2021 Women to Watch Awards Americas EMEA
Sally Lake Group financial director
Beazley PLC
London
Sally Lake joined Beazley PLC in 2006 from the consulting world where she had worked since graduating from the University of Warwick with a degree in math in 2000.
It was right after Hurricane Katrina, the market was hardening and the London-based specialty insurer was growing. Ms. Lake started in an underwriting division focusing on claims analytics. Fifteen years and three children later, she now serves as Beazley’s group financial director.
“I’ve never planned any of my career at all,” Ms. Lake said. “Any aspirations I had as a kid were met before I left university. I didn’t have ideas of grandeur.”
After six years on the underwriting side of the business, Ms. Lake in 2012 took a more traditional actuarial role across the group after returning from her first maternity leave. That lasted until after her second maternity leave when Beazley offered her another opportunity as reserving manager, which soon turned into group actuary in 2014.
Ms. Lake was one month short of five years in that role and now with three children, when her boss, the chief financial officer at the time, announced his retirement. She went for the job and became group financial director in May 2019.
“My timing wasn’t great. COVID hit soon after. Then my CEO left,” she said. In that short timeframe, Beazley had to raise debt and equity and reported a financial loss in 2020.
Ms. Lake has taken all of those challenges in her stride, said Jim Bichard, partner and global insurance leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, who manages its consulting relationship with Beazley and knew of her from when she worked at the accounting and consulting firm. “Her first 18 months were more difficult than her predecessor had to probably deal with in 10 years, and she has led from the front throughout that,” he said.
Ms. Lake said that what inspires her is doing a worthwhile job well. “I want to be happy in my job because if that doesn’t get ticked why am I not with my children? That target drives me rather than an aspiration to be the first, or the top of, or anything like that.”
