Lloyd’s graduates take their place in the market

The first graduates to have passed through Lloyd’s Graduate Programme are now taking up permanent positions in the market. The graduates have spent the past 18 months experiencing a variety of inspirational roles in the world’s largest insurance market, right in the heart of the City of London. Lloyd's Graduate Programme was launched in 2008 to attract new talent to the Lloyd’s market and to show university graduates that the insurance industry is attractive to work in.

“Lloyd’s is an exciting and challenging place to work. The market provides insurance to organisations and individuals around the world – ranging from Fortune 500 companies to art collectors and sports personalities – and covers a wide variety of risks, such as kidnap and ransom, hurricanes and space. The market offers university graduates some fantastic career prospects, and the Graduate Programme is a great way to experience what the market has to offer.” said Suzy Black, Head of Human Resources at Lloyd’s.

During the 18 month scheme graduates complete three six-month placements, two at Lloyd's and the other in the market. Whilst at Lloyd’s the graduates are given the opportunity to get involved in some of the market’s most challenging and stimulating activities, such as analysing natural catastrophes, helping build relationships with investors, or following the latest developments in financial regulation.

Varied careers in insurance

In March, the first eight graduates completed the new programme, having worked at Lloyd’s and with managing agents over the past year and a half. All eight have now found permanent positions at Lloyd’s or in the market, from helping build Lloyd’s franchise overseas to writing insurance for the global aviation industry or the gold bullion sector.

“The graduate programme is a great platform for anyone leaving university to get an understanding of Lloyd’s and the insurance market here in London,” said Dishni Payagalage-Don, who completed the Graduate Programme in March before joining Catlin to work as part of its specie team.

“The programme gave me a valuable understanding of the different roles on offer in the market, and the opportunity to try them out before finally choosing what I wanted to do. I particularly liked the interaction and the opportunity to build relationships, and there is so much variety in working at Lloyd’s, you never see the same risk twice.”

Like all graduates on the programme, Payagalage-Don had an interesting taster of the Lloyd’s market. She spent her first six months placement conducting large loss analysis and monitoring syndicate’s catastrophe exposures at Lloyd’s, and the second getting a feel for how the market manages relations with ratings and key investors.

Dispelling myths about insurance

Alexandra Vincenti is now well into her second six month placement at Lloyd’s. Vincenti, who studied international affairs at university before taking a Masters in War studies, spent her first Graduate Programme placement monitoring regulatory reform against the backdrop of the financial crisis and the upcoming UK general election. She is now working on Lloyd’s thought leadership initiative, Lloyd’s 360, and has been looking at topical issues like climate change, and scarcity of energy and water resources.

“Before I joined the Graduate Programme I knew little of Lloyd’s and the insurance sector, but it is much more varied and interesting than other financial services. Researching issues such as climate change, and how it impacts business, has really broadened my knowledge because I have had to learn about areas that were completely new to me,” Vincenti said.

A taste of Lloyd’s this summer

As the first participants in Lloyd’s Graduate Programme are starting out their careers in the market, many more are following in their footsteps. The second intake of graduates started in the New Year and Lloyd's is currently recruiting more candidates for 2010. The deadline for 2010 applications closed in February, but Lloyd’s will be looking for graduates for its 2011 intake in September.

“The first graduates have performed to a really high standard during their time on the programme and I am sure they will continue in their success and contribute to the amazing pool of talent already in the market. Lloyd’s is offering more graduates the opportunity to experience what the insurance market has to offer, and this year we have extended our programme to include a new Summer Internship,” said Black.

In June and August this year Lloyd’s is offering its first Lloyd’s eight-week Summer Internship to undergraduates, giving them an insight into how the market works. The scheme is particularly worthwhile for undergraduates considering applying to the graduate scheme, offering the chance to ask questions of Lloyd’s senior management, tackle some of the challenges existing graduates face, and meeting people who are currently on the scheme.

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