The Best Insurance Professionals and Brokers Worldwide: The 2025 Global 100
Insurance Business has unveiled its 2025 Global 100, a list celebrating exceptional professionals in the insurance industry across the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Asia-Pacific, and the UK. These individuals have significantly influenced the sector and propelled their firms to new heights.
Market Trends and Outlook
2024 saw a resurgence in global insurance premiums, increasing by 4.6%, a notable rise compared to the 1.6% average between 2019 and 2023. The Swiss Re Institute projects that growth will be predominantly led by the life sector, although the expansion of savings business will moderate due to declining interest rates. Non-life insurance is expected to grow at a slower pace than in recent years as the benefits of a hard market diminish. In 2024, life and non-life (including health) premiums accounted for 43% and 57% of total premiums, respectively, and this distribution is anticipated to remain relatively stable over the next decade.
Deloitte’s 2025 global insurance outlook suggests that insurers’ return on equity could improve to approximately 10% in 2024 and 10.7% in 2025. Premiums are estimated to grow by 3.3% in 2024, with developed markets contributing 75% of the growth in premium volumes.
According to the Global Insurance Market Index released by Marsh, global commercial insurance rates decreased by 2% in the fourth quarter of 2024. This marks the second consecutive quarterly decline following seven years of rate increases. Marsh attributes this decline to heightened competition in the commercial property insurance market, stabilization in financial lines, moderation of casualty rate increases, and further reductions in cyber insurance pricing. Regional trends varied, with the Pacific region experiencing the largest year-on-year composite rate decrease of 8% in the fourth quarter. The UK saw a 5% decline, while rates in Asia fell by 3%, and both Europe and Canada recorded a 2% decrease.
Furthermore, WTW’s Natural Catastrophe Review for the second half of 2024 estimates that the insurance protection gap for natural catastrophes is projected to reach 60%, with 2024 being the first year to surpass 1.5° Celsius. In 2024, natural catastrophes continued to put significant pressure on global insurance markets, with insured losses exceeding US$140 billion. This marks the fifth consecutive year that insured damages have exceeded US$100 billion. The total economic damages from these events surpassed US$350 billion, emphasizing the lack of resilience to climate-related risks.
Featured Professionals
Insurance Business spoke with five members of the Global 100 to learn about their roles and their impact on the worldwide insurance industry:
Claire Burke – CHU Underwriting Agencies (Manager of National Specialty Risk)
Claire Burke is a specialist skilled in handling the most complex apartment buildings with defects across Australia. Her expertise is particularly valuable in a market where insurance availability is limited.
“As the market leader, we want to be able to provide support where we can. It’s legislated here to have insurance for strata buildings in place at all times, so there’s a big need to be able to provide this support. I’m in a really great position where I am empowered to find solutions,” she says.
Burke has cultivated her knowledge over 13 years within CHU, starting without any prior experience in the strata sector. Her experience as an underwriting manager has enhanced her technical skills as she addressed issues related to defects. Burke’s distinguishing characteristic is her infrequent rejection of risks.
“It’s something we do minimal of because our goal is to provide a solution where possible and where it’s come to a point where we have declined, we take our time to explain it to the broker so they can share it with the insured,” Burke explains.
Claire Burke, Manager of National Specialty Risk at CHU Underwriting Agencies
CHU and Burke are willing to reconsider cases if new details are presented and remedial work is completed or scheduled. Burke says, “It has happened a number of times over the last 12 months, where we’ve declined and overturned that once we’ve been provided sufficient information… We have to protect our insurer, QBE, but we are also in this business for our clients.”
As a subject matter expert, Burke provides education to colleagues and the broader industry. Her webinars on building defects in strata have garnered thousands of online views.
She states, “Education is such a huge part of what we can provide, and I am really passionate about educating our underwriters in this space and our clients, brokers and the strata managers we deal with.” Burke plans to expand her educational efforts in 2025. “I don’t have any issue with sharing my knowledge,”
She also supports the LGBTQIA community within the insurance industry, raising awareness through posts on CHU’s intranet. She welcomes anyone with concerns to reach out. “They can come talk to me if they are struggling with anything or people within the business might see my posts and then spread that out into the broader community,” she says.
Jodie Kaufman Davis – H.W. Kaufman Group (Co-president)
In October 2024, Jodie Kaufman Davis began her role as co-president, focusing on H.W. Kaufman Group’s global network of over 60 offices. Her work involves coordinating the global executive team, as well as creating opportunities for growth.
“We have tremendous opportunity to really look at the portfolio that we have around the world and figure out how we can do more together. Any one of our parts independently that’s stronger will positively impact the other parts,” she says.
H.W. Kaufman is a third-generation family-owned business, with Alan Kaufman as chairman and CEO. Kaufman Davis explains, “The opportunity to spend time together, both formally at meetings and informally at social events, really makes a positive impact. The more time we can spend together is better for our business and that value has been ringing true at Kaufman for 55 years.” She emphasizes the value of communication and relationship-building for the firm.
Jodie Kaufman Davis, Co-president of H.W. Kaufman Group
“I’m really looking forward to building out our talent, technology and infrastructure, and strengthening our international operations, so that our North American business can better utilize and access our international businesses,” she says. Challenging the status quo is a priority for her. Kaufman Davis is dedicated to fostering relationships at all levels to remain aware of industry developments.
“My father has been a true visionary in the industry and creating this global platform and it’s for a reason, it’s meant to be connected,” she explains.
Previously an M&A lawyer, Kaufman Davis encourages others to join the insurance industry. She also focuses on mentoring younger professionals through the Kaufman Institute, the firm’s training and development arm.
Kaufman Davis states, “I love to bring people into the fold and in our business. We have the Kaufman Institute, which is our training and development arm. I participate in creating some of the content and learn a lot from feedback.” Kaufman Davis relies on employee feedback via surveys. Kaufman is also a powerful champion of DEI across the company.
Angelo Azar – Honey Insurance (Chief Operating Officer)
Honey Insurance utilizes technology to enhance the customer experience, including smart home sensors that alert homeowners to potential issues. “They notify homeowners about things that go wrong, for example it could be a leak whereas otherwise they wouldn’t even know about it,” explains Angelo Azar, chief operating officer.
“It’s implicitly building on our engagement with them because they see Honey Insurance has notified them of something that could be going wrong in their home. That helps to build a relationship,”
Angelo Azar, Chief Operating Officer, Honey Insurance
Honey Insurance has captured just over 1% of the market and over $165 million in GWP. Azar aims to reach a 5% market share and be present in at least one in 20 Australian homes. He is focused on maintaining the company’s customer-first approach as the team grows.
Azar says, “When you’re 10 people, you’re wedded to the plan and it feels like a startup, but we are about 170 now. It’s about ensuring as an executive team, we continue to have the speed of a startup, but the rigour of a mature organization and what I mean is that as you grow you need to be less prone to mistakes, but still have the ability to test, learn and fail quickly.”
Honey Insurance employs AI to enhance efficiency and is developing a program for digitization to make customer interactions seamless.
“Sometimes, you engage with organizations and it’s quite awkward because of the time spent trying to work out who you are and all that sort of stuff. We want to be able to make it so that you’re readily identified and use AI-supported tools to be able to better respond to queries. It makes for a more fluid and dynamic conversation,” says Azar.
Ben Beazley – Jencap Group (Executive Vice President of National Accounts – Property)
Ben Beazley has navigated the changing market conditions, including the transition from a hard market to a 2024 correction. “The market is a transition market where underwriting companies are choosing to do different things with different appetites as they realize there’s money to be made, and there probably is more money to be made today than there has been in 20 years,” he says.
Ben Beazley, Executive Vice President of National Accounts – Property, Jencap Group
Beazley finds fulfillment in providing solutions to complex accounts. He points out, “Finding solutions to an account that otherwise seems very daunting is what puts me on a high.” His role involves mentoring junior colleagues and guiding them through the market changes. Beazley’s mentoring style encourages individuals to propose their solutions. He says, “I definitely introduce them to different markets and relationships that I’ve developed over the years, as this is very much now a global insurance marketplace with London, Bermuda, and there’s capital coming out of places like the Middle East and other places in the world, too.”
Rohit Verma – Crawford & Company (Chief Executive Officer)
Rohit Verma, CEO of Crawford & Company, leads a global claims management firm with over 9,000 employees across 70 countries, which has been facing challenging circumstances over the past year. Verma states, “I think we as an organization have done extremely well in really delivering on our mission and purpose which is to restore lives, businesses and communities.”
Rohit Verma, Chief Executive Officer, Crawford & Company
Operational excellence is a key priority for Verma. He strives to instill empathy across his team, recognizing that clients often reach out on the worst days of their lives.
“They could have lost their home or a vehicle that is pretty important for their livelihood and family. God forbid they got injured or have lost a family member,” comments Verma. “They hope that we can bring some level of normalcy back to their life. It’s really important to understand that it’s not just a claim – it’s a life, a business, a person, a family. Frankly, that’s the biggest driver for me and the team.”
Verma is cautious about the use of AI and has introduced it at Crawford. “We have an offering for the market, which is SaaS-based using AI, and we have a council within our business looking at different AI use cases and prioritising those, so we’re definitely on it. I would say that we’re in the early stages as opposed to where we are using it in our daily work,” he says.
About the Global 100
The Insurance Business Global 100 report recognizes insurance professionals who are positively impacting and driving change within the industry. This list, now in its sixth year, is compiled by Insurance Business, leveraging its global reach across six markets: the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Asia-Pacific, and the UK. The Insurance Business team interacts with numerous insurance professionals throughout the year, positioning them to identify the industry’s top achievers.
The Global 100 list includes professionals from all Insurance Business markets who are making waves in the industry, whether through company growth, innovation, association advancements, education, or by championing key industry issues.
