Elite Women in ReInsurance

• a rise from 30.8 percent to 32.9 percent of female representation in workforce
   

• an increase to 25.3 percent from 21.2 percent in tech-forward positions and leadership roles

Ziswiler adds, “We can think about how the journey of becoming or being an authentic leader differs for a man and a woman. There are certainly some issues of systemic bias for women to stand out and reach the top, in a still very male-dominated industry at the top.”

According to Ziswiler, these include:

•  Some (unconscious) mismatch between how women are perceived and the ability, expertise and personality people tend to associate with leaders.
   

• As an example, discussions that tend to be brought up more often in leadership circles and championed by women around the importance of change management, culture and mindset, developing talent (including female talent), growing leaders are perceived as "fluffy" and "soft".
   

• The journey of becoming an authentic leader is shaped by conscious and unconscious verbal and non-verbal feedback that one receives along the way from peers, managers, business partners; and for women, this feedback can be rather contradictory, sometimes conflicting.
   

• The lack of leading female role models.
   

• Women sometimes have their own biases: they sometimes struggle more to be confident, not to feel guilty, and sometimes have limiting beliefs of what it means to be a good professional and a good parent.

These findings highlight why the achievements of REIB’s inaugural Elite Women of Reinsurance deserve a great deal of respect, as they have all managed to ascend to leadership roles despite the barriers in their way.

REIB invited insurance professionals from across Asia-Pacific, North America, and the UK to nominate their achievements and initiatives over the past 12 months, and 50 outstanding individuals made the prestigious final list.

The success achieved and challenges conquered by REIB’s Elite Women of 2024 vary as those recognised are at different career points and located across the globe.

Some standout examples are:

• A Zimbabwean immigrant who has built a career in the US and is now a vice president of global distribution improving her firm’s approach to managing relationships with key trading partners, including upgrading client strategies and fine-tuning the team’s analysis and reporting. She voluntarily mentors summer interns and participants in an early talent Reinsurance Associate Program.
   

• A senior vice president, head of Middle East and Africa, with over 30 years of industry experience, who is managing a $375-million book. During the last two years, she has re-underwritten large parts of this book and achieved an improved bottom line by making it more robust against natural disasters.
   

• The head of construction and engineering in Switzerland, who has excelled in a traditionally male-dominated line and has proven incredibly successful. In addition to her underwriting skill and client focus, she is also an active supporter of women within the industry.
   

• The chief actuary for the largest homeowners’ insurance company in Florida, during a time where loss experience has been dramatically impacted by social inflation, increasing frequency of hurricanes and large PCS events, and hardening of the catastrophe reinsurance market.

Tanya Dasgupta is one of REIB’s Elite Women of 2024. As head of Lockton Pulse, Affinity and Digital Solutions in Australia and the Pacific region, Dasgupta has a background in:

• strategic growth planning
   

• developing customised digital insurance solutions
   

• spearheading distribution and partnership models across direct-to-market and association groups

With a degree in business management from Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand, she has 20 years of expertise and experience working with large, leading global broking firms in Australia and New Zealand, after beginning at a broking firm.
 

  

“I really liked working with clients in terms of visualising their worlds and what they wanted in the complex things in life,” explains Dasgupta. “Getting into a broking firm was fabulous because it gave me a very broad landscape of working through the weeds.”

Her accomplishments came from years of working her way to the top and realising that it was not easy.

“I’ve really rolled up my sleeves, and worked through the ranks, and that has established who I am today,” she adds. “The biggest challenge was being heard and recognised. The race to be acknowledged and be included is a common dilemma faced by many women. I have always believed in being honest and being hungry and curious, to learn more and take up any challenge presented to set new benchmarks.”

And she continues, “I can look back and think about the challenges I faced, and I can resonate with clients. If you don’t do that, there’s a gap in thinking. I’m a very curious person and that helps with solving issues.”

After working for a decade with one of the largest international broking companies in 2023, Dasgupta joined Lockton. The following year, Lockton Pulse, a sub-branch of Lockton Companies, was launched. An idea conceptualised by Dasgupta and a colleague was to develop a digital distribution growth wing called Affinity.

It’s a worldwide business unit helping build products and solutions, offering tailored insurance schemes for buying groups and associations, or client groups.

“It’s been challenging and yet rewarding and a significant milestone professionally that has enabled me to value resilience, creativity, and collaboration even more than before,” she admits.

Affinity is aimed at clients who can buy products and solutions.

“You leverage the buying power because it’s a similar product design,” Dasgupta reveals. “It can provide products and solutions for small to medium enterprises and client partnerships through digital distribution. It was a challenge because the program did not exist.”

Building from the ground up involved:

• brand development
   

• technology vendor selection
   

• client partnerships
   

• product development
   

• insurer selection

One key focus was designing a holistic customer experience, from website to policy communication. 

“We paid careful attention to every detail, from the aesthetics of branding to the practicalities of UX and UI design.” 

Lockton fosters an entrepreneurial environment that allows employees to take charge of projects. Dasgupta’s boldness continues to pay off, earning plaudits within the industry.

“It is very easy to have a settled and comfortable job where everything is going well. It takes guts and courage to take up something which just did not exist from scratch,” she reveals.

“I’m very proud of it. It’s not been easy, especially when something does not exist, and it is just an idea. The execution is the most important thing in terms of how you give life to an idea.”

Dasgupta believes a strong female leader is standing out from the crowd, speaking her mind, challenging the status quo and having a positive impact on clients, colleagues and communities.

Other key attributes include: 

• enabling change
   

• confidence
   

• effective problem-solving
   

• curiosity in bringing new ideas to life 

It is also about making effective decisions and showing strength by abiding by them. This will have an overall impact on colleague development and enriching communities,” she explains.

Coming from a migrant family, Dasgupta champions diversity and charities in her community. She proudly supports and volunteers at the Addison Road Community Centre (Addi Road) in Sydney’s inner west suburb of Marrickville.

“It’s a small charity with a huge impact,” she says.

Addi Road works with the community to elevate human rights, arts and culture, and build sustainability. Its primary objectives are to rescue food (over eight tonnes a week from landfills) and fight hunger. It leads in the grassroots when it comes to campaigns such as:

• RacismNotWelcome
   

• Die or Die Trying: Escaping the Taliban

Every week, Addi Road Community Centre and volunteers provide food to more than 8,000 people.

“My husband and I organise an annual musical event at Addi Road inviting local musicians, making it a carnival festival that celebrates peace, love and equality. All proceeds go towards the Addi Road Food Pantry,” she adds.

Dasgupta believes more female representation is needed at senior levels. She is a member of the Women in Insurance group, which recognises and celebrates women’s achievement in the sector. 

“Diversity is the key to being successful in life. You need diverse communities coming together because if you don’t, you will be siloed,” she notes. “So, it is very important for women, especially younger women, to take on careers in financial services.”

She concludes, “I would like to see more women leaders at C-suites and CEO levels in the future, in insurance, reinsurance, broking and banking.”
 

Elite Women in ReInsurance

• 
  Tanya Dasgupta
  Head of Lockton Pulse - Affinity & Digital Solutions
  Australia & Pacific Region
  Lockton Companies Australia Pty Ltd.
   
  

• Adria Richards
  SVP, Global Head of Global Clients – Property, and Director of Underwriting – Property
  RenaissanceRe
• Ashley Lane
  Reinsurance Vice President
  Everest Reinsurance Company
• Baneesha Narang
  Vice President, Reinsurance Solutions
  Swiss Re
• Beatrice Morley
  Global Head of Casualty and Head of International Reinsurance
  Aspen RE Singapore
• Carla Moffett
  Head of International P&C
  Lockton Re
• Cate Kenworthy
  Managing Director 
  Howden Capital Markets and Advisory, UK
• Chantal Perry
  Director, Underwriting, Reinsurance
  Canada Life Re
• Christina Ferrari
  Chief Underwriting Officer
  VIG Re
• Cindy Foo
  Head of Underwriting/Branch Manager-Asia
  Berkley Re Singapore
• Cindy Sng
  CEO, Singapore
  General Re Singapore
• Dawn Dinkins
  Chief Operating Officer, Reinsurance
  AXA XL UK
• Debra Pitcher
  Chief Underwriter
  SCOR Australia
• Elizabeth Hansen
  Chief Actuary
  Universal Insurance Holdings
• Farah Fatima Zafar
  Vice President, Global Head of Talent Acquisition
  PartnerRe Canada
• Francesca de Rosa
  Head of Construction and Engineering
  AXA XL
• Georgiana Willwerth-Pascutiu
  Vice President and Global Medical Director
  Reinsurance Group of America Canada
• Heather Bone
  CEO, Gallagher Re Australia
  Gallagher Re Australia
• Hillary Williams
  Head of Professional Lines
  Axis Capital
• Jazmin Seijas Nogareda
  CFO and Head of HR
  Korean Re UK
• Jessica Coburn
  Reinsurance Underwriting Head, Canada
  AXIS Capital Holdings
• Julie Page
  Chief Executive Officer, Europe, Middle East and Africa
  Aon Reinsurance Solutions
• Justyna Pikinska
  Global Head of Cyber Analytics
  Gallagher Re UK
• Kathleen Faries
  CEO, Specialty Group Europe
  Artex Capital Solutions
• Laura Wood
  Head of Reinsurance
  Youi
• Lindsay Botelho
  Head of CEO Office
  AXA/XL Re
• Margaret To
  CEO, Singapore
  Chaucer Singapore
• Megan Lawson
  Vice President, Underwriting
  Everest Reinsurance Company
• Melissa Anderson
  Head of Design, Professional and Environmental Claims
  AXIS Re
• Melissa Ford
  Senior Vice President, Head of Middle East and Africa
  Everest Reinsurance Company
• Michelle Yoshida
  VP, NY Casualty Manager
  Gen Re USA
• Natasha Scotland Courcy
  Chief Executive Officer
  Athene Life Re
• Nikki Keith
  Principal
  Wilson M. Beck Insurance Services
• Rhonda Harvey
  Chief Agent and Chief Underwriting Officer
  Arch Reinsurance
• Samantha Lawrence
  Chief Governance Officer
  Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation
• Sara Brenwald
  Chief Actuary
  Chubb Tempest Re
• Sara Boddey
  Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  Munich Re
• Sarah Demerling
  Partner
  Walkers
• Stephanie Russell
  Chief Agent
  TransRe Canada
• Susan Mayer
  Vice President and Chief Underwriter
  Hannover Re US
• Susanna Quek
  Country Head, Singapore at Tokio Marine Kiln
  Tokio Marine Kiln Singapore
• Sylvia Oliveria
  Chief Executive Officer
  Wilton Re
• Terry (Teresa) Finkes
  Senior Vice President
  Acrisure Re
• Tonya John
  SVP, Reinsurance Broking
  Gallagher Re Canada
• Vanessa Dobson
  Senior Underwriter Consultant, Vice President
  Swiss Re
• Victoria Carter
  Chairman International Capital Solutions
  Guy Carpenter
• Wendy Chetham
  Senior Casualty Facultative Underwriter
  Berkley Re Australia
• Yin Li
  P&C Client Manager, Asia Pacific at Allianz Reinsurance
  Allianz Singapore