Women can climb ladder to corporate board seats

NEW YORK — Women in the insurance industry who would like to be more active on boards of directors can take concrete steps to achieve this, according to a panel speaking Tuesday at the 10th annual Business Insurance Women to Watch Conference in New York.

While networking can be advantageous, so can executive search firms, according to Lizabeth Zlatkus, a board director of Legal & General Group P.L.C. in London and of Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc. in Boston.

“Both of my board seats came from search firms,” said Ms. Zlatkus. “Definitely work with search firms.”

Technology can also help leverage opportunities

“One of the resources available to all of you seeking corporate board appointments is to seek out an organization that has an electronic database,” said Elaine Caprio, president of Caprio Consulting L.L.C. in Boston.

Serving on a corporate board and also reporting to one helps one observe both sides of the executive-board dynamic, said Kathleen Reardon, CEO of Hamilton Re Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda.

As a company chief, Ms. Reardon sits on the board of Hamilton Re but also reports to the board of the parent holding company, Hamilton Insurance Group Ltd.

Laurie Seidenberg, director of operations for Alden Torch Financial L.L.C. in Denver and a board member of the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc., said her experience with RIMS helped her better interact with her board of directors.

Now with a privately held firm, she said she would be interested in serving on a board should her company form one, adding that serving on one board helps to show that you are electable and could serve as an entre to further appointments.