October's Presidents Message

Looking back at the speech I made at our Annual Dinner in April and at my first Presidents message in May, I note that I made a number of bold statements:

“During my presidential year I would like to focus on two key areas; “People” and “Modernisation”

“Whilst we can employ new systems, products, approaches, etc, the differentiator will always be people. I would like to focus on bringing people together and championing learning and development”

“I would like to promote more Social events and aim for increased numbers, coverage and diversity on our Council”. It would also be good to do more around generic soft skills and training”

“My chosen charity this year is Suffolk Mind. Today, we have a more open approach to improving Mental Health and I am hoping that our local CII can build a partnership with Suffolk Mind”

The good news is that we have a fantastic local Council and I have received great support in terms of turning ideas and statements into actions and events. There has and is real drive and energy to make a difference and deliver against our goals.

People

A variety of events at various times – morning, noon and night – have taken place over the last 6 months. Whilst some events have focused on education and training, others have sought to help develop “soft skills” and a wider understanding of our industry:

Thurs 17/05 – GDPR from an Insurance Perspective

Tues 19/06 – Reserving Liability Claims

Thurs 28/06 – CII Network Conference - “engagement” theme

Thurs 12/07 – Legal Issues update, including data protection

Tues 17/07 – Wellness in the Workplace

Tues 04/09 – Work and Mental Agility panel session

Thurs 13/09 – Financial Resilience for Women

Thurs 04/10 – CII Study Skills and Exam Techniques

Tues 16/10 – How to Market yourself

On the social side, we held a Summer Party / BBQ in August, a Cheese and Wine evening in September and a Quiz Night in October. I was at all these events and those that came along had a great time. We “sold out” the quiz night a couple of weeks ago and it was great to see people from many different companies coming together and enjoying themselves under the CII banner.

Modernisation

Many of the events above included elements relating to our ever changing world and the increasingly fast changing insurance industry. The Work and Mental Agility panel session was a highlight for me with a panel of industry experts addressing questions and then networking with attendees after the formal panel was completed.

We now are working hard on arranging an all-day local conference in February 2019, with a variety of different speakers and topics, looking at “Modernisation”, “Change” and “Emerging Risks”.

Charities

In July, Jon Neal (CEO of Suffolk Mind – my chosen charity) led a Mental Health Wellbeing breakfast briefing. We had 50 people in place for an 8am start and the session generated a lot of interest with various follow up meetings and discussions.

In October, we held a very successful Quiz Night. With help from Council members, some local suppliers, ITFC and Degero’s (venue) we managed to hold the quiz and a raffle for minimal cost and ultimately raised nearly £650 for Suffolk Mind.

I am geared up to be part of RED January to raise further funds and will be seeking sponsorship in the near future. Suffolk Mind themselves are geared up to be part of our all day local conference that is being planned for early February next year. In addition we are looking at trying to raise additional funds for the Insurance Charities, certainly from the Conference and Annual Dinner.

Council

Council meetings are held every 6 weeks with really good attendance and excellent discussion and debate. Given meetings, discussions, sub-group meetings, etc are largely managed and held outside work hours I am massively appreciative of everyone’s input and support.

To support my key themes this year, for key areas like Education, Comms and Social activities, we have set up small committees led by appointed Officers, which are working really well.

We have added 6 new members (Vicki Chapman, Ed Davies, Lisa Fox, Richard Howlett, Kelly-Ann Quirke and Lewis Spooner) to Council this year taking our full complement to 20. Additions have included new people from Essex and from Insurers which help expand our coverage and diversity. I hope that you have enjoyed finding out a little bit about some of our Council members through the “day in the life” sessions – I have certainly learned things that I didn’t know before!

A Day in the Life of…..Jess Addison

This month we have the words of Jess Addison. Jess chairs our CII Young Professionals Group and is also our Treasurer! Therefore, you will have seen her name attached to various flyers and updates but let’s find out more…..

Unlike most, I didn’t “fall” into insurance but instead chose it. At the ripe old age of 17 I’d been on a work experience week, travelled to London, toured Lloyds with a broker, looked out over the Gherkin whilst sat at my desk and well, that was it. I fell in love with the idea of an insurance career, the atmosphere and the people. Insurance was where I wanted to be.

For the past 4 years I have been part of the Willis Re division of Willis Towers Watson in Ipswich as an Accounts Controller. I started in the Specialty team initially, looking after an Aerospace portfolio and after two years moved over into International which is where I currently reside. I sit under the Asia Pacific umbrella predominantly looking after a book of Indonesian business. Every day is so different for me, from dealing with client requests or talking to my colleagues in Jakarta, no two days are the same. The main part of my role is to “move money”, inwards and outwards, premiums, claims, proportional and non-proportional treaty – you name it, I’ve moved it.

Reconciling accounts to enable these movements can sometimes be challenging, especially as we approach milestones such as year-end. However being part of a team that works cohesively together makes it so much easier to manage and makes coming to work every day worthwhile.

When I joined Willis Re, I started studying towards my ACII which I achieved in February this year. I really enjoyed studying (some may be questioning my genuineness here). I loved learning about Risk, Underwriting, Claims and EVEN Insurance Law; I actually felt a little lost when I qualified.

A lot of my journey in Insurance has been aided by the people I’ve met. I joined the local CII Council only 4 months after entering the Insurance Industry. At that time I was part of a pilot to help grow and promote a new Young Professionals Group (YPG). I have managed to keep some part of the “Young Professional” title, as I chair the Group, alongside being Treasurer. Please watch out for the Annual Christmas Curry Night in November organised by the YPG!

Council has helped me to understand the variety of roles amongst the Financial Services and Insurance Industry through bringing people together and building friendships I will treasure forever – I haven’t used a headshot here, but instead a picture of what was the YPG Committee at the time of our 2018 Annual Dinner (from left: Tom Chambers, Jess Addison, Laura Blyth, Oliver Watson); these are just some of the good friends I’ve made. I wouldn’t be the person I am without the support network of the people around me.

Besides from work, when I have some free time, I’m either out and about with my cocker spaniel Toby roaming the countryside, eating plenty of doughnuts, watching Disney films or more importantly making time for all those special people in my life.

And Up Next

On the 1^st November, starting at 12.30 at ITFC, Gary Nuttall will be leading “an Introduction to Blockchain” session – very much in line with the modernisation agenda and take up is excellent.

On the 6^th December, we have “Feeling Average? Shake these blues with an insurance valuation!” This will again be at lunch time (venue to be advised). The session will help delegates understand the importance of insuring a property at the correct value and different valuation methods.

In-between these learning events, there will be a pre-Christmas CII Curry Night. Details for this will be circulated shortly and again this promises to be an enjoyable evening.

And please don’t forget our Annual Dinner on the 5^th April 2019. Tickets are selling well but are still available. We have the same venue, Toastmaster, live band and photographer in place. We hope to run a raffle and a small silent auction on the night and I am sure that it will be a fabulous night. If you would like to buy tickets for the dinner or have any questions, please contact me directly or Vicki Chapman, our Dinner Secretary (vicki.chapman@willistowerswatson.com)

I hope you will agree on reading this “half year report” our local CII goes from strength to strength. If you have not yet attended any of our educational, social or charity events, then perhaps you are inspired to do so now? Please go to our website for more information and to get involved.

Take care all; Richard.