OXFORD, Miss. – From understanding the history represented
by Westminster Abbey to meeting Eli Manning’s underwriter,
a recent week in London proved to be a lifetime experience
for six University of Mississippi School of Business
Administration students.
Staff member Robert Forster led the students overseas to
introduce them to the international aspects of insurance
and to compare the U.S. market with the model in England
based on Lloyd’s of London, the world’s leading specialized
insurance market.
“I wanted to expose the students to something much bigger
than they had probably ever imagined insurance could be for
the purpose of inspiring them to move towards a career in
the insurance industry, which may include traveling to
Lloyd’s to place sophisticated risks,” said Forster,
assistant to the dean for development.
Students making the trip were David Coleman of Richmond,
Va., Stoney Ford of Rustburg, Va., Daniel Harrison of
Meridian, Matt Koury of Jackson, Audrey Rogers of San
Antonio, Texas, and Lewis Williamson of Memphis, Tenn.
The students had the opportunity to meet with attorneys –
including Bill Jones, an Ole Miss graduate who was there
representing an insurance client – and several insurance
brokers. They received firsthand exposure to the legal
aspects of insurance from both a claims point of view and
underwriting.
Rogers, a senior managerial finance major, said her
favorite part of the trip was visiting the financial
district and lunching with brokers who shared information
about their jobs.
“My goal through this trip was not only to learn about
insurance, gain experience and make connections, but to
view the industry from a truly global market,” Rogers
said.
Some of the students actually sat in the “boxes” where the
underwriting process takes place. This is where the brokers
come to place the business and discuss the risks with the
underwriters, persuading them to “sign the slip,” which
means assuming part of the risk.
Koury, a senior risk and insurance major, said that he
especially enjoyed visiting Lloyd’s of London and meeting
people associated with the insurance industry in England.
“What I learned from the course was a lot more of the
real-life business conducted in insurance, not just
studying theories and definitions but actually sitting down
with sample policies and going through them to understand
the implications of the policy language.”
Forster said this experience gave the students an
understanding of the big picture of insurance, including
meeting an underwriter of the arm of former Ole Miss
football standout Manning.
The students also had the opportunity to spend time as
tourists in London, including visits to the National
Gallery, British Museum and Tower of London, as well as to
Westminster Abbey and Wimbledon.
“One of the highlights was taking the students to Rule’s
Restaurant, which is one of the oldest and most famous
restaurants in London; it is very upscale and a fun place
to go, and they got to see how business can be transacted
over an elegant dinner,” Forster said.
UM alumnus David White, chairman of the board of the
MorganWhite Group in Jackson, helped Forster with setting
up some of the contacts in London and supplied scholarship
money to make the trip possible for some of the students.
Tom Quaka, another Ole Miss alum and an insurance executive
from Jackson, traveled to Oxford and visited with the
London-bound students to help prepare them for the learning
experience.
“It’s a small world and the U.S. is an important financial
part of the Lloyd’s market. The more personal contacts that
the London brokers can have with individuals in America,
the greater the possibility is that business through these
personal contacts will grow,” Forster said. “Several of the
students now have a dream of going back to London after
graduation and working in that market.”
Both Rogers and Koury recommend study abroad as a great
opportunity.
“The education of this trip surpassed not just our business
aspirations; our experiences together in the city of London
complemented the technical learning we were exposed to,”
Rogers said. “It was more than I expected – it was an
incredible experience.”
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