FORTY under 40: Beth Jacobsen
Beth Jacobsen, Senior vice president–captive management, North America, Artex Risk Solutions
Beth Jacobsen was previously captive director at Artex from April 2021 to January 2024, based in Itasca, Illinois. She joined the company in March 2013 as assistant captive director.
Prior to that she was an account executive at Arthur J. Gallagher from September 2007 to March 2013.
How did you become involved in captive insurance?
I entered the Gallagher sales internship the summer following college graduation and was hired in a sales and account management capacity on the retail brokerage side in the downtown Chicago office. One of my very first marketing initiatives was cold-calling Firestone tyre dealers to spark interest in a captive programme.
While that was the first experience that piqued my interest in captives, it was several years later when I truly took the leap into the alternative risk space with Artex, I was offered an opportunity to take on the assistant captive director role within Artex helping to manage several group captives out of Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and I haven’t looked back since.
What are the biggest challenges of working in this industry, and what do you find most rewarding?
One of the most rewarding aspects of group captives is the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse set of organisations and individuals towards a common goal. Building relationships with members, broker partners and service providers and working together to manage risks effectively as well as seeing tangible benefits of collective efforts is very fulfilling.
Our programmes work extremely well for the right organisation, can have significant impact from a financial standpoint and help companies to continually improve and create a safer environment for their employees. It’s easy to be passionate about what I do.
Would you recommend the captive insurance industry to young people as a future career path?
The captives industry is very dynamic in nature and there are endless opportunities to work at the intersection of finance, risk management and innovation. There is significant potential for career growth, diverse job roles and it is a niche where you can make a significant impact in a specialised field. If you are interested in a rapidly evolving field with continual growth opportunities, the captives space is for you.
What developments do you see ahead for the sector?
From a group captive standpoint, future developments could involve increased collaboration among members to pool resources and mitigate risks more effectively. I would imagine we will see innovations in data analytics with the help of artificial intelligence to better understand and cater to captive audiences needs as well. I also see the scope of the captives arena continuing to broaden even further beyond traditional risks similar to the recent innovations around cyber liability.
“From a group captive standpoint, future developments could involve increased collaboration among members.”
Do you think that your long-term future remains in the captives market?
Absolutely! I love what I do and who I do it with, you can’t ask for much more than that.
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