Insurance Business Canada Rising Stars 2021

These findings resonate with the experience of two of this year’s IBC Rising Stars. After immigrating to Canada from Iran at a young age, Armin Habibi grew up in the GTA and got into sales at the age of 18, initially helping his mother sell products at trade shows across Ontario before discovering insurance in college. At first, Habibi believed it was a dry, boring field. 

“After getting a better understanding of the products and how the broker channel works, I could not have been more wrong about this,” says Habibi, who has written more than 700 new policies and managed over 500 clients since he joined Insureit Group in 2018. “I think insurance is one the most complex and fascinating industries in the world.” 

Despite growing up in an insurance family – her grandfather started Reider Insurance 55 years ago – Tiffany Reider also had some misconceptions about the industry. She studied education in college but ended up making a U-turn from a teaching career to get into the family business. 

“Before I joined the insurance industry, I thought it was just a bunch of old men wearing baggy suits meeting for coffee all day,” Reider says. “Although there are still a lot of meetings with coffee, there aren’t nearly as many baggy suits. Our industry definitely has a bad rep of being seen as an ‘old man job’ with little excitement. This is where everyone is so wrong. Things are always changing.” 

Moving with the times 
While both Habibi and Reider are grateful for everything they’ve learned from their elder colleagues, they also emphasize the positives that younger professionals bring to the table. 

“The younger generation can learn a lot from the traditional methods of insurance and integrate that knowledge into the modern insurance world,” Habibi says. “On the other side, I think that efficiency is an area which can be greatly improved on. I think the older generation should be more open to implementing technologies that would help the whole broker process. Even if these efficiencies may not have an impact on the bottom line, making the broker’s job more seamless can reap rewards in different ways, [such as] attracting and retaining younger talent.” 

Reider echoes that sentiment, noting that those with more experience in the industry have been an enormous help in navigating the current hard market – but she also wishes they’d be more open to embracing new technology. 

“I think us younger generations have so much to learn from our older colleagues, but also have so much to teach them too,” Reider says. “They have so much experience and things to offer us that I think we sometimes overlook because we do things differently.” 

Even though she’s now a senior manager, Reider admits she still struggles to overcome ageism. “No matter how many framed certificates you have hanging on your wall or how professional you dress, there will always be those people who don’t want to deal with you because you look too young to know what you’re doing,” she says. “This is a challenge that I experience at least once a week.” 

Meanwhile, Habibi says one of the toughest challenges he’s faced has been striving to match consumers’ expectations of super-fast turnaround times in an industry that can often be sluggish. 

“The marketing process can take time, especially on larger accounts,” he says. “As our world becomes more digitally advanced, consumer expectations have increased. However, due to the nature of our work and the current market environment, the turn-around time for obtaining quotes does not always meet those expectations.” 

Change is happening, though – both Habibi and Reider have seen paper-based materials give way to digital technologies, and Habibi lauds new portals for quoting, binding and issuing policies, which have modernized the insurance process in recent years. Reider acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic has helped speed up this transition. 

“When I first started in the industry five and a half years ago, we emailed and faxed,” she says. “You wouldn’t dream of sending in a policy without a physical signature signed in ink. Today, we are e-transferring funds, providing electronic signatures for policies, and many of our major companies have portals that we work within.” 

The pandemic also gave enterprising young insurance professionals a chance to shine. At the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, Habibi did his best to help others’ while providing extra payment flexibility to his clients. And when the first series of lock-downs came to Manitoba, Reider hit the ground running. 

“With more than 70% of our staff working from home due to age or being immuno-compromised, suddenly we had offices that previously had 45 employees reduced to six,” she says. “We were closed to the public and had to create new, inventive ways to service our clients within the government guidelines for COVID.” 

Making a mark 
For those just getting started in insurance, Habibi advises them to take it slow and build a solid foundation of knowledge. 

“There are so many aspects in this business, and you should try to learn as much as you can,” he says. “Knowledge is everything in this industry, and the more you know, the more successful you will be. This will take time.” 

Reider suggests taking that knowledge-gathering process to the next level by looking outside your own company. “Be a sponge,” she says. “Jump in and get involved in the industry. There is so much more than just the office you work in.” 

Over the next decade, both Reider and Habibi have their sights set on establishing themselves further as industry leaders. 

“In 10 years, I would like to be building a team of sales professionals and leading them to success in the broker world,” Habibi says. “I believe in the power of a team and would be grateful to be in a position to advise younger generations based on my experience.” 

Reider’s goals, meanwhile, revolve around making meaningful progress on improving the industry’s gender balance. “Over 70% of our industry is female, but less than 20% of those females hold senior/executive positions,” she says. “My hope is that by getting as involved as possible, I can, with my peers, help influence a change to this. It’s 2021 – there is no excuse for that percentage to be that low.” 

Insurance Business Canada Rising Stars 2021

• 
  Cam Mitchell
  Business Development Manager, Gore Mutual Insurance Company
   
  
• 
  Chukwuma Ejieh
  Manager, Cognitive Analytics, Gore Mutual Insurance Company
   
  
• 
  Cody Macpherson
  Account Executive, KASE Insurance
   
  
• 
  Jennifer Borges
  Commercial Auto Manager, Gore Mutual Insurance Company
   
  
• 
  Jennifer Jackson
  Director of Business Development, Cheep Insurance
   
  
• 
  Mathieu Villemure
  Commercial Underwriting Manager, Quebec Operations, Sovereign Insurance
   
  
• 
  Naheed Jaffer
  Senior Actuarial Manager, Aviva Canada
   
  
• 
  Olga Tchoueva
  Account Manager, Wilson M. Beck Insurance Services
   
  
• 
  Robert Holmes
  Senior General Adjuster | Complex Casualty Practice Leader, Canada, Crawford & Company
   
  
• 
  Stephanie Duclos
  Technical Lead, Errors & Omissions, Special Risks, Victor Canada (Victor Insurance Managers Inc.)
   
  
• 
  Tony Gallo
  Underwriting Specialist, Vice President – Directors & Officers Insurance, Victor Canada (Victor Insurance Managers Inc.)
   
  
• 
  Trent Brown
  Insurance Broker, dbi Brokers Ltd. 
   
  
• 
  Valeriu Danci
  Director Mid-Tier and Core Technologies, Gore Mutual Insurance Company 
   
  

• Adam Di Stefano
  Account executive, Ferrari & Associates Insurance & Financial Services
• Aimee Walker
  Junior account manager, RiskTech Insurance Services
• Armin Habibi
  Associate broker, Insureit Group
• Aun Japanwala
  Business insurance broker, Lyon & Butler Insurance Brokers
• Brent Lariviere
  Account manager, A-WIN Insurance
• Christa MacNeil
  Technical service specialist, Guardsman Insurance Services
• Christopher Aloussis
  Broker success manager, APOLLO Insurance
• Colette Thibodeau
  Technology/social media advisor, Leduc Insurance Agency
• Connor Lea
  Business development manager, Fuse Insurance
• Daniella Sam
  Data and analytics specialist, Aon
• Danielle Cugliari
  Senior underwriter, AIG Canada
• Darrin De Stephanis
  Senior underwriter, Intact Insurance
• Denae Popp
  In-house insurance advisor, Surex.com
• Dounia Khali
  Financial lines practice leader, claims – Canada, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
• Eddie Yu
  Managing partner, Billyard Insurance Group – Burlington Wes
• Gurpartap (Garry) S. Pandher
  Sales director, Able Insurance Brokers
• Haaris Karimullah
  Commercial account executive, Leibel Insurance Group
• Hantao (Eric) Yang
  Team leader, UW Insure Brokers
• Haris Khan
  Insurance broker, Billyard Insurance – Mississauga East
• James Ciavaglia
  Senior underwriter, property & casualty, Burns & Wilcox Canada
• Jessica Anderson
  Manager, broking services, Axis Insurance Group
• Judith Pila
  Account manager, Capital Insurance Brokers
• Julie Bordignon
  Broker success manager, APOLLO Insurance
• Kate Shaw
  Underwriter, executive solutions, Trisura Guarantee Insurance Company
• Krishna Patel
  Operations manager, Burns & Wilcox Canada
• Kyle Albert
  Partner, senior advisor, Lloyd Sadd Insurance Brokers
• Laurence Dube
  Team leader and senior underwriter, CHES Special Risk
• Madison Cheffins
  Broker engagement manager, APOLLO Insurance
• Magdalena Sokolova
  Operational innovation, technical data & business performance manager, APRIL Canada
• Maria Novelia
  Associate marketing broker, J.T. Insurance Services (Canada)
• Marie-Claude Bélanger
  Director, Quebec office, PAL Insurance Brokers Canada
• Mark Andrew Co
  Insurance broker, Billyard Insurance – Mississauga East
• Matthew Ablakan
  Broker of record/owner, Millennial’s Choice Insurance
• Michael Caron
  Director of producer group, Central Agencies
• Miran Saradzic
  Commercial multi-line account executive, HUB International
• Monika Slomczewski
  Complex case analyst, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
• Nafees Ahmad
  Underwriter, CHES Special Risk
• Paige Woodward
  Registered insurance broker/accounts manager, Vasey Insurance Brokers
• Philip Schuman
  Vice president, commercial lines, Wilson M. Beck Insurance Services (Alberta)
• Rina Arce
  J.T. Insurance Services
• Ross Sabiston
  Commercial line advisor, AC&D Insurance
• Ryan McKenna
  Account executive, McDougall Insurance
• Sam Eshraghi
  Marketing manager, RSA Canada
• Sam Jazayeri-Moghaddas
  Team leader, PrimeService Insurance
• Sharon Young
  Claims consultant – commercial risk solutions, Aon
• Stephen Logush
  Senior underwriter, Trisura Guarantee Insurance Company
• Steven Miotto
  Senior underwriter, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
• Tiffany Reider
  Vice president, Reider Insurance
• Tijana Djokic
  Senior risk control consultant, RSA Canada