Adria Richards

SVP, head of property catastrophe–global clients, RenaissanceRe

Give us a snapshot of your career to date.

I have been fortunate enough to work in several business units within RenaissanceRe since entering the industry over 12 years ago. I have an investment banking background and was initially hired into RenRe’s Treasury department working for the chief investment officer.

A few years later, I had the opportunity to work in our third-party capital management team (now called Capital Partners), which was a pivotal move for me, providing a platform to learn from our industry-leading team and interact with our best-in-class risk-taking business, which eventually led to my transition to underwriting.

I started as a property cat analyst, learning our internal systems, tools and processes from ground up. I then became an underwriter and am now head of our property cat portfolio for global clients.

What attracted you to re/insurance?

Re/insurance provides quite possibly the best opportunity to blend technical, quantitative skills with interpersonal ones. It is a fast-paced and dynamic industry, so you are always learning and being challenged, and there is as much time required for individual critical thinking as there is for broader team collaboration. In my experience, these characteristics exist regardless of the business unit you work within and create a very satisfying career.

Do you feel this sector is especially attuned to D&I?

The industry has made big strides as it relates to equity and inclusion over the years, and I am proud of the way that RenRe is committed to building a stronger culture through its focus on DEI. In my opinion, the industry’s progress is most notable when looking at the number of women in senior leadership positions compared to even five years ago, as well as the way in which many re/insurers have thrown their support behind various groups such as the LGBTQ+ community.

However, there is still more work to do to improve diversity overall and this is particularly important in the Bermuda market.

Is there anything you would like to improve or change?

I spend a lot of time mentoring young people within the industry, helping them to navigate through the early part of their career when positive, yet constructive feedback is so central to their professional development. I believe the industry is doing a better job of getting a more diverse group of young, talented individuals through the door, but we fall short on the level of support we provide them in these foundational years.

I would like to see more emphasis on early-stage career development and I believe the return on that investment would be meaningful to both young people and their employers.

Sharmini Samuels

Underwriter–US casualty treaty, Convex

Give us a snapshot of your career to date.

The genesis of my casualty treaty career was in Bermuda in 2004, joining Catlin as an assistant underwriter. From there, I grew my knowledge and industry contacts, moving into increasingly senior roles at companies such as American Safety Reinsurance, Hiscox and now Convex, where I assumed the role of US casualty treaty underwriter in 2019.

My current role encompasses a broad range of casualty reinsurance lines including medical malpractice, directors & officers liability, professional liability, general liability, excess & umbrella liability and commercial auto.

What attracted you to re/insurance?

Insurance is driven by analytics, data and a technical understanding of risk, but it is also fundamentally about people. Our relationships with our industry partners, colleagues and clients are crucial. My degree specialised in finance, accounting and business and while the technical aspects of insurance were an attractive aspect of the industry, it was also the people element that served as a compelling reason to build a career in this sector.

During one of my summer internships at Ace, now Chubb, I was able to spend time in a number of divisions, but it was my experience working with the underwriters that excited and inspired me.

Do you feel this sector is attuned to D&I?

We have certainly seen progress. The intention and desire to create a more inclusive industry is there and the right conversations are being had. It’s now about how companies and those in leadership execute on these ambitions. Companies cannot afford to be complacent or wait for change to come naturally.

I’m proud to be a part of a company that is determined to be a driver of change, not a bystander. Every development comes with a conscious choice to be inclusive. This approach comes from the top and permeates through every facet of the business. This is the momentum our industry needs and it will be interesting to see how the D&I conversation evolves within the next few years.

Is there anything you would like to improve or change?

My time at Convex has driven home the need to challenge the status quo, to constantly push our industry forward and not rest on the successes of the past. One of the pillars of Convex is “determined to improve”. This should be an industry-wide ethos.

Our challenge, more than ever, is our industry’s ability to remain relevant. We can only do this by looking at every area and assessing what can be improved and where we can innovate, whether it be, for example, our solutions, our use of data or our speed of service.