Jane March | Age: 56 CEO

Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC

Johannesburg

Insurance is a career in which you are endlessly learning, which is why, Jane March says, that she has stayed in the industry despite originally falling into it by accident, starting off in what should have been a temporary job.

After spending the past 21 years working at Marsh LLC on its business in Africa, in September she moved to its reinsurance broking operations as CEO of Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC’s South Africa unit and is thriving with the new challenge.

“As an insurer you are always learning about others and other industries, particularly as an insurance broker,” Ms. March said.

While at Marsh, she was named national placement leader in 2016, and was instrumental in growing the brokerage’s mining practice across the continent.

 “I went to great depths in that job — about three kilometers down to be exact,” she said, laughing.

That continual learning is also a hallmark of her life outside insurance. She enjoys horseback riding with her daughter, and during the lockdown she studied to become a yoga instructor — not because she wanted to change careers but because it interested her.

Ms. March is also an avid mentor. “What is so great about mentoring is that, while you are giving your time, they give you so much more back as you watch them develop and fly,” she said. “I was given an opportunity in my career and I feel passionately about doing the same for others.”

She also works closely with her human resources department to encourage training across the company.

Spiros Fatouros, CEO of Marsh Africa, and someone who has worked with Ms. March for many years, said, “Jane has consistently demonstrated a strong sense of leadership and technical knowledge in leading the Marsh placement team in Africa. She is recognized by her peers as a strong, dynamic, passionate leader and her reputation as a tough negotiator is well known.”