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2020 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA

Connie Tregidga Group head of retrospective solutions and reinsurance counsel

QBE Insurance Group Ltd.

London

Moving to London from New Zealand as a corporate insurance lawyer just as Lehman Bros. collapsed and the world crashed into a financial crisis, Connie Tregidga was not entirely sure what the future would hold.

But 12 years on she is still in London, has moved into the world of reinsurance and is also the mother of two children ages six and eight.

“I felt very fortunate that my then employer Norton Rose did not make any of us redundant in the financial crisis, and I spent two happy years there before getting a call on one of our regular trips back home asking if I would join QBE on temporary assignment.

“I jumped at the opportunity and, again, have never looked back.”

She said that she owes a lot to her mentors — Jim Fiore, chief reinsurance officer at QBE, and Fran Marc-Antonio, who is now with Trans Re, a unit of Alleghany Corp. — for helping her to thrive in the male-dominated reinsurance world. 

As a busy mother, without the support network of close family around her, Ms. Tregidga has little time other than for work and family but said that in the future giving back will be important.

“I have been incredibly fortunate and been lucky enough to work in such a flexible environment. I have never had to miss out on an important event with my children but have also been allowed to develop my career,” she said.

The team she works with has an equal number of men and women and includes nine different nationalities, Ms. Tregidga said.

“I have seen how diversity works in practice and have a boss who encourages us all to develop our careers,” she said.

That boss, Mr. Fiore, said, “Connie is one of our ‘superstars’ at QBE. She is responsible for some of our most complex reinsurance transactions, some of which have been market leading. She brings enthusiasm, a strong work ethic, strong technical and analytical skills, and a desire to get projects complete — balancing all of this with being married and raising two fabulous children.”