Prudential
Margaret Coltman was only appointed to her role as group general counsel and company secretary in July 2009 but has a very impressive background, including more than 22 years as an insurance partner at Norton Rose.
XL Group
Rhic Webb is described by his external lawyers as ‘a very strong lawyer who has a very good eye for detail’. He says that increasingly his time is spent in corporate matters, as well as ‘the nuts and bolts of insurance and reinsurance issues’.
Lloyd’s of London
Sean McGovern was initially brought in to do finance work at Lloyd’s at the age of 26. Since then, he has been responsible for all the regulatory and government issues for Lloyd’s, and three years ago he took on the task of promoting and protecting Lloyd’s business interests in the US and Canada.
Canada Life
Kelvan Swinnerton is known for solving problems quickly. Having been a partner at insurance firm Kennedys for the best part of a decade, one private practitioner says of him: ‘Kel has a very sharp legal mind, which he couples with a drive to resolve problems proactively and practically – he always has an eye open for the most sensible solution. He also manages to maintain a lively sense of humour.’
ACE European Group
Kenneth Underhill admits that he is no easy taskmaster. He describes himself as ‘tough but fair – and of course ever busy’. As such, he expects both his in-house and external legal teams to have a thorough understanding of the insurance industry. As one insurance partner says: ‘He expects outside counsel to reflect ACE’s own innovative and commercial approach.’
Phoenix Group
Jane MacLeod likes firms equipped with strong regulatory experience and knowledge of the current challenges facing the insurance sector. Last year, the group’s legal spend totalled approximately £6m, split equally between internal and external advisers.
Aviva
Kirsty Cooper manages a total of 270 individuals, half of whom are based overseas. This includes all the lawyers and chartered secretaries across the group. In 2011, the company spent a whopping £60m on its legal spend, excluding any UK-based general insurance claims. Of this, half was spent on external law firms.
Direct Line Insurance Group, RBS Insurance
With 20 years’ experience advising on legal risk management, corporate governance and commercial issues, and noted for his ‘calm good sense and his tremendous judgement’, Humphrey Tomlinson knows his stuff. He heads a legal team of 40 and a company secretariat team of about six at Direct Line.
Continue reading “Humphrey Tomlinson – Direct Line Insurance Group, RBS Insurance”
Legal & General Group
Geoffrey Timms considers himself an unconventional manager of a highly qualified team. He hates bureaucracy and regimentation and above all, babysitting. He likes proactive individuals who strengthen relationships, work independently and exceed targets. This also applies to the external firms he uses. ‘I like working with lawyers who understand how we work and approach issues, who go the extra mile bearing in mind all risk factors,’ he says.
AXA UK
Edward Davis has made his mark at AXA UK. He established the French insurer’s first global legal panel as part of its ‘Ambition 2012’ strategy launched back in 2004. This panel comprises 12 firms fighting over the £3m AXA spends on law firms every year.
Davis has grown his legal in-house team to 40 lawyers and manages the group legal department, group secretariat and the UK compliance team.
