Yes, We Now Have Insurance In Space!

Career Lab Executive Series 2/07/17
With Anne Melissa Dowling, director of Illinois Dept. of Insurance and former CT Deputy Commissioner for Insurance

Most folks think of insurance as a stagnant industry, slow to move and change. Anne Melissa Dowling opened the session with a different view of the industry, expressing that, right now, it’s changing at a fast pace. The changes are occurring everywhere in the industry, from how insurance funds are invested to deal structures, private placement, new policies on where money goes, legislature, and how insurance companies are partnering with their customers to offer new products that matter to modern living. All in all, she is very excited for the new directions the industry is exploring and took the session to explain them.

Ms. Dowling led us through tales of the development of cyber insurance and terrorism insurance, showing how much of an impact these offerings have on maintaining world market stability. She also spoke of CSI-style fraud investigations into the arbitrage of workers’ comp and health insurance, a very new arena of investigation for insurance companies. Ever think that life insurance questions are downright rude? Well, the industry is developing new non-invasive and elective tech to help customers keep premiums low-cost.

Imagine taking care of your family across country borders. It’s not a simple task, as every country has a whole different set of laws and policies that must be followed by international insurance companies in order to operate in those countries. Balancing the laws internationally for family life insurance and estate planning is a new superhero job within the insurance industry.

We are in the midst of an underwriting evolution. Who is responsible for smart and automated cars? Where is the data coming from? How are we getting the data? Who is insuring the satellite that collects the data? Yes, we now have insurance in space! How are we dealing with four years of no underwriting under Obamacare/ACA? It’s a complicated set of questions that rivals those that rocket scientists encounter while getting anything launched into space.

UConn students have the privilege of being courted by the top insurance companies in the world with the placement of the Full-time MBA program in Hartford, the center of insurance for the U.S., and with many alumni placed within the industry. The new perspectives Anne Melissa Dowling shared with the students illustrated how new and exciting opportunities for analytics, entrepreneurship, leadership, and creativity are making the insurance industry a very contemporary place to have a career.

Susan Jacob ’17 MBA
Student, Full-time MBA Program
Susan is an MBA candidate at the University of Connecticut, specializing in digital marketing strategy and marketing analytics. She has significant experience as an entrepreneur and cinematographer, using her MBA to pivot her career into producing and marketing for new media. Susan founded the UConn Graduate Entertainment & Media Association (GEMA) with fellow cohort student Peter Ernsky in January 2016 as a way for students interested in the media, entertainment, and tech industries to get together and improve their future career prospects and share their passions. View Posts