Jill Comley-Forbes (pictured) has been in the insurance industry for more than three and a half decades, six years of which were spent at WTW in the early 2000s. Now, having returned to the brokerage she “always had such a great admiration for,” Comley-Forbes has taken charge of the New Zealand operations in her new role.
Insurance Business recently sat down with the leader – who assumed the top post at WTW NZ earlier this year – to hear about how she came up with her career choice, what sits at the top of the agenda for now, and what the key hire is looking forward to.
“I started at a local insurer,” Comley-Forbes recalled. “I had a choice of going to a couple of different roles and different organisations, and I chose insurance because it really sounded interesting… In those days, we had something called State Services [Commission]. When you were 18, 19 years old, you could apply to the State Services, and then they would give you options of government departments that you could be placed into for cadetship.
“I got three, I think, in the end. One was statistics, and I knew that just wasn’t going to be me. The other one was state insurance. I was really lucky to have a great leader at that stage, the manager who interviewed me, and he explained to me what insurance does for people… That’s why I did it.”
It wasn’t long after that, that Comley-Forbes moved to broking. She has since become “so passionate about what we do,” having witnessed the power of insurance during the Canterbury earthquakes.
“Probably for me now, I can’t think of a more interesting career,” Comley-Forbes told Insurance Business. “You deal with all sorts of clients from all sorts of industries, and you actually have the privilege of getting to know their businesses intimately and working with them. It’s fantastic. The people you work with, people you get to know globally – it’s amazing.”
Comley-Forbes now leads WTW’s Kiwi unit, which is manned by nearly 100 people, including previous colleagues from her first stint at the brokerage.
“The priorities at the moment are getting to know my team as thoroughly as I possibly can – that’s locally in New Zealand and globally – understanding our capabilities in areas such as risk & analytics and our industry specialisms,” she said.
“I worked here before, but I want to understand the WTW way – that’s really been my priority. And I’m also meeting clients, as I want to find out their viewpoint. WTW promises clients a smarter way to risk, so I’m focussed on ensuring the team brings that value proposition to life for organisations across New Zealand.”
For Comley-Forbes, a key to her role’s success will be communication, both internally and externally.
As a business leader, Comley-Forbes recognises the biggest challenges and opportunities being faced by the industry.
“There are some challenges in keeping abreast of emerging risks,” the country head told Insurance Business. “Because insurance is all about the future, you’ve got to keep abreast of what’s happening – new risk treatments, risk solutions, and not just insurance products that are available – and keep learning and keep learning.
“The other side of that, in terms of opportunities – greater risk management expertise, as opposed to transactional insurance placement. Given the complexity of risk and what’s happening in our global environment, I think brokers need a toolkit that enables a holistic approach to risk rather than just transferring risk to insurance. That’s one of the largest opportunities out there.”
When asked what she’s looking forward to, Comley-Forbes had this to say: “I think seeing where we can go with this organisation – there’s just so much opportunity for us as a business in what we do and how we set ourselves apart. I’m really excited to see where we go with it.”
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