Influential Women in Captive Insurance: Grainne Richmond

Grainne Richmond, EVP, head of captives, Aon Insurance Managers (Bermuda)

Grainne Richmond joined Aon Insurance Managers (Bermuda) in September 2022 as executive vice president, head of captives. Prior to joining Aon, she was vice president of Strategic Risk Solutions (SRS) (Bermuda).

Richmond is a qualified CPA (FCA Ireland) and has more than 21 years of captive insurance experience in Bermuda and Cayman, having held senior roles at SRS, Artex Risk Solutions, and International Advisory Services.

Prior to captive management Richmond worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Dublin, in the business advisory division working on a variety of international and Irish companies.

Richmond is heavily involved in the Bermuda industry. She is president of the Bermuda Insurance Management Association and works closely with industry peers in discussions with the Bermuda Monetary Authority, Registrar of Companies, and the Bermuda government.

How did you get started in the captive insurance industry?

I moved to Bermuda from PwC Dublin knowing nothing about insurance or captives—I moved with the intention to travel the world. Twenty-three years later here I am in Bermuda and working in an industry I love and which has been very good to me over the years.

Who inspired you or acted as a mentor in your career?

I have had the privilege of receiving a lot of support and mentors over the years. To start naming them would inevitably mean I would miss someone out. What I can say is that the people who inspired and who I benefited the most from were those who put employee development and support first. Taking care of your employees will lead to your clients being also well looked after, which means the best success for any organisation.

What do you think deters people from entering the world of captives?

Perception of its not being an exciting and dynamic space, which all organisations in all jurisdictions are working hard in 2024 to change. It will take a concerted effort to tell more of what we do for our clients, how our stakeholders benefit and the diverse areas you can work in the captive management space.

How can mentorship and sponsorship programmes be designed to better support the career development of women?

I don’t believe the programmes themselves need change—it is companies not implementing them or introducing them to their organisations. When these programmes are introduced and supported by the most senior people in an organisation they are successful.

“Making change starts at the top—but with programmes that encourage change from the bottom up.”

In what ways can companies in the sector create a more inclusive culture that actively promotes gender diversity at all levels?

Diversity in the captive insurance arena is not just about having more women. It is a broader issue. Making change starts at the top—but with programmes that encourage change from the bottom up. Senior leadership within companies need to change their hiring regimes, the way they run intern programmes, how they train their own leadership teams.

All these practices need an overhaul and they need 100 percent commitment from the top.

What challenges are gender-specific to women in the captives industry?

It is extremely concerning when you are in captive meetings or service provider meetings and you are looking at a face very familiar to your own. I am also concerned if the room has non-diverse backgrounds—professionals and expertise only from one area. The majority of folks in a captive management firm are accountants. We are missing out on diversity of thought and diversity of problem-solving and therefore will not grow and be too late to respond the diverse challenges we are faced with.

What solutions would you like to see?

Very much along the same lines as I mentioned above: change from the bottom up, led from the top.

What are your ambitions?

My short-term ambition is to create a positive workplace for my team where we maintain the high quality service to our clients and we work effectively and efficiently together as a team. My long-term goal is inspire more people to join the captive insurance arena, at service provider and stakeholder levels.

Click here to read Captive International’s first Influential Women in Captive Insurance publication, celebrating the women transforming the captive sector through their sustained excellence and leadership.

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