Womens Forum: Barbara Schonhofer, The Jacobson Group

Learning objectives:

At the end of this event, delegates will be able to identify behaviours required to become future leaders in the insurance and financial services profession.

Biography:

Barbara Schönhofer is Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, International Executive Search, for The Jacobson Group. In addition to serving on the firm's Executive Management Team and overseeing the international executive search practice, Barbara manages Board and senior management search assignments. She has consulted companies internationally in all areas of the life, health, pensions and property and casualty insurance arena.

Barbara has successfully assisted leading industry organisations in the acquisition of business critical senior-level talent including Board Members, CEOs and other C-suite roles.

Barbara brings 35 years of executive search and business leadership experience in financial services to our clients. She was the founder of ejsSearch, a boutique executive search and talent management consulting firm specialising in strategic search for clients in the insurance industry in the UK, Europe and worldwide, and was the driving force behind its recent merger with The Jacobson Group in order to provide the industry with a much needed continuity in global executive search.

She was previously a Partner with Korn Ferry International, where she established their London insurance and reinsurance practice. Prior to this, she was Managing Director of the global Insurance Practice at Stephens Associates, an international financial services executive search firm with offices in London, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo where she managed relationships all around the world.
Barbara has been highly influential in persuading the UK to look carefully at inclusion and diversity and was instrumental in setting up TWIN (The Women’s Insurance Network) 8 years ago and in 2013 helped launch iWIN (Independent Women Insurance Network) for the Worshipful Company of Insurers (www.wci.org.uk) where she is a Freeman and also sits on the steering committee.

Barbara founded The Insurance Supper Club 7 years ago (www.theinsurancesupperclub.com). The Supper Club is for senior female leaders in the industry, has over 350 members across Europe and the USA and is growing globally. The club has industry recognition and is widely sponsored by local and global insurance groups. Speakers are sourced by Barbara and the ensuing discussions are far reaching and stimulating. These events, which happen several times a year in the UK, Switzerland and across the USA are under the patronage of Mary Francis, CBE. Barbara organises, moderates, speaks at and attends ISC and other industry events.

The work on the Supper Club and the other activities focused on inclusion in the insurance industry has led to Barbara being awarded the “Woman of Excellence – 2014 Award” by The National Association for Female Executives, one of the largest associations for women professionals in the USA.
In the past Barbara was the pioneer and business leader of a major centralised lending business and insurance intermediary working for a leading domestic lender as part of an 18-year financial services career in business leadership, management and development.

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