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29 July 2024NewsAnalysis

Influential Women in Captive Insurance: Jennifer Masters

Jennifer Masters, SVP & Bermuda captive leader, Beecher Carlson Bermuda

Jennifer Masters was appointed senior vice president and Bermuda captive leader at Beecher Carlson Bermuda, which is part of Brown & Brown, in 2022.

She was previously at PwC Bermuda, where she worked for more than a decade. She started out in 2011 as a senior associate, assurance in the UK, before becoming senior associate, insurance and reinsurance in Bermuda and then moving over to work in PwC’s captive division there.

Masters was a manager at PwC from 2015 to 2019 and then a senior manager from 2019 until she departed for Beecher Carlson Bermuda. During her time at PwC Masters conducted financial audits for entities in reinsurance and captive industries reporting under IFRS, US GAAP, Norwegian GAAP and the Bermuda Statutory Insurance Act.

She also dealt with various forms and classes of captives, including single parent, association, segregated-cell, long-term insurers and other insurance-related financial vehicles.

How did you get started in the captive insurance industry?

I started my career in captives in 2013 with PwC Bermuda. I requested to work in the dedicated captives team, as I knew that I enjoyed working on many different engagements/projects throughout the course of one busy season, rather than only working on one larger commercial insurance company.

I enjoyed being exposed to and seeing how each captive operated and how they were utilised in mitigating risk for their parent/affiliate/insureds.

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

David Gibbons.

“The matching process of mentorship/sponsorship programmes is key to making them successful.”

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

Knowledge of the industry. Very rarely do people know what captives are, unless they have worked in/with the industry.

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

The matching process of mentorship/sponsorship programmes is key to making them successful. Mentors and mentees need to be paired based on their professional interests and goals.

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

The current challenge that resonates with me, and it is not specific to women in the sector, is work/family balance. As a mum of a young family (a three-year-old and an eight-month-old), it can be difficult to always find the right balance between working/furthering your career with spending time with your children.

Women are still largely the default primary caregivers: doing drop off/pick up, the one to stay at home when the children are sick. I recently read an article that listed scary stats about the number of women who have dropped out of the workforce after having a family, and it didn’t surprise me.

My husband, who also works in the insurance industry, and I are both very career-driven, and I am thankful that he helps with the nursery run and bedtime routines to allow me to catch up on work, or attend business events in the evening.

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

With two small children an inclusive workplace policy is key for me right now, including flexible work arrangements such as remote work options and flexible hours, to support work-life balance for all employees. Companies should provide generous parental leave policies, or flexibility with the leave, that support both men and women in balancing career and family responsibilities.

What are your ambitions?

Two key short-term ones worth highlighting are:

Continuous learning and development, through participation and attendance at industry conferences, training and via discussions/networking with colleagues in the industry.

Family engagement, prioritising spending quality time with my husband and children, scheduling regular family activities and being present during important moments.

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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