Diary of an Insurer: Connect Underwriting’s Jamil Elbahou

Monday

As always, the morning begins by acquainting myself with the latest world news from a broad range of sources and outlets. 

With network members across 150 countries and risks underwritten globally, it is essential to remain informed and attuned to developments attracting world media attention. 

After digesting the news, I eat breakfast and then, after digesting that, spend an hour with my trainer – also critical to remaining sharp and focussed in my work.

I then meet with my underwriting teams and managers, as I do daily, discussing predominantly internal matters relating to the activities of the businesses I’m involved with. While I am based in the South of France, most of my business interests are in London so much of the time these take place via Teams.

A good lunch followed, fortifying me for the usual round of meetings with reinsurers, brokers and other market participants – all further standard fixtures of my daily routine. 

Normally, sunset would involve a nice cigar and a whiskey or brandy, however that day I had to travel to London for a very important event in celebration of the tenth anniversary of GBN Worldwide, held at the Institute of Directors’ headquarters on Pall Mall. 

This we combined with a gala dinner, in support of our chosen charity The Cherie Blair Foundation For Women. Cherie Blair CBE KC attended the event to share the work of the foundation in person and she was inspirational. 

Across the world, women are still being held back, short changed and denied the ability to succeed. The foundation works to eliminate barriers to success for women so is a hugely worthwhile cause, which was an honour to support that evening and continues to be.

Tuesday

I awake feeling glad to be back in London and to have caught up with old friends and network members. I also felt very grateful for the support we were able to garner for the foundation the previous evening. 

As usual, the important perspective-informing task of absorbing the latest world news then beckoned, followed by breakfast, workout and daily check-in with my managers and underwriting teams. After a busy evening the night before, which involved months of preparation, I enjoyed some scheduled down time. 

This allowed me to spend some quality time enjoying London with my family, who were with me, and later some overdue quality time with my tailor. Bespoke shoes were on the menu after lunch, followed by dinner with friends then cigars in the evening.

Wednesday

Wednesday continued in a similar vein: I awoke glad to be in London, the essential news digest came next, then breakfast and underwriter/manager meetings until lunchtime. 

A spot more shopping followed, interspersed with meetings in the City and the West End relating to business interests outside of my insurance investments.

Thursday

I adhere to my normal morning routine: news, breakfast, workout, internal meetings. Then it was back to insurance in earnest, with a packed day meeting reinsurers, brokers and other markets, mostly relating to rates in 2025 and how hard the market is likely to remain in various classes going into the 1/1 renewal season. 

Those meetings involved much discussion about the situation in the Middle East, which is obviously front of mind for those in the war market. 

They also confirmed the concerning signs we’d been seeing that the market seems to be going flat. There was a lot of fear about Hurricane Milton and insured losses from other storms but, as loss estimates are revised down, with claims likely to be less substantial than initially predicted, the industry’s continued commitment to underwriting discipline is being called into question.

It was however refreshing to meet in person and great to catch up with people I would normally meet on Zoom or Teams. 

Some I’ve known and done business with most of my career underwriting in the property, energy, war or political violence and terrorism markets. The day also underlined how, while over time my career has taken a much more entrepreneurial turn, I remain an underwriter at heart, with brokers still at the heart of everything I do in insurance.

Friday

After a very productive and enjoyable week in London doing some extremely worthwhile things with my family, businesses, interests and charity, I was rewarded with a bout of seasonal flu – just in time for my weekend away in Paris. 

On a miserable flight back, I contemplated the phrase ‘no good deed goes unpunished’, often attributed to Oscar Wilde, which I’ve never really understood – but certainly came close that day! 

Despite that, I took the opportunity to return to another essential part of my daily routine: a nice cigar with whiskey at sunset, this time overlooking Paris. It was great to be home and to reflect on a very memorable trip to London, which for me will always be the home of insurance.