Top 10 Under 40, 2018: Jocelyn Prentice, BFL

Who are the brightest young talents in Canadian P&C today? Each year, Canadian Insurance Top Broker magazine (recently acquired by CU) answers that question with its Top 10 Under 40.

Meet the other winners here, and don’t forget to pick your favourites for the Peer-to-Peer Awards.

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Jocelyn Prentice Surety Broker BFL Edmonton

Jocelyn Prentice stands out in the insurance industry. The former paralegal joined her father’s insurance brokerage, Foster Park Brokers, to help set up a surety department. She’s one of very few women in the surety field.

“In the world of surety, it’s a very specialized job,” she says. “You spend a lot of time with contractors, on the road, and in construction companies’ offices.”

It’s a job that “can be a little intimidating because you are dealing in an industry that is typically male,” Prentice says.

“It’s old-fashioned, if you like, especially here in Alberta. The construction guys like to deal with men. However, I think it’s becoming a lot more accepted [for women to be in the field]; it certainly has compared to what it would have been.”

Prentice, certainly, has been accepted by the construction industry.

“I’m not shy. I’m a real people person and interested in helping people, getting to know their businesses, who they are,” she says.

Earlier this year, she joined BFL, where she had the opportunity to start her own surety department in Edmonton.

“Although [BFL is] a national company, they’ve only had an office here in Edmonton for about two years,” Prentice says. She adds that she’s the sole person in her department, though she does have support in Calgary and Vancouver.

She also says every day offers something different—but that’s what she loves about her job.

“You’re dealing will all different facets of the construction industry, right from general contractors to many different subsectors: electrical, plumbing, mechanical, lots of landscapers,” she says. “You get to really deal with so many different companies that form the backbone of Alberta.”

Meet the other winners here, and don’t forget to pick your favourites for the Peer-to-Peer Awards.