Almost every article written about the state of the global markets opens with a paragraph containing “unprecedented times” or “paradigm shift” or “new normal”. It would not be surprising if you’d read such articles sitting in your home office space, sometimes makeshift (initially expecting just a short stay at the dining or kitchen table) wondering if we’d ever return to the time before Covid.
As the vaccine rollout continues and more people return to the office for a few days a week we can comfortably acknowledge that we are moving toward something that vaguely resembles a time before the world went mad.
In our Financial Lines team, which is where we underwrite complex directors and officers, financial institutions, commercial crime and cyber business we, like most of our brokers, have also had to navigate the impact of the hard market, rising claims costs and the shrinkage of global capacity. The nexus of this trend predates the pandemic, and it is evident that this environment may not return to “normal” soon, if ever.
In our space today, almost every account must be re-underwritten at each renewal and the Financial Lines team has been challenged to look beyond the impact of COVID on financial statements; unpacking corporate governance and ethics codes, reputational risks, exposure to climate change, risks of cyber-attack, the list goes on.
The question we’ve asked ourselves as a specialist underwriting unit at Santam, is not only how we deal with these challenges in a sustainable way, but also how we can add value to our broker and customer experiences in our universe of complex insurance products.
In response, over the past year or so we’ve been re-engineering the Financial Lines business unit. This has involved the piloting of some new AI technology and risk management tools as well as the recruitment of new staff resources in the team. Our brokers will experience the new technology over the coming months. For now, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to our new team resources:
Paballo Phiri who is a qualified CA and joined our complex risks underwriting team effective 1 October. Her skills as an accountant bolster our financial risk analysis capabilities.
Thato Tsindwi is a young Financial Lines underwriter by profession and will be joining our structured risks team. Thato is completing his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He joined the team on 1st October. Thato will be helping us deliver exceptional service to our independent broker partners.
Nqobile Ngwenya joins our team on 1 November. Nqobile is an admitted attorney of the High Court, specializing in forensics, particularly with regards fraud risk management and investigations. She’ll be a welcome addition to our team helping us with deeper insights into fraud and ethics risks in the spheres of corporate governance and commercial crime.
Makolo Kalambaie joins our team on 1 December and will be known to many of our brokers already as a skilled underwriter and leader in the Financial Lines arena. He brings 17 years of experience to the table and will be heading up our structured risks team as underwriting head. He will also be driving our product initiatives outside of South Africa. Makolo has a BCom Honour’s degree in Risk and Insurance. He will be working alongside Tebogo Leshilo (MBA) who is the underwriting head of our complex risks team.
Our new recruits join forces with our current team of Financial Lines and Cyber underwriting specialists who can be found by visiting our website here: SHA | Financial Institutions and SHA | Cyber
I’ll leave you with this wonderful quote as we welcome our new team and usher in a new era in specialist insurance:
“Mutual learning is only possible when all participants are willing to be wrong … willing to learn, to explore new ideas, to go off the map, out of the known, and together grope in the shadowy corners of new ideas, new plans, new territories.”– Nora Bateson (from Small Arcs of Larger Circles)
Article written by: Simon Colman Business Head Digital and Financial Lines
