The Invisible Obstacle: What’s Keeping Women from Insurance Leadership Roles

Too many female executives risk falling behind if they don't brush up on their business acumen, and the insurance industry, for one, can ill-afford to fall short in talent development.

By: Annemarie Mannion | January 27, 2020

What will it take to see more women advance into the ranks of senior executives? The answer might lie in promoting business acumen.

Susan Colantuono, author, speaker and founder of Leading Women and A Career that Soars!, says women receive lots of input in some areas of professional development, namely fostering personal growth and engaging others, but not enough in business acumen, even though her research shows that business acumen accounts for at least 50% of what the C-Suite seeks in potential executives.

Mentoring for women has traditionally not promoted business acumen, she said.

“Women don’t get the same kind of mentoring that men do,” Colantuono said. “Male executives who do mentoring want to mentor women around confidence building and goal setting, because conventional wisdom says that women lack those,” she said.

In contrast, men tend to mentor other men around business acumen through informal conversations, meetings with clients and going on business meetings. They also tend to guide men into core business areas such as sales or operations.

The Importance of Business Acumen

Faye Cook, senior vice president, head of global engagement & key accounts, Allied World

Faye Cook, senior vice president, head of global engagement & key accounts at Allied World, agrees that business acumen is crucial to success.

“I’ve known leaders who have other strengths and were successful in their own way, but for me, the importance of business acumen — which I define as being quick to connect dots and understand a business situation, being a positive and creative thinker to develop solutions, and being well-connected to execute those solutions — is key, alongside other leadership qualities,” she said.

For any employee looking to advance, understanding their own organization is the first step.

“Let’s call that being organizationally savvy,” Cook said. “It’s important to know what functions the company has, the high-level purpose of the function and who is responsible for what. That gives you the lay of the land in which you’re operating, and greatly assists in your day-to-day decisions.”

She added that excelling in the fundamentals is key.

“I’d recommend firstly doing your current job, and doing it well,” she said.

“Closely understand your boss’s goals and help deliver on them. Do not get distracted by other organizational on-goings or jump at shiny, new toy projects. The most important thing you can do for yourself is to consistently execute on your deliverables.”

After that, Cook recommends looking for ways to expand your knowledge.

“Once you perfect this, then seek out stretch assignments or other projects in which you can do the same for others. And the same rule applies: Ensure you execute well for them. This starts to build trust between you and your peers and/or leadership, and people know they can count on you. Then when another stretch assignment comes up, it’s a no-brainer to get you involved.”

Learning More

Colantuono agrees, but adds that women should also keep their eyes open for ways to stand out.

“If you see a problem, raise your hand to solve it,” she said. “If someone asks you to step into a bigger role say ‘Yes.’ ”

To help its employees understand their company, business, brand and people, Allied World offers a global mentoring program and several internal training programs.

“Our HR division is always working hard in seeking out and deploying on-going, meaningful training classes,” Cook said.

Developing business acumen also should begin at the most junior levels. At Swiss Re, there are several programs designed to foster business acumen and bring women into the industry.

One is the Women in Insurance STEM (WIISTEM) program in Canada. Swiss Re helped launch it in 2019 with six other partners, including Aon, Aviva, Manulife, RBC Insurance, Sun Life Financial and Travelers.

The WIISTEM program offers internship opportunities in Canada to Canadian, female university students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs.

Interns rotate among the WIISTEM partners and complete internship placements with two or more of them. Ideally, they will join the companies full-time upon graduation.

All of the interns are assigned a female mentor and training opportunities to help them grow in their technical and behavioral skills.

The program is geared to helping young women see the insurance industry as a place where they can advance.

Monica Ningen, CEO and president, Swiss Re Canada & English Caribbean

“There are an endless number of ways for them to use the skillsets they bring into the industry and even larger avenues to take as they grow in their careers,” said Monica Ningen, president and chief executive officer, Swiss Re Canada & English Caribbean.

Colantuono agrees that developing business acumen should start early and that women also need to be not just working for their silo, but the whole business.

Development of female employees is a priority at Arthur J. Gallagher, said Maria King, area president, Los Angeles.

One of her most rewarding professional development opportunities was participating in a training session called Financial Strategy for Growth, which was facilitated by the company’s vice president of corporate finance and divisional CFOs.

“The training focused on gaining strategic financial knowledge and on-the-job decision making skills to identify and address opportunities to grow the bottom line,” King said.

“By the end of the training, we were able to create a plan, communicate and execute the vision, and manage the change related to achieving a financial goal. It was by far the most beneficial training for my role as branch manager.”

King said the training also allowed her to interact with Gallagher’s board of directors and executive team.

Standing Out to Those that Matter

While networking and building relationships certainly have their place, Cook added it’s important to let your business acumen shine through hard work, participating in training and paying attention to the company’s goals.

“Showcasing and exercising business acumen isn’t necessarily about being known by the masses,” Cook said. “Think smart and showcase your skills to those that matter.”

Colantuono has some other recommendations for companies.

“Have a leadership model and related components — including performance reviews, leadership development, and assessments — that are equally focused on the people side and the business side,” she said.

She also advises instituting training in gender dynamics for managers “so they can understand how their beliefs about women, men, leadership and business impact the type of mentoring they provide.”

Companies that don’t promote business acumen among their female employees are missing out.

“They’re leaving a huge percent of their talent untapped,” Colantuono said. &

Annemarie Mannion is a freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].

Why Insureds Might See an Uptick in M&PL Claims

George Schalick, Jr., Senior Vice President of the Management and Professional Liability Division, Philadelphia Insurance Companies

The current soft market might come as a bit of a surprise as it does not track with previous underwriting cycles and economic conditions. Afterall, many privately held and non-profit organizations struggled during the early days of the pandemic with shutdowns and rapidly declining revenues. But the Government assistance programs, like the Paycheck Protection Program loans, helped keep many afloat during the tough times.

“During COVID many organizations stopped doing business until they were able to sort out all of the health and safety challenges,” Schalick said. “They were forced to lock down, but then all the government assistance programs allowed them to keep people employed. The increased volume of claims we anticipated we would see coming from the lockdowns and restrictions that were imposed upon businesses in the U.S. didn’t manifest at first.”

“Just because there wasn’t an onslaught of reported claims at the beginning of the pandemic, doesn’t mean the circumstances that would give rise to a claim being reported didn’t occur. Courts and the judicial system were closed or slowed and now that they are back open, we’re starting to see the circumstances that occurred during the COVID lockdowns becoming claims today,” Schalick said. “Litigation is progressing.”

Added to the delayed pandemic litigation is a concern over newer claims that might be filed as the country inches toward an economic downturn. Though a recession was avoided in 2023, experts think a soft dip could occur in 2024, with 76% of economists saying there’s a 50% or less chance of an economic downturn this year — that almost always results in more management liability claims.

“During the Great Recession in 2008, we saw an almost immediate spike in claims because of the economic conditions and the pressure it placed on organizations. They were making personnel changes with significant belt tightening almost immediately.” Schalick said.

What’s in Store for M&PL Policy Rates in 2024?

Despite an uptick in claims and increased economic uncertainty, management liability rates haven’t increased, resulting in market-wide pricing levels that may not meet the increased pressure of rising settlements and jury verdicts.

“Rates are going the other direction and settlement values are not falling,” Schalick said.

The mismatch between rates, claim frequency and severity is, in part, because carriers experiencing the dramatic soft market in the public D&O market are seeking premium gain in the private and non-profit market.

“In the public company market, the rates have been decreasing significantly. The rates were increasing in the private, not-for-profit market, and rightfully so, but there’s a desire to supplement overall mid-size D&O for carriers who also write private not-for-profit, and they see that as an opportunity to aggregate premium,” Schalick said. “So the always competitive landscape in the private, not-for-profit market has dramatically increased in the last 18 to 24 months.”

Still, companies of all sizes and types should be concerned about management liability rates in the future. Legal system abuse is resulting in increases in both the amount of litigation and the size of verdicts plaintiffs are receiving.

Certain areas of the country are particularly vulnerable to this type of legal system abuse. As a result, insureds in these localities are likely to be vulnerable to rate increases.

“The environment is so positive for the plaintiff that forces premium increases so carriers are able to stay in that market long term,” Schalick said.

Why a Tenured Carrier Partner Can Help Insureds Navigate An Uncertain Market

It’s clear that insureds are facing an uncertain M&PL market over the next few years. Fortunately, carriers with a long history in the M&PL space will be there to offer stability.

Philadelphia Insurance Companies has been supporting this market for 35 years. PHLY is committed to offering long-term rate stability, even as economic and claims trends start to push premiums upwards. They have an appetite for all sorts of companies, large and small, for-profit and nonprofit alike.

“We’ve been at this game for a long time and are one of the most tenured underwriters in this space,” Schalick said. “We like to stay very consistent.”

PHLY has worked with both for-profit and non-profit on management liability policies. With dedicated M&PL teams throughout the company’s 13 regions, PHLY provides the support agents and brokers are looking for on behalf of their clients. The teams know their regions well and can respond to local trends. They’re also dedicated to making the renewal process as easy as possible for their partners and policyholders.

“We have real confidence in our results, so we focus a lot on making the renewal experience as painless as possible for all agents and insureds,” Schalick said.

The company is also investing in tools to help insureds avoid losses. Earlier this year, they launched a new online risk management platform, PHLYGateway, which offers resources for insureds on how to create an employee handbook and trainings on issues such as recognizing workplace sexual harassment and discrimination.

If insureds have questions, they can consult a Best Practices Help Line, provided via the platform. That way, they can get on the spot risk management guidance to help them prevent claims.

To learn more, visit: https://www.phly.com/mplDivision/managementLiability/default.aspx.

This article was produced by the R&I Brand Studio, a unit of the advertising department of Risk & Insurance, in collaboration with Philadelphia Insurance Companies. The editorial staff of Risk & Insurance had no role in its preparation.