The Key Learning Points:

1. The need for the insurance industry to engage with technology in order to close the UK protection gap

2. The Importance of building a diverse and inclusive business to attract women into the insurance industry

3. The impact a mentor can have on your career progression

In this week’s podcast episode, we chat to our first male guest, Ian Teague, UK group managing director of iPipeline, a business that has a vision to help grow the protection market through collaboration and innovative technology. Ian is a qualified accountant and has held senior positions across a number of tech businesses. 

Ian speaks about his first role in financial services with clerical medical many years ago, firstly as an auditor and then as financial controller. He ended up in financial reporting and then moved to a more hands-on software engineering technology firm based in the automotive sector in Birmingham. His love of financial services and technology was born there, and he developed a passion for combining the two, explaining “I've always had that interest in trying to make things better, do things in different ways, and technology can do that”. Today Ian has 20 years’ experience in the financial services sector.

Ian explains that in order to propel our industry further forward and to close the protection gap we have to engage with technology. “Our industry isn't as innovative or technology-enabled as other industries and we have to change that to ensure that the end result is growing the UK protection market and making sure that more people are protected in their time of need”.  

iPipeline accumulates a vast amount of data and Ian talks us through one of their income protection findings – that women are in fact better at fully protecting themselves, than men, and goes on to add that “women are more risk-averse and actually understand the risks better and are more willing to protect against those risks“. This raises an opportunity for financial advisers to sell into their female client base, as iPipeline findings suggest that they are in fact more profitable customers. 

Ian explains that he has made it a business focus to build a diverse and inclusive team, and adds that their Cheltenham office boasts a 50/50 split of men and women at management level. He talks about their fantastic maternity returner rate and their focus on retaining talent. For Ian, building a diverse and inclusive business is extremely important, which lead to the launch of the iPipeline Balance for Better initiative in 2019.

Ian talks about the importance of creating the right environment in order to attract people, especially women, into the insurance and technology industry. He believes that industry role models have a role to play and that sharing people’s success stories will help to demonstrate that organisations will support, promote and develop their people. 

On wrapping up the podcast, Ian talks to us about the importance of getting a mentor or a coach. He feels that they can help you gain a greater understanding of your strengths, weaknesses, the impact you have on others, and how you can make an impact in your career. “A coach or mentor can enable you to break through the desire to be right, to focus and be more curious, rather than right, and listen more and try to understand."