
dynamic and driven team at PartnerRe Wholesale, I’m really looking forward to seeing what the next few years have in store.
What has been the biggest challenge you have
encountered? Working for AIG during the global financial crisis in 2008 and subsequent US bailout is probably the biggest challenge I’ve faced. It presented a unique set of challenges, both in respect of client and staff retention in the face of a public backlash against the reputation of the company. It was a tough environment in which my role was to maintain stability in the division in which I worked, and over the team of people I led, both in the immediate aftermath of the bailout and the subsequent recovery. I am very proud of the unwavering professionalism we demonstrated. In retrospect, this has given me the skills, expertise and
experience to really drive the PartnerRe Wholesale business forward and deal with any more turbulent times in the future.
If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been? Perhaps somewhat surprisingly it wouldn’t have been in financial services. I love my job and I love working in this industry, but I am also
very interested in the arts, going to galleries but also creating pieces myself, so would have loved to have been an artist. I am particularly keen on paintings from the 19th century, especially the Impressionist movement. I would have been a very enthusiastic painter and as an alternative career path it would have been brilliant to have run my own gallery. For now though, I will quite happily admire the Impressionists’ and other works of art from afar.
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