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PROFILE
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fter an intense final year of secondary school studies, Sarah-Jane Wild applied for a role at New Zealand’s State Insurance that was only ever meant to be a stopgap before doing something else — although what, she wasn’t exactly sure. Wild admits she never expected to find such a fulfilling career in insurance, but in 26 years, she has never doubted her choice to remain in the industry. ‘I’ve loved the variety of roles that I’ve had and the personal growth that’s come with it,’ she says. ‘But really, what underpins it all is an alignment of purpose that I find very satisfying. I passionately believe in insurance as a means to provide financial resilience for individuals and communities.’ This conviction was reinforced when she witnessed the aftermath of two devastating natural disasters: the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes in New Zealand and Cyclone Winston in Fiji in 2016. ‘Insurance is about being there for people when they need it most. Whilst the trauma of the experience cannot be removed, when I saw the devastation, it brought home that insurance significantly reduced the financial stress of those affected.’
Trouble in paradise
After moving to Tower in 2006 as a claims team leader, Wild took up the role of head of claims in 2013 before being promoted to general manager of Tower Fiji in 2015 and moving to Fiji with her husband and their two young children. Less than a year later, Cyclone Winston struck the island nation and caused the deaths of 44 people. The category five cyclone was the strongest tropical cyclone to hit Fiji in recorded history. Approximately 350,000 people — almost half the population — were affected by the storm and 40,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. Making the situation even more challenging was the fact that only 6 per cent of properties in Fiji were insured. The Attorney General of Fiji criticised the insurance industry for not doing more to improve low penetration rates of insurance. ‘It was difficult to go to villages that were completely devastated and then see the insured properties, which had been built to high standards and had mostly only suffered superficial damage,’ says Wild.
JOURNAL // ISSUE 02 2022 // ANZIIF.COM
