2021 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA
Haixia Zhao Chief underwriting officer for international reinsurance
Sompo International Holdings Ltd.
Zurich
A reinsurance startup that failed to launch didn’t leave Haixia Zhao discouraged after 18 months of hard work; it left her better prepared to lead a global underwriting team.
The experience with Exin Re wasn’t wasted, Ms. Zhao said. “It really helped me throughout my career, especially in my current role,” she said.
“We had to build all teams from scratch,” she recalled of the time spent developing the startup.
“It taught me that talent is key,” she added, and that bringing together diverse and experienced people is critical to the success of a team.
“She’s an incredibly hard worker,” said William Fischer, CEO of Harrington Re Ltd., who worked with Ms. Zhao in a prior role at Axis Capital Holdings Ltd. “She might be recognized as a woman to watch, but I think she should be recognized as an executive to watch.”
Ms. Zhao moved to Zurich in 2009 as a senior vice president in an actuarial and pricing role with Axis, where she stayed until joining Exin Re in 2016.
In 2018, Ms. Zhao joined Sompo, where she’s indulged her love of technology. It’s a long-held passion — her first insurance job in the U.S. after moving from China in 2001 to attend Temple University was as an actuarial analyst with Wills Tower Watson. “I spend a lot of time studying how we can integrate technology with our business,” she said.
That passion for technology led to one of her most significant accomplishments, she said of the creation of real-time data reports for the company’s SomPro global platform.
Ms. Zhao is now working with IT colleagues to create artificial intelligence tools that will reduce the number of manual tasks at Sompo.
There are other, more personal accomplishments, Ms. Zhao emphasized. Spending time as a mentor is a way of “paying forward” the support and education she has received from industry leaders during her career, she said.
“I really want to offer my experience and encourage women in our industry,” she said.
