2021 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA
Hayley Robinson Group chief underwriting officer
Zurich Insurance Group Ltd.
Zurich
Considering her career has spanned more than three decades and taken her from London to the United States, back to the United Kingdom and on to Zurich as a highly regarded underwriting leader, it’s hard to believe that Hayley Robinson has ever had feelings of self-doubt.
“I had imposter syndrome for the first 20 years of my career,” Ms. Robinson said. As a mentor she encourages others to believe in themselves.
One of the pivotal mentoring moments of her career was when a boss at RSA Group PLC suggested she work on her strengths rather than focusing on trying to fix her weaknesses.
“Once I started doing that it gave me so much more confidence. Now I give that advice to people a lot, but it took me 20 years for someone to give me that piece of advice and for me to take it,” she said.
Ms. Robinson entered the insurance industry in 1984 in a graduate training program at then Sun Alliance after leaving Southampton University with a degree in French and Spanish. Sun Alliance later merged with Royal Insurance to form RSA in 1996.
Over the next 30 years she took on various roles in underwriting and claims, including two stints in the U.S. where she led strategy for RSA’s Latin America business.
In 2012 she briefly moved to Aviva PLC as U.K. chief underwriting officer for personal lines but returned to RSA the next year as chief underwriting officer for emerging markets. In 2016 she became managing director for global risk solutions, a $1 billion business.
A call from a headhunter led her to Zurich Insurance Group in 2018 as U.K. chief underwriting officer. She was promoted to Zurich’s group chief underwriting officer in June of this year.
Julia Graham, CEO of U.K. risk and insurance management association Airmic, who worked with her at RSA, said Ms. Robinson is a great role model and an astute professional.
“I admire what Hayley has achieved but she’s never lost touch with her roots. She’s very grounded and down to earth. It means that she’s very approachable,” Ms. Graham said.
