4 minute read
‘I didn’t choose insurance, it chose me’
Senzile Ndlozi has been Business Development Manager at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Africa for three years. It’s a role, she says, that has allowed her to grow in leaps and bounds. “Sometimes people say ‘I didn’t chose insurance – it chose me’, and to be honest, I fell into the industry,” she adds.
Just after finishing high school, she was invited to attend the IMF’s Future World Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. as a representative of South Africa. “It was a fantastic, eye-opening experience for me. On my return to SA, I was given the chance to workfor Alexander Forbes Financial Services. I debated whether or not I should take this opportunity or whether I should study. I decided that I would work, as well as study at UNISA via correspondence.”
The company wanted her to make her way through most of its divisions to understand what products it sold and how it looked after its clients, and for 24 months she did exactly that under the mentorship of Stuart Cox. “Eventually, I found myself in the client servicing division where I had to engage with clients on matters of insurance and risk management. I also spent time with Emerald Risk Transfer, one of the biggest underwriting managers in SA. I went on my first site visit with Chris Potter to MonteCasino when it was being built.”
Senzile then had the opportunity to work for a mid-size brokerage. “My boss and mentor at the time, Tony Webster, presented me with a task that enabled me to find my passion for business development. I worked
on new business and chased new accounts – we had to get in front of the client and sell. When you’re a big corporate, that’s an easy thing to do as you have the backup, the logo and the systems. Imagine being a midsized broker, promising to deliver better service. We did just that – and I found that I really enjoyed business development.”
Three years later, Allianz knocked on the door. “It was one of the scariest opportunities of my life! I told them that I needed to think about their offer and slept on it. I then decided that it was what I needed to do – and I took the opportunitythat essentially changed my life.”
Her role means that she has to travel a lot and she’s seen most of the African continent. “Allianz has bought 13 entities in Africa, outside of SA. In 2019, we opened up Allianz in Nigeria and that was a fantastic experience. Every now and then we also travel to Munich in Germany where we meet our colleagues to share ideas.”
In the sixteen years that she’s been in insurance, Senzile has seen more women enter the industry – an industry that is still male dominated. “I’ve sat in many boardrooms where I’ve been the only woman. I’ve had the experience in meetings where my voice wasn’t heard. I had to learn to be confident in who I am and feel as though there’s a purpose and there’s a reason for me to be in that boardroom.”
Women, she says, are definitely moving into the industry. “This is fantastic – the industry has progressed when it comes to gender transformation, as far as I’m concerned.”
Senzile credits the men that have been in her life to provide support and mentorship. “As I mentioned earlier, I was mentored by Stuart Cox at Alexander Forbes. He was my inspiration. When I moved to the mid-sized broker, it was Tony Webster. At Allianz, I moved in to join a team that included our CEO Thusang Mahlangu.”
Putting more women into leadership positions in SA starts with equality, Senzile adds. “I believe that first and foremost, women need to be treated as equals. We can also do a lot more in terms of supporting women with young families who may need to leave work to attend events like the school’s sports day or ballet recitals, amongst other things. That should be allowed. Fortunately, Allianz is very open minded about things like that and very much in the 21 st century.” In the past she wasn’t open to mentoring, because she believed that she needed to do and learn so much – but that has changed. “I’ve reached a point where I want to engage in conversations, especially with the younger generation, to understand their challenges and how to assist them. We need to get people to move away from being one dimensional about their careers. Not everybody is going to be a CEO or CFO. There’s a lot that people can achieve within the financial services sector without always chasing the top two positions.”
She believes that young women considering a career in insurance should seize all opportunities. “Don’t only think about the administrative side or the client servicing side. Think about things like risk engineering. I toured sites with risk engineers in my career and what I saw was spectacular. The insurance industry attracts doctors, accountants, just about anybody. It’s a wonderful industry to be part of.”
Senzile Ndlozi, Business Development Manager, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Africa
