Spice of Life

Lynn Oldfield, president and chief executive officer of AIG in Canada, has no problem explaining why she loves talking about, learning about and encouraging others to get excited about insurance.

“The big attractors in this industry for me are that it’s absolutely foundational to allow the Canadian economy to grow and expand and develop,” says Oldfield, who has been in the property and

casualty insurance business for three decades. “The variety is constant. You’re talking to a mining client one day, a transportation client the next day and a financial institution the third day.”

It may be this variety that has provided the spice to what some outsiders – wrongly in Oldfield’s mind – view as a bland industry.

It also may be this variety that has fuelled her commitment to lead by example and inspire others to get involved and stay engaged.

GET EDUCATED

Oldfield’s efforts around education and mentoring are meant to spark that fire and engagement. These include teaching Principles and Practices of Insurance at the Insurance Institute of Canada (IIC), contributing to updates to IIC’s Chartered Insurance Professional (CIP) program, creating AIG Canada’s Emerging Leaders program and launching a Pay It Forward campaign, which connects experienced and younger professionals.

“Mentors were incredibly important to my career development,” Oldfield says. “I pestered to join meetings, to attend clients’ events and to learn from the seat of masters, and I was very fortunate to learn this business from some of the best minds.”

As such, she made a commitment very early on to pay it forward.”Ironically, I end up learning, I think, as much from one-on-one mentoring experiences as the individuals take from them.”

Oldfield’s decades-long efforts were recognized last year by the CIP Society, part of the IIC, with an Established Leader Award.

“It’s an organization I hold in the highest of regard,” she says of IIC, calling it “the premier educational body for insurance professionals in Canada.”

The industry affords ample opportunity for learning – and education is something in which Oldfield sees great value, crediting it with being a foundational key to her development and success.

“I’m fortunate in my career that at an early age, I decided education was going to be an important differentiator for me and it did not disappoint,” she says.Outside of the insurance world, Oldfield has an undergraduate degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and an MBA from McMaster University; inside the insurance world, she has Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional and Canadian Risk Management designations.

SOLID PLATFORM

Beyond the honour of the award, Oldfield says it offers a platform from which she can discuss issues of importance to the p&c industry in Canada, and from which she can reach out to those not currently in the industry.

“We are competing for top talent with many other industries,” she points out, welcoming any platform that allows her to sell the merits of what she regards as “a fascinating and ever-changing industry” and opportunity for young professionals.

“The property casualty industry in Canada is directly related to the economic volatility that we’ve seen in the last decade. There are ups; there are downs. We need a highly educated and engaged workforce,” she emphasizes.

“If we can attract the best and the brightest, the industry is better for it.”

But how does one sell the industry when the competition is so stiff?

“I think you sell it as an industry that is the foundation of economic growth and development in Canada,” Oldfield says. “It’s an industry that absolutely demands a fulsome understanding of the Canadian business environment and, most importantly, a very high level of curiosity,” she says.

“The question we always ask our commercial clients is, ‘What are some of the obstacles of meeting your business objectives? If you’re trying to grow your business, what’s holding you back?'” she relays. “If you can bring a solution to the table to assist in breaking down those barriers or augmenting some business process or working capital that’s going to move forward a Canadian corporation’s growth objectives, that’s a very heady experience.”

LEARNING THE ROPES

With AIG Canada since 1991, having joined as manager of professional liability, Oldfield has held a number of senior roles (some promotions; others lateral moves).

Among other things, she served in the Canadian lead position for what is now financial lines, led the national accounts practice, launched AIG’s mergers and acquisitions products to the Canadian market, developed what is now called global risk solutions, and took on the senior leadership in the company’s underwriting and distribution functions.

In 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, Oldfield was named president and, two years later, also CEO.

“I have learned so much from the day I walked into my first managerial position with AIG in 1991, and most of my learning has come from mistakes that I’ve made over the years. Those are the most powerful learning opportunities,” Oldfield says.

“Hiring top talent, setting clear expectations and then providing constant feedback, for me, has been the greatest formula to allow team members to be successful.”

CHALLENGES AHEAD

While much progress has been made in the p&c insurance space, both globally and at home, plenty of challenges lie ahead.

Having been in the p&c insurance industry in Canada for 31 years, Oldfield quips that she “predates the personal desktop computer and the Internet, so technology has been enormous.”

Oldfield also cites changes to weather, natural catastrophic loss development, changes to governance and the competitive nature of the marketplace. “Canada has always been a competitive property casualty industry, but I think some of the technology and innovation enablers have made it a more interesting competitive market going forward.”

How has industry fared? With regard to technology, various companies have responded in various ways, Oldfield says, and industry’s adaptation to increased natural catastrophe is what she terms a work in progress.

“As the industry comes together with government and with stakeholders, it’s tackling climate change, it’s tackling things like flood mapping and tracking,” Oldfield notes. That said, “the property and casualty insurance industry in Canada, unfortunately, is not the only answer to some of these global trends. But it has to be an active participant with a voice and w ith meaningful contributions at the table,” she emphasizes.

The industry must be prepared to answer challenges. At AIG Canada, for example, the company hosts and trains employees through a process called Innovation Boot Camp. Those efforts have “spawned some of the more interesting products that we have developed in the last five years.”

Customers are more educated than ever before, she says. “An educated consumer requires a more responsive carrier and partner.”