I first encountered Hannover Re when a colleague contacted me on LinkedIn to join the Advanced Solutions team. After my interview, I had a Taster’s Day in the department for a full day, which included meeting my future colleagues and working on a case study that gave me a first insight into the business. Everyone was very friendly and I gained a thorough understanding of one of our core reinsurance concepts.

Before starting in the summer of 2023, I received a detailed and structured onboarding agenda. The welcome was well-organized, and I was assigned a mentor, who is an underwriter for the Nordics and the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), which aligns with the markets I handle. All introductory sessions to reinsurance and Advanced Solutions business were scheduled, and my first business trip to Sweden in September 2023 was arranged despite being in my probation period. During my first renewal for the 1 January inception date, when about 2/3 of business is rewritten for a new period, I managed an exciting time with my Italian clients in Italy, where the hailstorms of the year had increased the demand for our reinsurance solutions.

Now that my partner has also moved to Hannover, along with my fellow new joiners, I feel personally settled in Hannover as well.

I leverage my robust mathematical skills acquired during my studies and Ph.D. to model each contract either by probability distribution fitting or statistical approximations using Monte-Carlo simulations. This enables me to not only analyze the result distribution for Hannover Re but also ensures that contracts we underwrite demonstrate sufficient risk transfer. Moreover, statistical approaches help us understand the complex interactions of features within a reinsurance solution, which is crucial when discussing and negotiating contract features with clients and brokers. Since each client is unique and contracts are tailor-made, the appropriate statistical methods may vary and are not always immediately clear, introducing a research component into my daily business activities.

Main drivers of our projects, so called submissions, are typically based on optimizing capital or reducing volatility in balance sheets and key performance indicators. Our reinsurance solutions are customized and innovative, meticulously designed to address the specific needs of our clients. These solutions frequently incorporate multi-year periods and risk-mitigating features, adding layers of complexity that demand a deep understanding of their implications.

Each project involves juggling multiple tasks simultaneously, communicating with contact partners from diverse backgrounds, and addressing unexpected developments or restructuring based on feedback to better suit our clients' needs.

Travelling is a significant part of my profession and I most recently represented Hannover Re at the Caribbean Conference in Mexico and had interesting client meetings in New York, Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Additionally, I follow the news to keep track of political developments or natural catastrophes such as hurricanes forming in the Atlantic, which allows me to assess their potential impact on my treaty portfolio and the profit and loss accounts of my clients. This proactive approach ensures that I can quickly assess the impact of natural disasters and other unexpected events, and offer appropriate reinsurance solutions suiting our clients changing needs.

As a person originally from Egypt, with experience living in Latin America and having studied in Germany, I am deeply enthusiastic about the international work environment at Hannover Re. Alongside my native Arabic, I speak German, English, and Spanish fluently, and am leveraging these languages and my intercultural experiences in my interactions with clients and brokers. I find it thrilling to solve analytical problems while continuously learning about new cultures and broadening my horizons.

Under a dedicated mentorship, I am gradually assuming greater responsibilities, particularly in supporting our operations in the Middle East and expanding my involvement in the Chilean insurance market. I've successfully managed numerous contracts and am hoping to expand our business in the markets I am responsible for.

Working at Hannover Re provides invaluable opportunities to exchange knowledge with colleagues in our market departments, enriching my understanding of global markets and specialized lines of business. This diverse and challenging environment is what makes my role at Advanced Solutions truly fulfilling and unique.

Not to mention, Hannover Re, as an international company, enables international exchange between its branches and I am definitely looking forward to my stay in the Middle East, which will expand my reinsurance market knowledge.

I have an MSc in Renewable Energy & Finance and went straight to Hannover Re after college. Hannover Re caught my attention when I was searching for a role that would allow me to develop front-end client relationship experience while demonstrating my quantitative skills. The team culture is great, and a flat structure is valued in the decision process. Our managers and senior underwriters are approachable and are inviting contributions from anyone. The team size here in Dublin is compact, and I know most people in the office. I was looking forward to a position where I could travel and use the German I learned in school and through a summer spent in Germany. These factors taken together made Hannover Re as an employer very appealing to me.

At Advanced Solutions Ireland, we implement tailor-made reinsurance solutions for clients, particularly also for internal clients like our branches in the form of intercompany transactions. I am responsible for underwriting reinsurance deals, which involves data analysis, calculating loss picks, and negotiating with brokers and cedants.

While still early in my training, I was involved in transaction renewals and attended meetings with the C suite of major insurance companies. This gave me the opportunity to observe high-level negotiations, learning from our CEO at Hannover Re Ireland and other experienced colleagues. I was impressed by the professionalism of their preparation and exchange. As my knowledge and experience have grown, I have been able to actively participate in negotiations and meetings with cedants.

I am now looking forward to working with the Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) team in Hannover on a secondment for half a year. This will allow me to gain hands-on experience with catastrophe bonds, deepen my understanding of the ILS market, and further improve my German proficiency.

I have been with Advanced Solutions for over a decade, beginning with an internship that paved the way for my current role. During this time, I have specialized in developing tailor-made reinsurance structures that meet the evolving needs of our clients in diverse regions such as the Middle East, Korea, Japan, Southern Europe, and Africa. My role also involves authorizing contracts handled by our younger underwriters, providing guidance and ensuring quality.

Throughout my tenure, I have cultivated long-term customer relationships and have achieved a high degree of independence and self-determination in my work. Despite the many years, the job remains varied and continuously offers development opportunities. The evolving demands of the business and my market responsibilities, combined with intercultural insights, constantly present new challenges.

Underwriting does not come with a handbook; each contract is crafted uniquely to meet specific client needs. This is always a process which fosters new discussions and connections with clients and colleagues. Engaging in these discussions is crucial, as the exchange of ideas and perspectives helps in refining solutions, considering accounting implications, compliance aspects, regulatory changes, and the macroeconomic impact of factors like inflation or technological progress.

Furthermore, I am actively involved in the departments’ Education team on all matters surrounding training, selection of new joiners and mentoring of non-permanent joiners such as trainees, interns and working students.

No day in this role has been the same. The dynamic nature of the work, coupled with the need for continuous learning and adaptation, keeps the job exciting. My background in financial mathematics and analytical skills has been invaluable in navigating these complexities and contributing effectively to my team and the broader organization.

In my early days at Hannover Re, I had the chance to participate in a training session with the Advanced Solutions team. I really appreciated this opportunity to gain a glimpse into the business, and I kept it in mind for my future development. After ten years in traditional reinsurance, I finally made the successful internal transition. The Taster’s Day was challenging but also revealing, giving me a good insight into what to expect.

The reality turned out to be two-fold. On the one hand, I still deal with the same clients and have a good understanding of their needs. The products are similar but on the other hand they come with a twist, offering a different perspective on reinsurance compared to standard products.

In my first months, I realized that the positive outside-in perspective on Advanced Solutions that I experienced — where colleagues were always approachable and willing to help — was indeed reflected internally. The management is well-synchronized, fostering a positive spirit of collaboration. It’s noticeable that everyone helps each other, and there is a spirit of creating synergies to develop the business together as a team. Our working environment is modern and undogmatic, fostering inspiration and creativity. Advanced Solutions truly embodies the company’s “somewhat different” notion, making it a dynamic and fulfilling place to work.

There are also challenges we need to tackle. The business has grown, and the usual dedication put into each of our contracts needs to be matched with a higher level of automation to make ourselves future-ready, thus allowing us to focus on presenting innovative, state-of-the-art solutions.