Tell us about your professional background before joining IQUW.
I am an oil and gas exploration and development professional, having worked for 20 years as a subsurface engineer. After spending my first decade developing assets in the western Canadian basin in my home province of Alberta, I developed a zest for international travel and decided to spread my wings and move overseas in 2011. London seemed to be a good spot to land, and I took a job here working for South Africa’s Sasol, where I spent almost 10 years. From my London base, I’ve looked after conventional and unconventional oil, gas and hydrocarbon assets all over the globe, including the Middle East and Africa, where I gained offshore experience in Gabon that aligns well with IQUW’s strategy to become a leading offshore energy insurer. Throughout my career, while specialising in my niche, I have also worked closely with other upstream engineering disciplines and have developed valuable experience in the economics and business development side of the industry, which I am looking forward to applying to my new role.
What made you make the switch into insurance?
To be honest, I didn’t really know that there was a demand for my sort of skillset in insurance until IQUW approached me directly. Through a number of conversations and a self-taught crash course in insurance, my interest in bringing my experience to the sector grew and grew. Part of what excited me was the wide range of projects and assets that the Lloyd’s market covers. With a career like mine you can spend a lot of time in just a handful of assets, and so the breadth of exposures connected to the upstream energy insurance market alone was one of the biggest draws.
What attracted you to IQUW?
A major part of IQUW’s appeal was the sense of community and fellowship within the company, which is evident from initiatives ranging from IQUW’s sports and social committee and the inclusive and team-oriented culture that the company fosters. Insurance is a very outward-facing and relationship-based industry, which is a fresh and welcome transition from my past experience. IQUW’s reputation as a respected and fast-growing company, which takes its corporate social responsibilities seriously, was another factor that prompted me to make the leap. I did my research about the company, and what I found were glowing endorsements from two personal contacts, one of which being an extended family member who had worked with my current line manager at a previous company.
What differentiates the IQUW approach to insurance?
IQUW is data driven, which is what I’m all about, coming from upstream oil and gas. It isn’t siloed between departments, and as a risk engineer, I look forward to working with colleagues across the business. The fact that IQUW sought out my skill set specifically and approached me across the industry divide seems outside the norm in the Lloyd’s market and shows that the company is willing to look at insurance in a fresh way. Another way that IQUW is different, from what I gather from talking to other people in insurance, is its entrepreneurial culture. The company consciously empowers individuals to take decisions and take ownership of the outcomes, rather than having a hierarchical approach.
Tell us a little bit about the energy team.
The energy team has been one of the company’s fastest growing in terms of underwriting capacity over the past couple of years. IQUW has been increasing and developing the team, not only from an underwriter perspective, but also from an engineering risk perspective, which IQUW recognised was a necessary step to start leading more business and boosting its profile among brokers and clients.
What are your priorities at IQUW?
I will be building a risk model that really underpins our underwriting, supports and quantifies our risk appetite, and can help steer the optimising of our energy portfolio. I have been working with the claims team to pull together historic datasets that will feed into this. As a very data-centric person, coming from an industry where you are flooded with information, I’m looking forward to applying my skills in this area to insurance, and overcoming challenges around data availability and uncertainty. Other priorities include supporting our clients in improving their risk profile, strengthening our leadership in industry risk management, and delivering a seamless service to both our brokers and clients.
