13th December 2021: ACINRecruit, the diversity-focussed, social enterprise recruitment agency for the London insurance market, has already placed 32 ethnic minority candidates into quality roles within less than a year of launching.
“Some of the candidates we placed turned down job offers from investment banks, consultancies, or law firms to choose a career in the insurance sector,” says Junior Garba ACII, co-founder of the ACIN, and an underwriter at Tokio Marine Kiln. “They learned about our market’s career appeal through the ACIN.”
ACINRecruit, which won the Chartered Insurance Institute’s ‘Talent Attraction Award’ in 2021, was launched in September 2020 by the ACIN. It offers end-to-end talent acquisition services to carriers, brokers, MGAs, and market suppliers, and excellent jobs in insurance to graduates and others from ethnic minority communities.
Despite the extremely competitive jobs environment, ACINRecruit has found highly attractive young candidates for entry-level roles across underwriting, broking, claims, actuarial, and finance. The agency has also helped diversity candidates secure places in some of the sector’s top graduate schemes, including those of Willis Towers Watson, Willis Re, and Travelers. All those hired have joined the ACIN’s London market community, and were recently welcomed to the market by Lloyd’s CEO, John Neal.
“With our help, some of the companies that found promising new talent through ACINRecruit hired a record-high number of individuals from ethnic minorities during our speciality agency’s first year,” Garba says. “Many had pledged to do more to improve racial inclusion in the market following last year’s global anti-racism protests, and diverse recruitment was a key action. Several began to work with organisations like ours to bring Black, Asian, and other ethnically diverse people into the market and their firms.”
Matthew Wilson, President & Chief Executive Officer of Travelers Europe, says: “Maintaining a diverse and inclusive culture is a business imperative for us. Working with ACINRecruit helps us further our efforts by increasing our talent pool. Through the partnership, we’re able to tap into audiences who may not have been considering a career in insurance, and bring new individuals with varying perspectives into the industry.”
Godwin Sosi, ACIN co-founder and Sompo International Underwriter, adds: “For companies that have yet to put their intentions about diversity into action, a specialised recruitment agency is a powerful partner. Insurance-sector employers looking to widen and diversify their talent pool may not really know how to begin the search, but ACINRecruit offers solutions to help you achieve your diversity goals easily, especially in view of Lloyd’s new target that a third of all new hires across the market should be ethnic minority hires.”
Alastair Swift, Head of Corporate Risk and Broking for Willis Towers Watson in Great Britain, says: “A core part of our Corporate Risk and Broking Strategy is to further advance inclusion and diversity throughout our colleague base. We have been focusing on our graduate programme to help further this cause, and partnered with ACINRecruit in 2020 for the first time. Through this partnership we have placed graduates into the 2021 class that we would not otherwise have had access to, and who may not have considered insurance if it wasn’t for ACINRecruit.”
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Notes to Editors
Photo caption: Lloyd’s Chief Executive John Neal (centre) with ACIN founders Junior Garba (right) and Godwin Sosi (left), and a group of new market employees hired through ACINRecruit.
Media relations contact
Junior Garba ACII, Co-founder, ACIN, M: 07446 865595
ABOUT ACINRecruit
ACINRecruit is the Talent Acquisition arm of the African-Caribbean Insurance Network (ACIN), a non-profit social enterprise set up to boost ethnic representation within the Insurance industry. ACINRecruit bridges the gap between diverse talent and the London insurance market. We are here to help the Insurance sector build the workforce of the future by creating access for Insurance companies to recruit from diverse pools of talent. acinrecruit.co.uk
About ACIN
The ACIN was formed to boost black and minority ethnic representation within the insurance industry by way of increasing cultural competence in the London market and making the insurance sector a more attractive destination for young ethnic professionals. Our work includes:
· Graduate recruitment, internships and work experience
· Networking & events
· Industry focused research & study
The ACIN implements an expansive network between its members, black and minority ethnic Insurance professionals, diversity thought leaders, its corporate sponsors, relationships with overseas insurance associations, and educational institutions. theacin.co.uk
