New insurance festival launched to celebrate diversity and inclusion

Lloyd’s, the specialist (re)insurance market, has launched a global festival that aims to celebrate diversity and inclusion in the insurance industry.

The event, called Dive In, will run from 27-29 September and will feature events in 16 cities including Singapore, Sydney and Shanghai.

Themes covered at the festival include multicultural diversity, gender diversity, LGBTI and workability, which covers both physical and mental health.

Dive In first launched as a local event for the London Market in 2015, with more than 2,000 registered attendees.

Sydney will be the first city to kick off this year’s festival.

Lloyd’s Australia general representative Chris Mackinnon said Lloyd’s Australia was “overwhelmed with the support” from the Australian insurance community on the event.

“The feedback that we have had suggests that whilst there is a high level of awareness around the benefits and advantages of a diverse and inclusive workplace, the opportunities to drive home that message and promote its execution can be limited. The Dive In Festival creates the perfect environment to showcase our commitment as an industry to offer a diverse and inclusive working environment,” he said.

XL Catlin chief regional officer Kelly Lyles added: “Not only must our industry champion diversity to attract and retain the best and brightest minds; we must each look for, seize and create opportunities to strengthen diversity and lead the change we want to see in our industry.”

Lloyd’s Asia-Pacific chief executive Kent Chaplin said: “Inclusive workplaces encourage better employee engagement, better job satisfaction, improved productivity, and better solutions to customers’ needs. Ultimately these will drive better business results.”

In Singapore, Lloyd’s will kick off the festival with a Diversity – Why We Should Care panel discussion and networking event on the afternoon of Tuesday 27 September; on day two, Allianz and Aon will host an event highlighting Un-biasing our Unconscious Bias; on day three Allied World will host a Youth Mentoring event and in the afternoon the Women in Reinsurance (WiRE) group will host a panel discussion Embracing Diversity – My Entrepreneur Journey.

For more information visit www.diveinfestival.com.