XL underwriter Erica Symonds has had a big year. She is approaching the end of her term as president of the Bermuda International Chapter of the Chartered Casualty Property Underwriters (CPCU) society and she was recently named the Young Re/insurance Person of the Year by the Bermuda Insurance Institute.

These developments and her work commitments at XL, where her official title is assistant vice-president, underwriter excess liability, have kept the 34-year-old professional busy but fulfilled, she said.

Ms Symonds was schooled at Southampton Glebe, Warwick Academy and did an Associates Degree at Bermuda College before moving on to Rutgers University where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Marketing. She returned to the Island in 1998 and soon began building her insurance career.

Ms Symonds started at New Cap Reinsurance as a technical assistant. She said this first job involved a lot of administrative work. “You assist the underwriters in getting the quotes out,” she said. “You put together the documents and set up meetings when clients are coming down and help with the board meetings. It was a nice start, it was a nice introduction and I had a great boss. It was a small team so a lot was thrown my way. It allowed you to grow and take control.”

Ms Symonds stayed with the company until it went into run-off. She helped with the run-off process and then moved with her boss from New Cap to Bank of Bermuda HSBC. Soon a broker position at Aon tempted her away, however. “That was my entry into the excess liability market in Bermuda,” she said.

The Aon position was an entry level position but in it Ms Symonds had found her foothold in the industry. “It was a great training ground,” she said. “You learned on the job. Insurance is something that you learn by experience. That’s when I began my CPCU studies as I entered the market.”

Before you can take the 10 courses that comprise the CPCU, you have to have at least three years of industry experience, so Ms Symonds juggled work and study demands while achieving the certification.

While she loved broking, she was soon ready for more of a challenge. “I thought it was a great entry into the excess liability market,” she said. “I learned a lot and I met a lot of clients but I found the work schedule, and the social side of it…became too much. The opportunity to come into underwriting came up and I just jumped at the chance.”

She moved to XL in 2002 as the industry heated up with new start-ups and a lot of professional movement. Ms Symonds joined as an assistant underwriter. For six years she worked directly with Paul Benevides, who has since moved to Axis. “My experience as a broker prepared me immensely for an underwriting career,” she said. “I knew some of the people. I had done a lot of energy accounts at Aon and I continued to do that at XL.There was a certain level of knowledge that I already had.”

Ms Symonds was soon promoted to associate underwriter, putting her one step closer to being a full underwriter. “You get a small book of your own accounts which are your responsibility,” she said. By 2006, she was a full underwriter and this year she was promoted to assistant vice-president. Working at XL also offered her the opportunity to work overseas, and Ms Symonds spent time in the company’s Dublin office, exposing her to the London and Dublin markets.

Ms Symonds loves her work and would encourage young Bermudians to really consider the insurance industry. She said many people seem to have the misconception that the work is boring. “But if you sit down and talk to them about the job and what you actually do and who you meet and work with, the travel opportunities, they are really surprised,” she said. “It really opens up their eyes. It’s not boring by any stretch of the imagination.”

In fact encouraging other young Bermudians is vitally important to Ms Symonds now as she sees it as integral to giving back to the community after all the support and encouragement she herself received.

“I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do when I left college and I think that is pretty common among people of my generation,” she said. “We just kind of fell into insurance, we knew a couple of people in the industry and you met people who started to really encourage you.”

“At Bermuda College, no, I certainly did not think I would be sitting here as an underwriter 14 years later, I did not,” she laughed.

Ms Symonds is a mentor with YouthNet and also uses her executive role in the Island’s CPCU organisation to reach out to budding insurance professionals. “You facilitate mentoring and you facilitate networking,” she said.

There is no such thing as an average day for the young insurance executive. “That’s what I love about my job,” she said. “You never know what is going to happen. I have meetings and meet with clients so there are certain periods that are set up back-to-back, week upon week, but there’s no average.”

On many occasions she takes her laptop home to continue her work in her preferred environment and heavy renewal periods tend to be very busy, she admitted, but she strives for balance. “I don’t have kids,” she said. “I am not married. But I try to balance my social life and getting enough exercise.”

For those considering the industry as a career, Ms Symonds said it is important to be a people person and to have a well-rounded personality. “You obviously have to be intelligent, you have to know what you are talking about,” she said. “You have to be knowlegeable about the product you sell and the product you are trying to sell to your brokers. You should be thorough and service oriented.

“That’s what sets us (XL) apart right now, I think. There’s a lot of capacity in the market right now so you really need to set yourself apart.

“With everyone offering a similar product line, being the policy, it’s the service aspect that sets you apart.”

At just 34, Ms Symonds has her eye on a great future in her industry.

“I am open to all things and don’t want to put myself in a box,” she said.

“Obviously I would like to have a successful career and I would like to move up in the organisation into a more meaningful managerial position at XL but I am open to any changes.

“Many people start in underwriting and move to other areas, that’s the great thing about working for a company like XL, it’s all possible.”