Chief Underwriting Officers

What does a CUO do?

A key responsibility for CUOs will be to report to the CEO on the decisions made with regards to the approval or rejection of insurance risk.

Chief Underwriting Officers may also have the following roles:

Creating or optimising underwriting and risk management strategies
Collaborating with other analysts and underwriters
Meeting with clients, creating new business relationships and negotiating on behalf of the company
Acting as a signatory on insurance contracts and reporting on losses
Understanding the market to keep the company competitive in terms of new products and prices
Training new underwriters and managing the underwriting team
As a member of C-Suite, participate in the company’s strategic planning

Skills and qualifications you need as a CUO

Any executive or C-Suite position is going to require excellent communication and organisational skills. Also, at this level, CUOs are expected to have at least 10 years of experience in the insurance industry. During this time, a CUO will have mastered underwriting skills, insurance product development, and be able to demonstrate a history of their profitable transactions.

The following skills are likely to be considered essential:

Strong presentation and negotiation skills
A firm command of computer software and apps
The ability to network and create long-term relationships with brokers
Problem-solving skills, mathematics and analytics
Strong leadership skills

Today, more and more CEOs are looking beyond the traditional route of qualifications. For this, not every company will require a bachelor’s degree. It might be sufficient to hold certifications in mathematics, business, economics and analytics. Some will still ask for a degree in these fields or in insurance/business administration.

With or without a degree, you’ll need insurance and or underwriting qualifications: FIISA and CII are two examples. The Mortgage Bankers Association offers a Certified Residential Underwriter (CRU) Program at different levels. The Associate in Commercial Underwriting and Associate in Personal Insurance are common certifications too.

Why choose Bermuda for your CUO career?

As outlined in our article on underwriting in Bermuda, Bermuda is a major centre of insurance and reinsurance. Not only is the Island an insurance hub, but it’s also now considered the second-largest such hub in the world (after London), and is frequently referred to as The World’s Risk Capital.

This is because there is a huge number of global international insurance and reinsurance players in Bermuda. The government has nurtured this business growth and there has been a welcome burst of activity with the Class of 2020 start-ups.

Also in its favour as an offshore business centre, Bermuda assiduously safeguards its reputation for honesty and openness – the Island leads the way in anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) compliance. Under most measures, Bermuda is seen to pass international tests and exceed accepted regulatory standards.

For all these reasons and more, underwriting and Bermuda go together like bacon and eggs – or peanut butter and jelly, if you’re from US side of the pond – in other words, the perfect combination!

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