The Best Insurance Professionals and Brokers Worldwide | Global 100

Colette Taylor – Sovereign Insurance 

Chief operating officer 

Leading from the front is never easy, but doing it under pressure and in challenging circumstances is what truly separates the best from the rest.

Taylor has completed a “Super Bowl” year by guiding the Canadian firm through two major projects:

The tech plan was key as it underpins their entire operation.

Taylor says, “Our technology was such legacy technology; to support our future, we had to modernize. It was also a reaction to certain parts of our business struggling with profitability in prior years and the realization of the need to invest in our capabilities and systems. We don’t just want to stay relevant in the market; we want to thrive.”

The changes have been introduced effectively and are working well, showcasing Taylor’s leadership prowess.

“I spend more time probably thinking about the people aspect of the business and the psychology than I do pouring over the numbers of the business,” she says. “Don’t get me wrong, the numbers are really important, but it’s how we operationalize things and how we’re able to execute, which is so much still grounded in the people aspect of our business.”

Listing the questions she routinely asks herself:

• “How can I remove roadblocks for the team?”
  
   

• “How can I advocate for the organization?”
  
   

• “Where can I best support and serve?”

Taylor prescribes servant leadership and prepared Sovereign’s workforce for the major changes by using her experience of coming up through the ranks over the course of her 28-year career.

She says, “I reflected on my observations when I was in more junior leadership positions of everything that had frustrated me at the time of observing senior leaders, and either what they did or didn’t do. I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes. My way was to be really authentic in the way that we communicate with people so they can trust they’re getting straight messaging, whether it’s the message they want to hear or not.”

Another factor was Taylor’s focus on all the changes being fully completed and resisting the urge to use new systems before they were entirely bedded in.

“I had observed in my past that when companies get shiny new object syndrome, it gets half-baked. I had seen the churn that it creates in teams when they only half finish a project, but their resources are redeployed to something else,” she says. “I was clear that we were not taking on any other things. That was our mandate, and we were all pulling in that direction.”

Another signature of her leadership is realizing that having her input into everything is counterproductive. Taylor has the foresight to know that delegation pays dividends.

She says, “My proudest achievement would be knowing when to let the team and the experts run and do what they’re best at and knowing when to step in and assist with the difficult decision-making or help reframe to get back to the strategy. It gets harder to pin your own name to any individual milestones, and I think rightfully so, because no leader really gets there by doing everything themselves.” 

Phil Hobbs – Liberty Specialty Markets

President and managing director

Devising strategy and understanding in what direction to go are the acid tests for any leader. Hobbs has shown his ability to tackle both. He has overseen the expansion of LSM into a true global player.

“The biggest impact we have had is establishing ourselves as a material international player in Continental Europe, Asia, and Latin America while maintaining market-leading and award-winning businesses in London, MENA, and Australia. The business and our customer base today look very different from how we looked five years ago,” he says.

Even with his innovative mindset, Hobbs has not allowed LSM to deviate from its fundamentals of being:

• consistent
  
   

• thorough
  
   

• insightful

Hobbs says, “The risk environment our customers operate in is extremely volatile, and what our clients and broker partners are looking for is a proper partnership. That long-term view is crucial to our value proposition.”

Being able to sustain success has seen LSM overcome industry-wide challenges such as:

• managing the loss trend
  
   

• adapting to the post-COVID-19 working environment
  
   

• internally transforming to modernize 

 

However, one stands out as harder to manage than others for Hobbs.

“The ‘war on talent’ has reemphasized our people’s first values,” he says. “It is a collective effort of all of our people managers to ensure that we are challenging each other and setting a high-performance culture that continues to make people want to work for Liberty.”

While Hobbs is being honored, he attributes it to the “collective effort of his global team.” A key component of his success is ensuring projects are completed.

“I think that learning and maintaining an open mind are critical to being a good leader, but there is one simple thing I always aspire to do. It is also what I look for in my team – to finish the last 5%,” he says. “Starting things is the easy bit, but finishing them is where the real value lies. It sounds very simple, but you would be surprised if you used that as a filter and as a personal driver for what you might see around you.”

A 2024 PwC survey showed that 45% of CEOs don’t believe their business will be economically viable in a decade on its current path, up from 39% in 2023.

Hobbs relates to that opinion and is mindful of it in how he leads LSM forward.

He says, “While I would not put myself in that category, I do think that the sentiment is there that everything has to change. My goal is to build an organization that embraces and drives change rather than feeling like change is being imposed on it. We must adapt to the world around us to ensure we continue to provide that same partnership to our customers.” 

 

 

• Ajay Mistry
  
  iCAN
• Alistair Hardie
  
  Jensten
• Allison Carr
  
  Davies UK and Ireland
• Allison Chan
  
  Munich Re
• Amanda Blanc
  
  Aviva
• Andrew Hall
  
  Insurance Council of Australia
• Andrew Horton
  
  QBE Insurance
• Barry Sonter
  
  Finsura Insurance Broking
• Brady Kelley
  
  WSIA
• Carl Hess
  
  WTW
• Charles Brindamour
  
  Intact
• Christian Sandric
  
  Allianz Commercial
• Christine Williams
  
  Aon
• Claire Weston
  
  Great Lakes Insurance
• Craig Buckle
  
  Lockton NZ
• Dale Hansen
  
  BMS Coast to Coast
• Dave Obenauer
  
  CRC Insurance Services
• David Bruce
  
  Acrisure
• Debbie Coull-Cicchini
  
  Intact Insurance
• Donna Ince
  
  Definity
• Erika Schiavoni
  
  TD
• Gail Boudreaux
  
  Elevance Health
• Gail Costa
  
  Chubb Life New Zealand
• Garry Taylor
  
  IAG
• Geion Bright
  
  Amwins
• George Woods
  
  Swiss Re
• Graeme Trudgill
  
  British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) 
• Hugh Sturgess
  
  Arch Insurance International
• Huynh Thanh Phong, OBE
  
  FWD
• J Patrick Gallagher Jr.
  
  Gallagher
• J Powell Brown
  
  Brown & Brown
• Jamie Lyons
  
  Westland Insurance Group
• Jason Groves
  
  Marsh McLennan
• Jennifer Fitzgerald
  
  Policygenius
• Jenny Bax
  
  Underwriting Agencies Council
• Jill Comley-Forbes
  
  WTW New Zealand 
• Joel Cavaness
  
  Risk Placement Services
• John Doyle
  
  Marsh McLennan
• John Mike Falvey
  
  Falvey Insurance Group
• Jon Walker
  
  AXA Commercial
• Juan Carlos Diaz-Padron
  
  GIC Underwriters
• Julie Rayson-Flynn
  
  Adler Fairways
• Justin Delaney
  
  Zurich Australia and New Zealand
• Kate Chiew
  
  Great Eastern
• Katrina Johnson
  
  CHU Underwriting Agencies
• Katrina Shanks
  
  Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) 
• Kay Jackson
  
  Simplex Insurance Solutions
• Ken Norgrove
  
  RSA
• Kevin Strain
  
  Sun Life
• Laura Hollerich
  
  EY
• Lei Yu
  
  QBE Asia
• Lisa Bartlett
  
  Crawford & Company
• Lisa Patel
  
  Aon
• Mark Lingafelter
  
  Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
• Matthew Power
  
  One80 Intermediaries
• Matthew Shulman
  
  Arch Insurance North America
• Maxine Goddard
  
  Sompo International
• Mel Gorham
  
  Insurance Brokers Association of New Zealand (IBANZ)
• Melanie Muse
  
  Navacord
• Melissa Bajwa
  
  PROLINK
• Melissa Collett
  
  Insurtech UK
• Michael Abdallah
  
  Liberty Specialty Markets
• Michael Keating
  
  Managing General Agents’ Association (MGAA)
• Mike Bruce
  
  Brown & Brown Europe
• Nadia Hoyte
  
  USI Insurance Services
• Naveed Irshad
  
  Manulife Canada
• Neil Gibson
  
  Sedgwick International UK
• Ngozi Nnaji
  
  Ako Brokerage Services
• Nicholas Scofield
  
  Allianz Australia
• Nick Creatura
  
  CNA Insurance
• Nick Hawkins
  
  IAG
• Peter Blanc
  
  Howden Group Holdings
• Peter Eastwood
  
  Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
• Philip Kewin
  
  National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA)
• Saad Mered
  
  Zurich Canada
• Scott Gunter
  
  AXA XL
• Sean McGovern
  
  AXA XL
• Shaun Standfield
  
  Insurance Advisernet Australia
• Sheri Clay
  
  J.T. Insurance Services
• Simon Matson
  
  Gallagher
• Skye Theodorou
  
  upcover
• Sonia Boyle
  
  Gore Mutual Insurance
• Stephen Billyard
  
  Billyard Insurance Group
• Steve Lockwood
  
  Gallagher Australia and New Zealand
• Susan Johnson
  
  The Hartford
• Tim Bailey
  
  Zurich
• Tony Buss
  
  ARAG
• Tricia Griffith
  
  Progressive Insurance
• Wendy Houser
  
  Markel
• Win-Li Toh
  
  Actuaries Institute
• Wong Sze Keed
  
  AIA Singapore
• Zahid Salman
  
  GreenShield

The Insurance Business Global 100 report shines a spotlight on outstanding professionals who are making a positive difference and helping drive change across the industry.

Now in its fifth year, this formidable list of the biggest names in insurance was put together by Insurance Business, leveraging its unique position as a true global publication and reaching six different markets – the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Asia-Pacific and the UK.

The Insurance Business team collectively deals with hundreds, if not thousands, of insurance industry professionals throughout the year for its daily newsletters, special reports and surveys, industry awards, and events. This range makes the Insurance Business team well positioned to tackle the intimidating task of whittling down the industry’s high achievers to just 100.  

The Global 100 list features outstanding professionals from all of the Insurance Business’ markets who are making waves in the industry, whether by driving growth and innovation within their own company, taking associations to new heights, advancing the business through education, or championing the key issues that can lead the industry toward a new era.