2023 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA
Sarah Breslin Managing director, specialty
Pen Underwriting, a unit of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
London
Sarah Breslin built a successful career in finance, which she is using as a foundation for a broader leadership role within the insurance sector.
She grew up in Manchester, England, where she studied economics with accounting and finance at university before moving to London to join PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. At PwC she audited companies ranging from chemical manufacturers to pizza chains and gained some exposure to banks and insurers.
She gained more experience of financial services when she moved to Deutsche Bank AG as a management information analyst and worked alongside the bank’s traders.
“It was quite high pressured but really good fun, and I learned to hold my own among the traders,” Ms. Breslin said.
After spending some time at a smaller asset manager, she moved to Gallagher in 2012 as a finance business partner, where she worked with brokers to help them interpret and improve financial results. She was also involved in integrating acquisitions, among other things.
After taking maternity leave, she returned in 2020 as chief financial officer of Pen Underwriting, a managing general agent unit of Gallagher.
In July of this year, an opportunity arose for Ms. Breslin to take a more customer-facing executive role at the company as managing director of specialty, where she heads a team of 75.
She had worked closely with the business side and felt that her previous position provided her with good experience to take up the business leadership role.
“I felt like I could make a difference. I felt like I know how to get things done, and I could help to drive the business forward,” she said.
Jennifer Martin, chief underwriting officer of Pen, said Ms. Breslin’s strengths include her ability to explain complex financial concepts in a simple way.
“She is highly engaging. She grasps the wider picture, but she is also able to drill down into the detail,” Ms. Martin said.
Ms. Breslin’s new role will position her as a more rounded CFO or allow her to move to more senior trading roles, Ms. Martin said.
Gavin Souter
