Nick Line: ‘Better representation’ at senior underwriter level needed

Accessibility to a career in insurance underwriting has “never been better”, but “gaps and opportunities to improve” remain, says Markel International’s chief underwriting officer Nick Line.

According to Line, “many blocks of success” are falling into place when it comes to the insurance industry sourcing a wider plethora of early career candidates in underwriting, with many firms using recruitment services specialising in helping people from under-represented backgrounds get into work.

However, in some ways, the industry is “still just scratching the surface” and one improvement that can be made to better diversify the underwriting sector is investing more in its existing employees.

Speaking exclusively to Insurance Times, Line says: “We want to continue working towards better representation at senior underwriter level, so ensuring there are opportunities for developing colleagues is arguably just as vital as the initial recruitment.”

Leadership responsibilities

To ensure that every individual can “progress, succeed and thrive”, Line says that an inclusive business culture is essential and to achieve that, a buy-in from all employees is required. But firstly, change needs to be driven from the top.

“Diversity and inclusion is both an opportunity and a responsibility for all colleagues, no matter their demographic or position within an organisation,” he explains.

“You can’t expect change to occur if you’re not willing to change yourself.

“So, leaders have got to model the behaviours and priorities they want to see in their teams as, for real change to happen, it’s got to permeate through an entire organisation and be woven into its culture.”

Line warns that, in doing so, the action taken by senior insurance leaders’ needs “to be authentic” as “people are smart and know if you’re faking it”.

In senior leaders’ and managers quests to define what an inclusive organisational culture should look like, Line suggests working towards better understanding the benefits of diverse teams and how to manage them in a style that lets everyone shine.

He adds it is also “important” for senior leadership to work with diversity and inclusion (D&I) and people experience specialists to bolster their definition of inclusivity into an “actionable strategy”.

“Managing a team of people without differences might seem easier, but it often leads to lower productivity and less effective problem solving,” Line says.

“Leading a diverse group with varied backgrounds, interests and experiences may be more stretching, but can be much more beneficial and rewarding, hence the need for ongoing training and education.”

Dive In 2024

To highlight the importance of leaders driving change from the top, and to provide examples of how they are taking exemplary action, the 2024 Dive In festival launched a campaign ahead of its main event entitled CEO Talking Heads last month (August 2024), via a series of videos published online.

The 10^th Dive In festival is taking place this week between the 24 and 26 September in over 50 countries, with a focus on futureproofing the insurance sector – Markel is a global festival partner at this year’s event. 

Considering the benefits of a diverse team and looking through a cultural lens, Line says an “organisation’s desire for fairness should drive towards greater accessibility for underrepresented groups, so that we don’t leave talented people behind”.

And from a business perspective, “diverse teams are a far more powerful engine than homogenous ones in terms of decision making, innovating and creativity”.

“To best serve our clients and to better understand their businesses and their evolving needs, it’s vital to ensure our organisation is reflective of the world we live and operate in,” he adds.

“That requires us to attract, retain and develop a broad range of people with a diversity of thought to understand those businesses and innovate accordingly, so that we can best serve our customers, colleagues and shareholders and operate most effectively as a business.”