Column: Celebrating the rising stars of the insurance world

Here at Insurance Business UK we recently celebrated one of the high points in our editorial calendar  – the publication of the annual Rising Stars report. Rising Stars 2023 showcased 52 exceptional young insurance professionals, each acclaimed for the part they are playing in shaping the future of the market.

This year’s awards were determined by an illustrious panel of independent industry leaders – comprised of Ajay Mistry of iCAN, Michael Keating of the Managing General Agents’ Association (MGAA), Steve White of the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA), Kishan Mangat of iCAN, Amy Green of The Insurance Institute of Sussex and Maxine Goddard of Sompo International – and nominees had to be aged 35 or under as of June 30, 2023.

Upon first read, the standout for me was the unique blend of skills, experiences, backgrounds and perspectives that defined and delineated the future leaders celebrated.

What is expressly clear is that everyone in insurance has a story to tell. Take, for example, CFC’s Ellie Saunders who uses her platform in the industry to help disadvantaged young people achieve their career potential, or Satinwood Underwriting’s Tendai Msipa whose parents emigrated from Zimbabwe to the UK as political refugees in the late 2000s.

Among the skillsets revealed by the report was how these young professionals are using language to formulate strong links across the market and move beyond cultural boundaries. Alicia Rodriguez Fernandez from Liberty Specialty Markets is a case in point. Having grown up in Spain, she is proudly multilingual, while CFC’s Julia Soong-Leblanc is fluent in English, French, Italian, Spanish and Mandarin.

2023’s Rising Stars are a living, breathing advertisement for the idea that all roads can lead to an insurance career. They epitomise the idea that there’s no one background – academic, cultural, geographic or otherwise – that is ‘right’, a sensible conclusion for an industry that deals with clients from every conceivable walk of life.

Yet for all their myriad of differences, a re-read of the report starts to reveal the connective threads that unite these young insurance professionals. First and foremost, there’s a strong shared agreement of which traits are the most critical to rapid career advancement – with hard work, emotional intelligence and specific management training ranked above having a long career at the same employer or a relevant degree.

Sharing his thoughts on this, Msipa said he believes hard work taking the top slot is a “no-brainer”.

“When you join the insurance industry, you don’t quite realise the amount of work that happens in such short time spans – the typical renewal periods,” he said. “Hence, I see hard work as the quality that holds the utmost importance and one that I have exhibited throughout my working life.

Belief in the power of networking was another strong theme across the report, with several of the winners surveyed highlighting the impact it has made on their own career progression. It’s an open secret in the insurance industry, Msipa said, that you are its most valuable asset because of your network.

Resilience is another shared characteristic of the winners, an especially valuable trait given the significant change and uncertainty facing the market today. Remaining open to getting involved, pushing outside your comfort zone and maintaining flexibility in your approach were also identified by Deepti Vohra, partner at PwC as key ways in which younger insurance professionals can stand out as being among the best in the UK.

Certainly these traits hold true for Rodriguez Fernandez who noted that the secret to her success is her tendency to push herself to leave her comfort zone and not let fear or uncertainty hold her back.

“Equally,” she said, “persistence and resilience have also played an important part in my career as facing challenges or having to adapt quickly to different or new situations is something we all face at some point.”

But perhaps above all else, the awardees evidently share a passion for insurance. Amid ongoing conversations on the war for talent, and given the pressing talent gap that does persist in the market, it’s encouraging to see there is such a steady pipeline of future leaders, though, of course, more does need to be done to encourage further development in this space.

This passion and a demonstrable commitment to building a career within the insurance industry were essential criteria during the nomination process – and, as a result, the winners provide a clear snapshot of the future of the industry. And as I hope you will agree, it makes for a very encouraging picture.