Although women dominate the insurance industry, there is a dramatic fall in the number that hold senior-level roles. Captive insurance professionals discuss their own experiences as well as CICA’s new Amplify Women initiative
Women continue to dominate the insurance industry with 60 percent of insurance jobs every year since 2007, according to a current population survey of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In 2016, 1.7 million women were employed in the US insurance sector, out of a total of 2.8 million workers in the sector, accounting for nearly 61 percent of females in the insurance workforce.
However, when it comes to senior-level positions, that percentage falls dramatically. A Women in Insurance survey showed that only 19 percent of females hold board seats, 11 percent of named inside officer positions, and 12 percent hold top official positions such as CEO, COO, and CFO.
Despite compelling data that businesses benefit from gender diversity, the World Economic Forum has found that across all global sectors, women are only 28 percent as likely to reach leadership positions as men—and captive insurance is no exception to these facts.
Senior-level roles
Looking at why women are missing out on senior-level jobs, Anne Marie Towle, former executive vice president and captive practice leader, Marsh, suggests there are a couple of contributing factors.
One of those reasons, she explains, is that “women don’t always advocate or raise their hands for senior-level positions, there needs to be a shift in the motivation and support of women advocating to be involved from both men and women”.
Karen Hsi, programme manager, University of California, recently attended a Women in Insurance event sponsored by Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation. She says the keynote speaker shared a very interesting point that “you cannot be what you cannot see”.
Hsi notes that women are not given the opportunities to be seen or voices to be heard on boards, and that senior-level positions are often men, which makes it hard for women to truly feel included in the industry.
She adds: “I think the lack of female role model representation in leadership roles within insurance may inhibit younger women professionals to see potential paths toward those roles for themselves, further perpetuating the problem.”
With 80 percent of her outside communication coming from males, Diana Hardy, audit manager, Rives & Associates, “absolutely” believes women lack from higher positions in the captive insurance sector.
Currently, the captive insurance sector is facing a talent crisis, with a growing number of people in senior-level positions retiring and companies finding it a difficult task to attract new talent.
She explains that more women “would be attracted to our industry if we removed the perception of it being an old and, stodgy industry, to the reality where things are dynamic and fun”.
Hardy states that there were “lots of reasons that attracted her to an insurance job”. She describes one of them as working with varying types of companies every day, it may be working on a billion-dollar transaction or an audit of a small captive.
She says: “Understanding and being able to communicate the accounting and tax nuances, then transitioning to planning for the impact of various transactions and upcoming standard changes are really fun, and I get to meet interesting people all the time. It keeps me challenged to stay abreast of our ever-changing industry.”
However, Hardy suggests that her gender would not stop her from getting any promotions at her job: “In my current firm, people succeed on the quality of their work, not who they are or who they know.”
The Captive Insurance Companies Association (CICA) president Dan Towle explains that many industries, including the insurance industry, are working to overcome a variety of barriers and stereotypes that have kept women from advancing to senior positions.
He suggests that a “lack of mentors” is frequently cited as an issue.
The CICA president says: “Because people tend to identify with younger colleagues of the same sex, women may not have as many opportunities when company leaders are primarily men.”
Addressing the problem
To address the lack of women in senior roles, specifically in the captive insurance sector, CICA has launched ‘Amplify Women’, a task force focused on offering women opportunities for education, networking and influence in the captive insurance industry.
CICA’s Amplify Women will focus on representing women in educational opportunities, such as speaking at conferences, publishing articles, teaching and academic partnerships.
They are also addressing opportunities for influence such as serving on captive association and industry boards. Developing in-person and online networking opportunities will be another core component of their efforts.
Dan Towle says: “These activities will result in more qualitative than quantitative goals and measures such as: Are women finding CICA’s networking opportunities valuable? Did we increase visibility by having more women speakers at the CICA conference? Since announcing the Amplify Women Task Force, we have had strong interest from women signing up to receive updates from the task force.”
Dan Towle states that the association has taken a leadership role within the sector by raising awareness as well as helping to develop future captive professionals.
The new Amplify Women Task Force will be evaluating and recommending ways that CICA can support creating valuable networks and elevating visibility for women.
CICA is also engaging other captive industry organisations; Dan Towle reveals that he has spoken to “several associations about how they can start programmes to engage and support top talent, whether it’s supporting women, young professionals or students”.
One of those involved in the task force is Sandy Bigglestone, director of captive insurance at the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation.
Bigglestone explains “my role will be to connect with folks in support of Amplify Women’s effort, spread optimism about careers in industry and suggest ways in which women can represent themselves”.
She adds: "By doing this it will encourage professional development, and overall, have the opportunity to share my experiences as a leader in the captive insurance industry."
Another member of the task force includes Amy O’Brien, national sales director of Gallagher Bassett, who “registered as a participant with enthusiasm”.
O’Brien has nearly 30 years of insurance expertise and wants to share her experience and career milestones to support the Amplify Women.
She comments: “I am truly excited about the initiatives that focus on speaking opportunities for women at conferences, and broadening our presence on industry boards.”
In the US, there is a move to foster talent from within by offering educational opportunities, according to O’Brien.
Some of the biggest corporate names are even launching ‘corporate universities’ to give employees the chance to attain better jobs without having to leave.
She suggests Amplify Women “could play a significant role in this exciting new development”.
Amplify Women opportunities
As CICA ramps up its efforts to encourage and support women in the captive insurance industry, Bigglestone explains that Amplify Women is an “important effort” to network, foster positive relationships and promote mentorship.
As a mentor, she says: “I hope to set an example for others and encourage them to take risks and pursue their goals.”
According to Bigglestone, the programme will likely serve as a resource for college graduates and others seeking careers in the industry as well as companies in search of talented professionals.
One of the biggest opportunities will be the ability for women to connect with other leading women in the industry.
Hardy explains that this programme will be important to the entire industry and provide the tools women in the captive insurance industry can utilise in helping them stand out and step up into those senior positions.
O’Brien is hopeful that this programme will open up conversations and drive awareness of the many opportunities that await anyone interested in getting involved with captive insurance.
The programme will also bring an enhanced focus on women in leadership positions as well as supporting and providing the education and resources to elevate women into various positions, according to Anne Marie Towle.
She explains that Amplify Women aims to highlight current women in leadership and senior-level positions, assist with mentoring and provide resources for matching women to their goals and helping them succeed.
Others in the industry are excited to see that there are programmes out there that help foster women’s growth within their industry.
According to Hsi, in an industry that is so relationship-based, she believes that this initiative would help create the perfect opportunity for women to become “champions” and “advocates” for one another, supporting each other’s ideas and efforts, and helping to influence each other’s’ careers in positive ways.
Hsi adds: “As a young professional, I am very excited to participate in this programme because I could see it providing many opportunities to expand my network of intelligent women to look up to and seek guidance and mentorship from as I continue to build my own career within the captive industry.”
Why now?
With the captive insurance sector struggling to draw in new talent and a growing number of senior-level people retiring—having women sit in senior-level jobs may be one way to attract younger females who are entering the business world.
O’Brien states that there is considerable dialogue throughout the insurance industry about the shortage of qualified people to fill all the job openings available at this time.
She explains that this can be tied directly to economic and cultural changes. For instance, there is a rise in the number of people retiring as the boomer generation moves out of the workforce.
The timing for CICA’s Amplify Women is "spot on”, according to O’Brien.
