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Reinsurance is an unsung sector of financial services but RGA Re UK's managing director is determined to help bring in a wide range of changes to raise the public profile and take-up of protection Interview by Gregor Watt
For all the financial clout of the reinsurance market, it remains one of the lowest-profile businesses of the City. RGA Re UK managing director David Gulland recalls that just after taking over as MD last year, he was recruiting to fill several jobs at the firm when he was told by a recruitment consultant that they were "the best kept secret in UK financial services".
Gulland says he is not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing but the number of people employed in reinsurance belies the impact of the sector.
RGA may not be a household name in the UK and, like most reinsurers, has relatively low staff numbers for the size of the business, with 72 full-time staff, but last year it overtook Swiss Re to become the biggest writer of new individual protection business in the UK. The UK is one of the key markets for RGA and is generally the company's second-biggest earner after the American business.
Gulland says he is determined to use the size and influence of the business to drive innovation as well as greater take-up of individual protection.
He joined RGA in April 2009 after 25 years as a consultant for Deloitte and he says he is passionate about helping to drive the evolution of the industry. He says the decision to move to RGA was the desire for a new challenge. "Being a boring actuary, when you have a mid-life crisis, you can't get a mistress or drive a motorbike, so I thought I would go for a job change instead."
The decision to move to RGA was also driven by a desire to improve the industry. "As a consultant,...