12 Dic FULLCOVER in conversation with Maurizio Castelli
Leader of Brokerslink Risk Management Practices
You have had a long career in risk management. How did it start and how has it developed?
As with many risk professionals of my generation it all started by accident. At the time, about 35 years ago now, there was no real risk management culture in Europe and youngsters would therefore not naturally aspire to be a risk manager when they grew up! My journey started with an interview for a project manager role at Pirelli, when out of the blue, and I am still not sure why, the HR person said: “Would you be interested in a career in risk management?” I had no idea what it was, but I am curious by nature, so I went for the interview with Pirelli’s risk manager. It was love at first sight between risk management and me. I joined Pirelli’s Risk Management department and rapidly moved up the department hierarchy until finally becoming Group Director of Risk Management and CEO of the Group’s captive a few years later. I spent 15 years with Pirelli followed by a shorter period as Risk Manager for Piaggio. I then moved to the opposite side of the barricade when I joined XL Insurance, first as Director of Client and Broker Relationship Management for continental Europe and later as Country Manager in Italy. Ten years ago I moved into the third phase of my career as a Risk Management consultant, putting all my experience at the disposal of companies that need support to start or to grow their risk management framework.
You met Jorge Luzzi a long time ago. How did you meet?
Jorge has been a colleague and a friend for my entire career. When I joined Pirelli in 1990, he was also part of the team, and we shared the same office in Basel, Switzerland, as juniors. Over the preceding 35 years we both moved to different positions and companies but always somehow remained connected, even when we were in very remote locations. Jorge was truly a unique person, and we are still mourning him; the community of risk managers miss him, and so do I as a friend.
How did you come across Brokerslink and why did you get involved?
I met José Manuel Fonseca when I was President of FERMA and he was nominating Lisbon as the venue for the next Risk Management Forum after the one in Rome. That marked the start of a friendship that saw us continue to meet up every year at the most important events in our sector. These meetings became real traditions; for example, every year at RIMS we organized a lunch. Naturally, José Manuel took these opportunities to talk to me about Brokerslink, and so when I became responsible for relations with brokers at XL, we worked on developing an important strategic partnership between XL and the network. When I left XL to be a risk management consultant, I needed to be able to rely on an international network to better manage my multinational clients. Brokerslink was the only independent network, to my knowledge, that offered not only broking services, but the entire chain of integrated risk management services. For this reason, in addition to José Manuel’s personal knowledge and our friendship that had consolidated in the meantime with many members of the network, it was completely natural, as soon as Augustas was established, to suggest we become part of Brokerslink as an affiliate.
What was the rationale behind the creation of the Brokerslink Risk Management Practice?
There were other risk management consultancies within Brokerslink and it was natural for us to start to talk amongst ourselves and discuss how we could better co-ordinate our activities and provide real added value and risk management advice to all Brokerslink members. The model, which already works well in some countries, sees a local broker and a local risk management consultancy work in an independent but co-ordinated way to provide clients with a seamless proposition of integrated risk management. That is risk assessment + risk treatment + insurance placement + ancillary risk services. The concept behind the Risk Management Practice is to enable this same proposition to be available to any member of Brokerslink, in every country where the network is present.
Following Jorge’s passing, you are now leading the Brokerslink Risk Management Practice. What is your vision going forwards?
Jorge was a one of a kind, and apart from missing him dearly as both a friend and a colleague, we also miss him as leader of the Practice. My vision is really to press forwards with the project we started together and to bring risk management consultancy services to the entire Brokerslink world.