A Day in the Life of.... Rachel Pleasance

I fell into a career in insurance in 2010 following completion of my degree in Business Management at the University of Suffolk. At first, I was somewhat reluctant to take a job in the insurance industry following a summer internship at an insurance company on the Project Management team – I learnt a lot, but my experience of direct insurance was shaped by call centre targets and monitoring customer service levels, which didn’t interest me at all!

Fortunately, I was lucky enough to have a contact at (then) Willis through the Schools and Universities Liaison programme and was notified of a vacancy in the Market Security Group – I hoped the working environment at an insurance broker would suit me more and the job itself appeared to align with the aspects of my degree that I found most interesting. I started as a Junior Analyst, thrown in at the deep end and learning on the job. 9 years later, I’m still here at (now) Willis Towers Watson with my own portfolio of companies and countries which I am responsible for analysing.

The Market Security Group is a centralised function within Willis Towers Watson reviewing the financial security of (re)insurers with which Willis Towers Watson works globally. The Market Security function is a key tool in providing support and information to our brokers in working with our clients on the financial security of markets, to help our clients make informed choices on the selection of their (re)insurance counterparties.

A ‘day in the life’ of a Market Security Analyst involves:

• Analysis of (re)insurance company financial statements in all different languages;
• Lots of qualitative research and report writing;
• Presentations to management, committees and peers;
• Training new recruits and helping to support their development in a ‘mentor’ role;
• Communicating with local offices and brokers, and meeting with insurance company senior management, in order to gather as much information about a company as possible.

We don’t just rely on third-parties or the opinion of the rating agencies in our assessment of (re)insurance companies. We draw on lots of available sources of information in order to decide whether an insurer can be included on our approved list, which means keeping up to date with global developments, recent catastrophes, political and economic changes in all the countries that Willis Towers Watson does business in, as all these things can impact (re)insurance company operations.

We are a close, friendly and supportive team, and I have been fully encouraged and supported in doing my CII studies by management and my colleagues. I have been working towards my ACII since 2011 – taking the scenic route – and am currently only a few modules away from completion.

This year, I decided to join my local CII Council in order to broaden my network of contacts, enhance my networking and presenting skills, and to experience the insurance world outside of my day-to-day. I applied for the newly created role of Regional Forum Officer, without knowing too much about it! I am definitely still finding my feet as RFO and am trying to take in as much information as possible through attending my local institute meetings before reporting back to my regional counterparts. The concept of the ‘regional forum’ is still in its infancy and as it becomes more established, I hope to be involved in more projects and events to help grow the relationships between the local institutes in our region.