NAME: Lara Mowery
NEW JOB TITLE: Minneapolis-based global head of distribution, Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC
PREVIOUS POSITION: Minneapolis-based global property practice lead, Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC
INDUSTRY OUTLOOK: The reinsurance space is at an incredibly dynamic point in time. Underlying pricing across almost all sectors of the business is increasing in response to a broad range of existing and emerging challenges. This is coupled with new ventures that will test and define the way advancing technology solutions may change the business going forward. There is significant opportunity to shape the direction of the industry for years to come, tempered by caution created by increasing volatility and new risk factors.
GOALS FOR NEW POSITION: My new role takes pieces of what we do throughout the firm and organizes them under one umbrella, to focus on critical aspects of the client-to-broker to reinsurer interactions. This includes coordinating thought leadership, refining the utilization of data relative to understanding market behavior, and further developing our systems and tools that drive interaction with the markets.
CHALLENGES FACING THE INDUSTRY: The last handful of years have brought about an influx of capital from nontraditional sources, which have significantly impacted the business. Add to this shifting environment successive years of loss frequency and severity, climate change considerations, cyber and other emerging threats, growing concerns over social inflation, a focus on protection gap issues, and other factors, and there is a dire need to understand and find ways to respond to the changing nature of risk. The growing importance of technology solutions, and increasingly robust capture and utilization of data, add to both the rate of change and the possibility of new solutions.
FIRST EXPERIENCE IN THE INDUSTRY JOB MARKET: I was a risk analyst trainee (yes, RAT) when Hurricane Andrew made landfall in South Florida. Id never heard of reinsurance when I got the job and two months in, having barely started training, I was trying to figure out how to find reinsurance capacity for Florida hurricane risk.
ADVICE: Learn about different aspects of the business and find the thing that you really find interesting. Once you do, become an expert in it and try to find ways of bringing a new perspective that will differentiate what you contribute. Dont be afraid to suggest solutions that run contrary to the current status quo but also listen and learn from those who have been doing it a long time. Then expand into new areas and keep challenging yourself to learn.
OUTSIDE THE INDUSTRY, A DREAM JOB: Master gardener somewhere like Versailles.
COLLEGE MAJOR: Economics
LOOKING FORWARD TO: Being able to bring together so many pieces of the business that Ive worked on in the past few years into an organized framework and pushing the boundaries of the way we think about the business.
FAVOURITE MEAL: Almost anything really well-prepared that I dont have to cook.
BOOK: I dont think I have one favorite, but I read Milo and the Phantom Tollbooth in grade school and it stuck with me. I made sure to read it to both my kids, and we still have a copy in the house.
HOBBIES: Planting and weeding in my yard, which for me is relaxing, and golf with my husband, which a lot of the time is not as relaxing.
TV SHOW: Im currently re-watching Greys Anatomy with my daughter.
ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON: See hobbies or head to the lake.
