James Fogarty

Name: James Fogarty
Age: 23
Role: Marine team, global specialty unit
Company: Benfield
Degree/ University: Risk analysis and insurance, City University

Why did you choose the insurance industry?

Initially, I studied investment and financial risk management at university but after the first year I changed to do a degree in risk analysis and insurance, which was the area that interested me most. Having done that, it made sense to go into the industry.

I had offers from similar companies when I left university but Benfield, being the fourth largest reinsurance organisation, seemed to offer more opportunities for development and more exposure. They have invested a huge amount in me - for example through their training programme in Minneapolis.

What have you done in your career so far?

I came into Benfield on the graduate scheme in September 2004, having graduated earlier the same year.

After the first six weeks, which were essentially a comprehensive induction, we were based in our teams, but completed rotations around the business for varying lengths of time to get an understanding of how they all contribute towards the end product. The flexible nature of the rotations was good as it enabled us to spend time in our own teams during the busiest times, and then get experience of other areas when our own team was under less pressure.

I work in the Marine team in London. As part of the global specialty unit, we service customers throughout the world. I spent my first year working on our international side, designing and placing programmes for customers mainly in South Africa and the South East Asia.

The graduate scheme was a year long, and finished with a week in the Lake District where we shared our experiences, gave each other feedback, and documented and planned our short and long-term goals.

What do you do in a typical working day?

Now I work on placements in London and North America. The majority of my time is spent reviewing customers' underwriting information in order to understand their exposures, and subsequently market a programme that will offer them the best form of protection.

Day to day, my work is to service the contracts we have - looking at the information our customers provide, and constructing a portfolio to meet their needs. We review all the information about their business and put it into a form that we can sell to a reinsurer.

In this specialist area, the scale of contract can be huge - from $5 million or $10 million to several hundred million dollars - which stands to reason, given the value of modern ships. It's a global market, so I concentrate mainly on London and the USA, but we cover pretty much every territory you can think of.

What training have you received?

The one-year graduate programme is very intense - my first year was spent almost exclusively in training.

The first six weeks were almost like being back at university. We were given tutorials on a variety of skills required in our daily work such as influencing and negotiating, presentation skills and time management.

There were further workshops throughout the year, but these were only one-day sessions every other month. The most valuable piece of training I had was the "Fundamentals of Reinsurance" course which is a two-part workshop run by Benfield America for their graduates, a few selected people from international offices and insurance companies.

The course is held in the Minneapolis office and consists of five weeks of reinsurance tutorials by senior members of that office, with an exam at the end of each week designed to test your grasp of that week's subject. On passing "Phase 1" everyone is invited back six months later to complete the course with another five weeks of advanced reinsurance skills.

Because my degree was insurance orientated I had exemptions towards the CII's Advance Diploma, and subsequently completed my ACII qualification at the beginning of the year. The company doesn't insist on everyone completing it, but is very encouraging and allows you time within work to study. Everyone is expected to pass the Lloyd's test during the graduate scheme.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I like the global market and the nature of the work. I like the mindset of the people here and the team ethic - there are about 40 people in our team in London.

I would recommend it to someone looking at careers. Especially when you compare our industry to the capital markets, for example, the working day is a lot more enjoyable and there is a lot less stress - less emphasis on extracting the last ounce of energy from every individual.

What do you like to do outside work?

Within the industry there are a lot of social activities, networks for the under 30s and under 35s, with organised trips and parties etc. My work/life balance is pretty good overall, with the winter quite busy - most of our contracts renew in January, which can mean long hours and a bit more stress. But the summer is much more relaxed. I play golf most weekends and enjoy my sport - I'm just about to go off to the States to watch baseball and American football.