APIW's 'Woman Of The Year' Urges Industry To Overcome Cultural Hurdles

Working in the insurance industry for nearly half a century–and serving with the Insurance Services Office since its foundation in 1971–Carole J. Banfield has witnessed substantial changes in the business both inside and outside her data-driven organization.

One thing that hasn't changed, however, is that women are still not as prominent as men in the industry–due to both lingering cultural barriers and in some cases their own hesitance to push for advancement, she told National Underwriter in a recent interview.

Ms. Banfield, an actuary by trade and self-described “data junkie,” has by no means been merely a witness to change, serving as a catalyst and facilitator to help advance the industry, while mentoring many of her colleagues–women and men alike–in the process.

Her 47 years of service made Ms. Banfield a role model and earned the ISO executive vice president the “Insurance Woman of the Year Award” for 2010 from the Association of Professional Insurance Women.

Ms. Banfield said women have plenty of room to grow in the insurance business.

After proudly noting that there are now 20 female insurance commissioners–with three of four senior officers at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners being women–she said during her award acceptance speech that “we've seen change–a lot of change. But there is still more room for change.”

When asked to elaborate on this remark, she quickly responded: “There are not enough of us [women] at the top,” adding that she has tried analyzing the reasons for this phenomenon but has been unable to find an example that pointed to discrimination against women.

“This organization has given me plenty of opportunities and plenty of opportunities for other women,” she said. “But I was at a senior executives meeting this week and I was the only woman there.”

She said she believes that to get more women to the top, women themselves must recognize there is no reason not to be there.

“I do think it's cultural,” she explained. “In other words, the culture has to evolve a little bit more, both on the side of women–with their own confidence in what they can do–and the environment in which they work.”

As an example, she recalled one of her bosses once saying to her: “I don't know if I can send you to the South. I don't know how the South will deal with a woman doing the testifying.” But he took a risk and sent her anyway. “There's got to be more of that,” she noted.

“It's up to both sides–one to be open, the other to raise their hand,” she said, noting that one of the main points APIW President Cynthia Beveridge made during a program she attended was to “raise your hand. In other words, don't be shy. If something comes up and you want to be involved, say: 'I want to be involved!'”

However, Ms. Banfield pointed out that “cultural change comes very hard, and maybe we just need more time.”

Included in the list of her many contributions to the insurance industry–and yet another reason why she was recognized by APIW–Ms. Banfield has served as a mentor and role model for men and women alike, playing a pivotal role in the mentoring program at ISO.

She noted how she has been supportive of ISO's “actuarial basic training program,” designed for young people coming out of college who are broadly exposed to what ISO offers and does, are tested, and then recognized at a reception.

While she no longer does much direct mentoring herself, Ms. Banfield continues to encourage and support the mentors, whom ISO also recognizes on various occasions.

“The one thing I tell the mentors–and I believe this–is that you never understand anything as well as when you have to explain it to someone else,” she said. “You have to understand it, so you learn yourself. It's not just a one-way education. You get something out of it yourself.”

Ms. Banfield maintains that mentoring does not have to be solely dedicated to helping women–but can be more about “helping people develop and learn what they have to do to be successful.”

For all her contributions and achievements, Ms. Banfield humbly admits that “you can never do it all on your own,” noting she has had a lot of help and support from colleagues and bosses along the way.

She added, however, that “for what you can do on your own, make sure that you know your business, are qualified to the job and educate yourself.”

“The thing I feel most strongly about is that, no matter what you do, you never compromise your credibility and your integrity,” she emphasized. “If you stick with that, other people will believe you and you will be successful at what you are doing.”

“But, obviously you have to do the job,” she added, while laughing.

Ms. Banfield has traveled the world as part of her work, advising people in China, India and Egypt on how to structure a healthy insurance industry. She testified at legislative hearings back in the 1980s on commercial general liability policies when CGLs were a topic of great controversy that became the subject of an antitrust suit.

And following Sept. 11, 2001, she worked in a conference room across the Hudson River from “Ground Zero” at ISO's home office in Jersey City, N.J., developing policy language for terrorism exclusions that became the standard insurers now use.

However, her contributions do not end there. Ms. Banfield currently serves on the board of the American Society of Workers' Compensation Professionals. She is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries as well as an associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society. And she has been a player at National Association of Insurance Commissioners meetings since 1970, when she was one of the few female representatives in attendance.

She is past president of the Insurance Data Management Association and still serves on its board. And she also leads ISO's Government Relations Department.

Ms. Banfield's entry into the industry is in some ways typical of many, in that she never intended to be in the insurance business. Having graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and a minor in physics, she needed a job. Someone at an employment agency suggested she become an actuary, and although she recalls saying, “I have no idea what that is,” she decided to give it a shot.

She was employed at the National Bureau of Casualty Underwriters in 1962 (one of the predecessors of ISO) but did not start her actuarial work right away.

“When I first got a job, I didn't go into the job category that the men math majors did,” she said. “They went straight into being actuarial trainees, and I was put in the clerical unit, which did work for those actuaries.”

After a year, she passed the actuarial exam and began doing pricing analysis for the National Bureau, but left in 1968 to go to the actuarial department at the Home Insurance Company. She was there for less than two years, mainly doing pricing analysis, and then went to work for the Multiline Insurance Rating Bureau, which was analogous to the National Bureau but was an organization that first developed multiline policies.

“That organization had not done a lot of actuarial development, so it was fun because we were able to develop a rate-making procedure that had never really been in place for homeowners insurance,” she said. “It was fun to take what I had learned and bring it into that multiline area.”

Ms. Banfield began working for ISO in 1971 as an assistant actuary in the Homeowners Actuarial Division, and from there started working her way to the top. In 1977, she assumed responsibility for the Government and Industry Relations Department, and in 1979 she was appointed vice president of that department.

As ISO's executive vice president–a position she has held since 1996–Ms. Banfield is responsible for running the company's renowned statistical database.

She explained that each year, insurers send ISO about two billion detailed records, including premiums collected and losses paid. Under her direction, ISO edits each record, analyzes it and compiles the data into broader statistics, which then become a benchmark for insurers and state regulators.

“I'm a data junkie,” she said. “A lot of things that I've done are all around the data. My passion has been about making sure that the data is the kind of data that we need–and the industry needs–in order to make good, intelligent decisions.”

Having been a math major, her success as an actuary and interest in data does not come as a surprise. Indeed, when asked what she thinks of the role of actuaries, she said: “We're critical. You're in a situation of pricing something that you really don't know what the underlying costs will be, so you have to be predictive about that, which is why the role of actuaries is critical.”

“You can't think of another industry where our raw material isn't something we can price,” she pointed out.

This is certainly not the first time Ms. Banfield has been an honoree. In 2004, she received AMCOMP's Donald T. DeCarlo Legends Award in recognition of her “lifelong outstanding achievements.” In 2003, she received the Helen M. Garvin Outstanding Achiever Award from the National Association of Insurance Women.

Yet, as a recipient of the APIW award, launched in 1976, she said she hopes this will give women, and everyone she knows, encouragement to keep moving forward.

“Tonight, I look out at my women colleagues and am pleased to be in your ranks,” she said during the award ceremony at New York City's Marriott Marquis.

“I've been very privileged to work in an industry I truly respect,” she said. “I really have been blessed.”