You studied English Philology. When did you first hear about insurance?     

I began my university studies focusing on English, because I dreamed of travelling and learning about other cultures. I wanted to be an airline pilot and travel all the time. It so happened that my father stopped working for a construction company. He wanted to return to Barcelona and, through a contact of his, he began to sell life and personal insurance. In a few years, he’d already have a client portfolio and agency of his own and was associated with one of the leading insurance companies in the Spanish market. That was my first contact with the world of insurance. I was attracted to my father’s attitude to service, how he went out of his way for the insured.

Did your ambition to do something big drive you to London?

When I began to take an interest in the sector, I didn't feel like devoting myself to selling auto, motorcycle and home insurance. I was looking for something different, more complex, which is why I reached out to several insurers until the Marine Department of a British Insurance multinational hired me. They had established a reputation in the Spanish market in the 90s. Of course, this company also had a significant footprint in the Portuguese market. The company had its head office in the City, just behind Lloyd’s, and that would be my gateway to this fantastic world of insurance.

Tell us about your beginnings in Marine insurance.

I found it fascinating. While I supported the Marine Underwriting team, I read for a master's degree in international law in the evening that was entirely compatible with the subject of my work, and I felt a growing passion that motivated me to learn more about imports, exports, the economic panorama, and how all those influenced transport insurance.

Can you share any amusing anecdotes from those early days?

Shortly after I joined the Marine Insurance Department there was this one morning when my boss dropped the newspaper on my desk for me to read. Imagine my surprise when I told him that I’d wait for my breakfast break to read it and he said  No, you don’t have to, you’re one of the few who should read the newspaper during working hours because you have to keep up with daily changes in politics, policy, economics, and military conflict, given that all those factors influence transport insurance. And I was very diligent! I read it thoroughly to constantly improve my underwriting.

From our conversation, you’ve often found yourself in the right place at the right time and went through pivotal, career-defining moments... What can you tell us about those?

As I mentioned earlier, walking in front of the Lloyd's building in the 90s was a turning point and an inspiration. I wanted to explore and be curious about how such perfect machinery with 330-plus years of history providing insurance solutions to the world would work.

Professional life has granted me the privilege of serving as legal representative of Lloyd’s in our Spanish and Portuguese markets.

What can you tell us about the 9 years you spent at Commercial Union?         

Well, they were truly interesting and I quickly learned a lot. We had a very muscular team and I really enjoyed sending faxes to Venezuela and telexes to Moscow. That was also my first experience in the ever-changing world of multinationals. There I began to consolidate relationships that are still going strong after all these years. I had experience in marine claims, and seeing the other side of risk, and contributed to early implementing Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance in Spain. Quite a cultural experience as well.

After that, you took on a new challenge at the German Gerling Group. What were the main differences you experienced?

It was a very interesting change due to the company and customers’ profiles. There I began to accrue more domestic experience, dealing with international brokers, seeing more corporate risks, getting involved in international programmes and learning the ins and outs of the Portuguese market. It was a very qualitative leap.

We had sums insured at capacities much higher than any I had seen before. My Barcelona-Madrid relationship was consolidated. I think that, at this stage, I matured my underwriting process and international experience, as I was in contact with all the Heads of Marine in Europe and we formed a body we called the Transport Committee.

There was business for everyone. I remember that, before the 3Q of the year closed, we had already reached our annual premium budget goals. It was a very productive time.

You experienced working from home much before the pandemic. What came out of that experience?

I think the only good thing to come out of the pandemic is that it opened our eyes to a work model that, if carried out with discipline (you have to have it, and stick to it), is a very efficient one.

Prior to the pandemic, I served as Chief Commercial Officer at a Spanish insurance company, working from home. I managed a team of more than 10 people located in different Spanish cities and had a relationship with a network of over 300 brokers throughout Spain. Currently I still have a working relationship and a great personal relationship with a few of them.

You introduced a Lloyd’s Syndicate, Catlin, in the Spanish and Portuguese markets. Tell us about that project.

For me it was a great professional challenge. We knew how to build a legacy for our markets. Beyond the figures, my mandate was to serve the market with reputation, responsibility and closeness. I think we developed a cadre of highly qualified personnel (today most of them are in high-responsibility positions), a style of closeness that sets us apart from the competition, and the most important thing of all: honesty in business.

Seeing the company grow from humble beginnings, opening two offices in the market, one in Barcelona and another in Madrid, with a team that felt like a family (during the 9 and a half years that the operation lasted, no employee left the company) and watching it progress, was an invaluable work experience. It’s a shame that we were later absorbed by an entity with values ​​different from that the ones Stephen Catlin tried to impart to all of us, we did feel like family.

You believe that establishing good and strong relationships at the workplace is paramount. Can you tell us why?

That’s crucial. People are definitely the key to company success. There’s a deficit when it comes to looking after people in organisations and we should be spending most of our time on that, to be honest.

After my long experience in a multinational there is a lot of window-dressing and not even very consistent window-dressing at all. I witnessed several acquisitions and the buyer would not even bother to acquaint themselves with the talent that came with their acquisition. Definitely a mistake.

The more talent and the better you take care of your team, the greater the success. A leader is defined by how much their team trusts them. Generally speaking, we lack leaders in organisations today.

What brought you to Lloyd’s?

I was preparing the introduction of a Lloyd's Broker in Spain when Juan Arsuaga (formerly the CEO of Lloyd's Iberia) called me to tell me that he’d served for 14 years or more, he was going to leave the company and I would make for a good replacement. It was a significant challenge, given Arsuaga’s track record in our market, but I couldn’t miss that bus. 

I believe that my experience, having previously managed the Catlin operation and being knowledgeable about the Spanish and Portuguese markets, plus obviously my great network, were salient points when I applied for the position.

The process was intense and it took place during the pandemic, so everything we did was through Teams calls, uncomfortable and not at all like an in-person job interview. This added a degree of difficulty to the process.

I will always thank Juan Arsuaga for thinking of me.

You joined Lloyd’s during the pandemic. How unusual was it to lead a team you had never met in person?

We were absolutely in a work environment outside our comfort zone, but it helped us learn new things, which have remained a part of our daily lives.

While I live in Barcelona, I am based in Madrid for work. Back then I couldn’t travel to Madrid more than once or twice a month. I wanted to go to the office, but everyone was working from home, therefore, I’d get to Madrid, go to the office for a day and wouldn’t meet a living soul.

I had an advantage, however. I’ve known the great team we have at Lloyd's Madrid for over 15 years and that helped the integration, but we could not meet physically nor could I see the London and/or Europe teams in person for a while, a year and a half since my onboarding. It is not the best of all possible beginnings, but it was an unpredictable situation that nobody chose to be in.

For years MDS was the only Lloyd’s broker out of Portuguese-speaking countries, enjoying a close relationship with Lloyd’s Iberia. Can you tell us more about the relationship?

MDS has been fundamental in developing Lloyd's brand in the Portuguese market from the beginning, when Lloyd's decided to bet on said market.

In fact, from the outside, I always associated MDS with Lloyd's and, therefore, I think it has been beneficial to both brands. One, the leading Portuguese broker associated with our brand, the specialist insurance market par excellence and two, Lloyd's, which always seeks to collaborate with leading actors in the markets where it operates. The relationship with MDS has always been very flexible and we have maintained a very robust cooperation over time, where we work to increase our business opportunities together.

We’ve already had the pleasure of your collaboration with FULLCOVER magazine in previous issues. What are your thoughts on the importance of projects like this, focused on knowledge-sharing about our industry?

These types of projects are vital not only to a specific sector, but for society at large. Education is the basis for the values ​​that allow a society to progress and a catalyst when it comes to building quality talent that will later serve companies. It is the path to success.

In recent years, training initiatives have grown, even after pandemic, with the advancement of webinars, but I think there was a very important gap in terms of training and didactics within our industry. In fact, I suggested that each company have an education department.

The insurance industry has a relevant position in society, due to its relative weight in the GDP and the number of people who work directly and indirectly for the sector. I’ve never understood why there is no formal career track or university degrees focusing specifically on insurance or any other focused programmes with greater relevance.

Lloyd’s has always been known for innovating and adapting to paradigm shifts. In a world where new risks emerge day by day and old risks become more complex, what can we expect from Lloyd’s?

I believe that, beyond the fact that Lloyd’s is the insurance market, the capacity that its platform has to face intangible hazards that we deal with in the insurance industry has no rival.

The San Francisco earthquake (1906), the 9/11 attacks (2001), the Japanese tsunami (2011) and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, to name a few examples, demonstrate Lloyd’s resilience in the face of unprecedented disasters, bringing the greatest liquidity to bear. Even with all the goings-on of late, in 2023 we posted the best results in the last 15 years and we continue to develop with new insurance formulas to face new risks that may arise.

You absolutely love mountaineering. Tell us of your biggest adventure so far and the projects you’re involved in.

I always felt very close to nature. Living in Barcelona means the Pyrenees are an hour’s drive away. Two hours, and you get to the Hautes Pyrenees. There, you’ve got hundreds of paths (snowed under in winter) to discover and enjoy. I have done mountaineering, hiking, skiing and, for the 10 years, I have been running in the mountains. I took part in several races in the French Alps, the Dolomites and, of course, in the Pyrenees, though also in a few hidden gems a bit inland from our Catalan coast.

I am also involved in education: teaching young people who are still in school to run in the mountains. Show them a different sport, where the basis is respect for nature and the activity is a way to grow by practicing an outdoor sport, where you set your own goals and limits.

As for my latest adventure, I reached Everest Base Camp in November last year. A bit of a fast-paced tour, but it gave me ample time to contemplate that amazing part of the planet, enjoying that magical route to the roof of the world and share moments with a Nepalese family with whom I had established a first approach so I could offer educational assistance to their children.

Last but not least, we want to know about your love for guitar playing. When did that begin and how have you kept it alive over the years?

You have good sources! I think that my interest in Anglo-Saxon things began in my youth, when I would strum the guitar playing English songs.

I was passionate about those lyrics and notes, from less commercial bands of the 80's to the mid-1990s. With the paycheque I earned from my first ski lessons (I worked as an instructor for a few years) I bought my first guitar.

I need to admit that I’ve never learnt music theory or taken lessons and taught myself, basically. So as not to put extra pressure on me. So, I consider myself a frustrated musician.

Now I have an electro-acoustic guitar and it helps me escape everyday life. It is an intimate, special moment, and if you play it in front of a fireplace out in a cabin, lost in the mountains... then it is all peace. What more could you ask out of life?