100 influential women in re/insurance


joined Employers Reinsurance Corporation in 2000 in Overland Park, KS. She began her career with EW Blanch Minneapolis on the catastrophe modelling team.


Why did you choose to work in this industry initially? I ended up in reinsurance for the same reason as most people: by accident. I attended a job fair when I was a senior in college, and the companies represented received copies of all of the attendees’ resumes. I spoke with a woman who was recruiting for a reinsurance broker trainee position. I wanted to learn more and through discussions I discovered an


Name: Monica Ningen


Company: Swiss Re Job:


Head of property underwriting US & Canada


Timeline: 2014—Head, property underwriting US & Canada, Swiss Re 2006—Senior vice president, US regional and national property desk head, Swiss Re 2004—Executive band, catastrophe risk management leader, GE Insurance Solutions 2002—Senior vice president, Six Sigma Master Black Belt, GE Insurance Solutions 2001—Vice president, Six Sigma Black Belt, GE Insurance Solutions 2000—Senior risk analyst, GE Insurance Solutions 1999—Technical account manager, EW Blanch


1998—Senior catastrophe risk analyst, EW Blanch 1997—Catastrophe risk analyst, EW Blanch


Monica Ningen is head of property underwriting US & Canada. She was appointed to this role in August 2014 and as property makes up the bulk of the Swiss Re business, and the US is the biggest market, this is an area of significant responsibility. She is responsible for the underwriting performance of a large premium portfolio of property fire and natural catastrophe business and has responsibility for a team of 35 people. Prior to her present role Ningen spent approximately two years as


head of property underwriting, regional & national, and before that was head of property treaty underwriting for the Kansas City Hub. She joined Swiss Re following the acquisition of GE Insurance


Solutions (GEIS) in June 2006. During her time with GEIS, Ningen had responsibility for catastrophe risk management globally. Before that she held the position of Six Sigma Master Black Belt as part of the GE Six Sigma organisation where she led the Six Sigma initiatives for the risk management and actuarial departments. She


76 | INTELLIGENT INSURER | 2015


entire industry that I didn’t know existed. I was also very interested in this thing she called ‘catastrophe modelling’: weather, geography, engineering, seismology and statistics all mixed together and to top it off, the company had an industry-renowned training programme.


What’s been the highlight of your career so far? The highlights of my career centre around two main themes: catastrophic events and people. Let’s start with people. There isn’t one highlight—there’ve been a series of highlights where I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of someone’s career. This could be the person who wants international experience: navigating three countries/four locations over eight years; the person who’s on a performance plan and with help is able to turn their performance around; or the person who feels they don’t fit in with our culture and finds a way to effectively express their views even if outside the box. Whether the person is a direct report, a mentee or someone that stops by my office, people are the highlight of my day. Catastrophic events: there were several that define my career,


but one that really stands out. I had the opportunity to visit Joplin, Missouri, on May 24, 2011, less than 48 hours after the EF5 multiple-vortex tornado destroyed much of the city. I was living in Kansas City at the time and watched the storm system develop throughout the day on Sunday. These were people who had lost everything. Their houses were completely destroyed, but they were happy to be alive. I also saw firsthand that day the importance of insurance and the second chance it gave these folks.


What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve encountered? In 2004, I moved into a role as the catastrophe risk manager for GE Insurance Solutions. I oversaw costing and accumulation management for individual risk, facultative and treaty worldwide. It was a ‘fix it’ role. I was beginning to wonder if things could get any more challenging and then the sale of GE Insurance Solutions to Swiss Re was announced. Getting people’s commitment to work as hard as they had the


past two years when they didn’t even know if they would have jobs post-acquisition was the biggest leadership challenge I’d faced.


If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been? I love two things: problem solving and giving flowers! If I wasn’t a reinsurance professional, I’d love to be an FBI agent and solve crimes.


www.intelligentinsurer.com


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