Influential Women in Captive Insurance: Tracey Williams
Tracey Williams, Captive interface lead/captive director, BP
Tracey Williams joined BP from the London insurance market to lead its insurable risk requirements in the Asia-Pacific region. For the past few years she has been a senior leader in BP’s Treasury team, with primary responsibility for leading the BP captive interface team.
She holds positions with both of BP’s captive insurance companies, domiciled in Guernsey and Vermont. Williams takes part in BP’s social mobility business resource group and has previously been involved in mentoring internally and outside her organisation to support the career development of others.
How did you get started in the captive insurance industry?
I have worked in insurable risk management and insurance for over 25 years, and I was interested in learning more about the alternative risk transfer market. During organisational changes in my current company, I was fortunate to be offered the opportunity to step up and lead our captive teams, working with and levering the knowledge of experienced captive insurance professionals.
Who inspired you or acted as a mentor in your career?
Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to have support and guidance from a number of individuals, including my current line manager Gordon Ferguson, VP risk and insurance, who has supported me through coaching and challenged me to embrace new opportunities.
From a purely captive perspective, I was fortunate in that Lesley Harding, formerly the CEO of Willis Captives, now Global Energy Liberty Specialty Markets, was instrumental in introducing me to and providing the opportunity to be involved in the captive insurance industry.
What do you think deters people from entering the world of captives?
In my experience, many in the insurance industry are familiar with what a captive insurer is but outside the specialist domiciles I believe there remains a lack of understanding as to the breadth of roles and opportunities available within the industry and how to enter the captive insurance sector.
More education is needed for individuals to see this as a career choice, whether this be through engagement with schools and universities (work experience/internship), or collaboration between the industry and wider cross-market professional institutions.
“Advocacy of individuals by more senior practitioners via sponsorship programmes can help break down barriers.”
How can mentorship and sponsorship programmes be designed to better support the career development of women?
Women and their allies are key to delivering a change. Understanding, acknowledging, and working to overcome some of the challenges that women can face, whether it be work- life balance, opportunity, or the lack of broad representation of senior role models in the industry, is key.
One-to-one mentorship and coaching programmes designed with a demonstrable outcome and ongoing support are an obvious place to start and to work well these need to be promoted and supported by individual companies and their management. Mentorship on its own is not always enough and advocacy of individuals by more senior practitioners via sponsorship programmes can help break down barriers in support of diversity across the industry.
What solutions would you like to see?
Establishment of mentorship and sponsorship programmes and networks that provide women with guidance, feedback, networking, and advocacy opportunities, with the support of allies across the industry.
Increase the representation and visibility of women in senior and influential roles, through recruitment, retention, and promotion of women in the captive insurance industry.
Flexibility of working where possible, to support the retention of women in the sector.
What are your ambitions?
My exposure to the captives industry has been extremely positive and I work alongside some outstanding professionals. I’d like more people to understand what the captive insurance industry has to offer, how interesting and fun the participants can be, and have the opportunity to experience it for themselves.
Being able to compare against other parts of the industry from my earlier experience and my journey to insurance and the captives industry, I can offer insight, support and mentoring to women and people from all backgrounds into the sector.
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.
Did you get value from this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
