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2022 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA

Laura Parris Executive director

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

London

Laura Parris’ career choices first took her across a continent and then an ocean as she developed her expertise first as an underwriter and later as a broker.

Born and raised in Pasadena, California, she majored in business at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. On graduating in 2006, she had job offers in New York from a private equity company and from American International Group Inc. Taking advice from her father, who worked in the insurance business, she opted for AIG because of its reputation in training underwriters and because working for a larger company would allow her to make friends quicker in a new city.

Ms. Parris specialized in directors and officers liability and in 2009 joined some former AIG colleagues at Ironshore. In 2015, she took the opportunity to move to London to work on U.S.-exposed D&O and financial institution accounts, later adding responsibility for errors and omissions and cyber liability coverage.

In 2020, Gallagher approached her with an offer to move over to the broking side of the business, which she took.

Yoel Brightman, a director at D&O managing general agent Rising Edge Ltd., said she transitioned quickly.

“She arrived in the middle of an extremely hard market in D&O, but she totally took to it and managed to place some incredibly difficult risks,” he said.

“I really enjoy finding solutions, especially on complex risks, so I felt it was the right opportunity and timing to move over to the brokering side,” Ms. Parris said. “Also, even though Gallagher is a large company, there is still a level of that entrepreneurial spirit, which was very appealing.”

She has also become involved in diversity efforts at Gallagher. The team she works with is now split 50/50 male and female, she said.

One of the issues that many insurance and financial companies still need to address is “the motherhood pay gap,” said Ms. Parris, who has two young children.

“Gallagher has allowed me to progress my career and provided the opportunity to do so, whilst perhaps not all companies enable that,” she said.