100 influential women in re/insurance


“I find that insurance people—the CRO, actuarial, underwriting and finance communities—embrace the value of risk management, and provide me with a genuine peer group and invaluable network.”


Name:


Company: Chaucer Job:


Penny Shaw Risk director


Timeline: 2014—Risk director and board member, Chaucer Syndicates (a member of The Hanover Insurance Group) 2012—Group chief risk officer, Hiscox Group 2007—Head of risk management & capital, Solvency II Lead, ACE European Group 2005—Head of capital modelling, ACE European Group 2004—Managing actuary, ACE Global Markets 2002—Pricing actuary, ACE Tempest Reinsurance 1999—General insurance actuarial consultant, MMC Group


Penny Shaw, risk director, joined Chaucer in September 2014 and is responsible for the leadership of Chaucer’s risk management strategy, with an emphasis on driving first class management capabilities, in particular for underwriting risk. She


has significant leadership experience within the


insurance industry. She joined from Hiscox where she was group chief officer. Before this, Shaw was with ACE European Group for 10 years, most recently as head of risk management & capital.


Why did you choose to work in this industry initially? At the age of 16, I decided on a career with a strong mathematics focus, and the actuarial qualification jumped out to me in the career library. I only needed to read a few pages to realise that being an actuary would be right for me, offering a highly regarded profession that required high numerical skills and dedicated studying (something I could do well!). Work experience with actuaries in Oxford Street then made it real for me. As I began work in the City, I found using mathematics to make financial sense of the future fascinating. I was and am still hooked—insurance


92 | INTELLIGENT INSURER | 2015


touches every industry, helps cement the global economy, and then connects with so many everyday events.


What has been the highlight of your career so far? The highlight for me is being at the forefront of the developing chief risk officer role, building the role to deliver real business value, and bringing this to the executive table and now to a seat at the board. Understanding the bigger picture and leading change are two of my favourite business motivators. I also find working with talented colleagues very rewarding. I learn from the challenges, opportunities and threats that businesses face every day. I find that insurance people—the CRO, actuarial, underwriting and finance communities—embrace the value of risk management, and provide me with a genuine peer group and invaluable network.


What has been the biggest challenge you have


encountered? Balancing the demands of a successful career and my own interests, with those of being an equally successful mother and wife. The need to maintain a work-life balance is tough for everyone, and I try to be at home for 6.30 pm at latest to be mum to my children— which is all-embracing and selfless. This means setting aside the challenges of my working day. This is the biggest challenge I face. Before I had children, I would work off my stress down the gym, but now I have to leave it at the front door, and that is a tougher challenge than any gym!


If you had chosen a different profession/career path, what would it have been? Perhaps in the energy industry, forecasting untapped energy reserves. I also find partial physics, astronomy and space travel fascinating. I believe I would have sought out a career requiring learning, self-study, puzzles and predictions. At heart, I am a maths fan. It is an amazing, universal language. A little closer to home, I could have happily worked with horses. Thanks to my daughter’s love of horses, my whole family is now passionate about riding. And for my son, I would be a football manager, having started and now managing his under-9 football team.


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