Being crowned InsuranceERM's chief risk officer (CRO) of the year is a rare honour bestowed upon few, but Hiscox's group CRO Fabrice Brossart has now received that accolade twice in his career.
He first won the title in 2017 – and makes it a double in this year's awards in recognition of his talent, expertise and contribution to the industry. Brossart says: "It is great to win again this year. The award means a lot to me as it is judged by peers."
Brossart is the deserved CRO of the year because since joining FTSE 100 insurance group Hiscox in November 2023, he has led a remarkable uplift of its risk management function.
Brossart joined Hiscox in November 2023 as group CRO. Prior to that, he spent 12 years at AIG where he held positions in both the UK and USA, latterly as CRO for international general insurance where he oversaw AIG's risk management function in more than 80 territories outside the US.
Before AIG, Brossart spent 10 years at Axa Insurance UK, rising to chief actuary.
Hiscox already had a robust risk management framework to maintain regulatory compliance and protect the business from potential threats before Brossart's appointment. The key components of this framework include strategic risk management, underwriting risk management, regulatory compliance and operational risk management.
On joining the insurer, Brossart set priorities to further strengthen this risk management framework. These included balancing a strong group framework with local agility; progressing the risk culture across the organisation; and developing a best-inclass second line function where diverse people develop, feel they belong and enjoy working there.
These priorities were underpinned by 18 key activities at Hiscox that enhanced operational risk, governance risk and compliance and the insurer's artificial intelligence (AI) policy.
There are already many measurable indicators of the progress that has been made by the Brossart and Hiscox's risk and compliance function over a short period of time. For example, two board effectiveness reviews took place in 2024, for the group and the UK subsidiary. Both were highly complimentary about the risk committees and the function.
To develop a more risk-aware culture, the Hiscox risk and compliance team has run a series of events to ensure everyone in the company understands how they can contribute to such a culture.
Employee engagement is also at the highest level it has ever been in the Hiscox risk and compliance team. Meanwhile, Brossart has continued to mentor talented colleagues within and outside the company as well as supported several employee groups.
Speaking to InsuranceERM, Brossart says this year the risk team at Hiscox is aiming to focus on long-term and systemic risks, such as those linked to technology developments and climate change.
These long-term risks call for the insurer to be innovative, which he says plays well within the Hiscox specialist model, and the risk team tackles them by developing scenarios with input from colleagues across the business.
In parallel, Brossart says there are rapidly evolving customer expectations, both in Hiscox's retail business where there is more demand for an omni-channel service, and in its London market and reinsurance business, where he says it is using various forms of AI to make processes more efficient, robust and scalable.
Commenting on Hiscox's risk team, Brossart says: "We have around 40 people in our risk team, across group functions and around the world in our business units. Attracting talent has been relatively easy as Hiscox has a good brand and a great culture. We also have strong support from the board of directors and senior management, which has enabled us to attract colleagues from other parts of the business and also to export talent to other teams."
In a complex and rapidly evolving risk landscape, CROs have carved out an important role at insurers, and Brossart clearly articulates why CROs matter.
He says: "The CRO is in turn an engineer, a policeman and a fireman. We are constantly enhancing the risk maturity of the firm, so that we can spend most of our time on that first aspect of the role, and less time on the latter aspects. Hiscox is a growing business with fantastic potential, and our role is to ensure that colleagues can take calculated risk within the parameters of our risk appetite."
These insights come when many commentators expect AI and machine learning to reshape financial services and insurance market. It also leads to the question of how and whether risk teams need to change given advances in technology and AI?
"The combination of specialists in the second line and a strong quality assurance mindset in the first line is key, and AI is already enabling us to be more efficient with time-consuming tasks within the function," comments Brossart.
Outside work
As the leader of Hiscox's group risk team, finding time to relax and recharge is just as important as the day job. Brossart says he is a keen swimmer and "some of my best ideas have come in the pool!"
He adds: "At weekends you will often find me hunting for vinyl records or visiting historical sites."
The accomplished CRO also has advice for young risk professionals starting their careers in the insurance industry.
"Be curious! There are so many facets to insurance to learn. People are generally generous with their time so do not be afraid to approach people for secondment, shadowing and mentoring opportunities."
