With 20 years of industry experience, what first interested you about the pension and general insurance market?

During my Actuarial Science degree at the University of Cape Town, I explored a wide range of specialisms and was particularly drawn to the consulting nature of the pension market. This was a brilliant place to learn a wide range of skills from industry experts. I was particularly impressed by the communication skills and attention to detail of some of the senior consultants at Willis Towers Watson, where I worked at the time. There’s a certain discipline and rigour that goes with consulting work. Communicating technical results plays a huge role in building credibility in your work and so, although I no longer work in pensions, this foundation has been instrumental in my professional growth.

Motivated to transition into a commercial environment, I was thrilled to secure a European Pricing Manager role at Genworth Financial. I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic interactions within a general insurer, collaborating with actuaries, underwriters, lawyers, claims handlers, compliance, and sales teams. Balancing the natural tensions among these functions was challenging but incredibly rewarding, especially when finding common ground that aligned diverse priorities.

What industry changes have you noticed over the past two decades?

The biggest change has been the staggering rise in insurtech and the part of the market I find myself in now: the managing general agent (MGA) space. And with both come a host of opportunities. 

There has also (rightly) been a massive mindset shift around Consumer Duty and how best to serve customers, with an emphasis on vulnerable customers. Consumer protection laws and data privacy regulations have reshaped the industry, placing greater emphasis on transparency and accountability. 

Can you tell us about your new venture, OneBefore, and what drew you to the business? 

OneBefore was co-founded with my business partner, Peter Norman, out of a desire to build meaningful consumer products that truly meet the needs of everyday people. Our policies are written in clear, straightforward language, eliminating traditional, jargon-heavy wording. 

Our income interruption product provides an affordable safety net for tradespeople, sole traders, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), offering financial support if they are too ill to work and earn. Unlike many insurers who only cover accidents, our product extends coverage to common illnesses, offering broader protection and entitling them to protections employees at many larger businesses receive as standard. 

Another area where OneBefore is innovating is in travel insurance. Our products cover people with pre-existing medical conditions, as well as those who are on very long NHS waiting lists for a diagnosis or treatment. Pregnant policyholders also benefit from our comprehensive cover, which allows them to cancel their trip if they feel too anxious to travel, even when medically cleared by their doctor or midwife.

What responsibilities do you have as CEO of OneBefore?

Ultimately, the success of OneBefore rests on my shoulders. As CEO, I’m responsible for defining our strategy, understanding and mapping out the elements needed to meet that strategy and then implementing workstreams to make it all happen – maximising efficiency along the way! 

It’s a dynamic role that requires balancing big-picture vision with day-to-day execution, but that’s what makes it exciting.

I am incredibly fortunate to partner with Peter, whose expertise I have a great deal of respect for, having worked closely with him for many years. Our excellent working relationship allows us to focus on the creation and execution of our strategy, leveraging each other’s strengths to build OneBefore. 

Mission Underwriters also play an important role where they handle most of our operational tasks and ensure the smooth running of OneBefore, allowing us to focus on growth and innovation.

Having worked across South Africa, the UK, and Europe, has your knowledge of the international insurance market helped inform your leadership strategy at OneBefore? 

Absolutely. The South African insurance market is highly developed and steeped in innovation. Critical illness insurance was created in South Africa in 1983 by Dr Marius Barnard, the brother of renowned heart surgeon Dr Christiaan Barnard. Additionally, Adrian Gore, another South African, founded Discovery Health, which inspired the Vitality model widely used in the UK today. This approach rewards policyholders for adopting healthy habits, helping to reduce claims costs and health insurance premiums.

My time studying and working in this forward-thinking environment profoundly shaped my perspective on supplemental health products and gave me the confidence to innovate and differentiate our offerings in the market.

With Peter’s and my combined expertise, we have the capability to develop bespoke products, including tailored policy wordings and pricing, at a rapid pace

My experience across diverse cultures in Europe and the UK has also enabled me to build a flexible business that adapts to opportunities wherever they arise. It’s incredibly rewarding to establish cross-border connections with like-minded professionals, and this international exposure has been invaluable in shaping both our strategy and company culture at OneBefore.

How does OneBefore plan to transform the sector’s consumer products landscape?

We plan to build on the foundation we’ve already established: creating simple, easy-to-understand policies that address real consumer needs and clearly demonstrate their value.

With Peter’s and my combined expertise, we have the capability to develop bespoke products, including tailored policy wordings and pricing, at a rapid pace. This agility allows us to collaborate closely with our distribution partners to turn innovative product concepts into reality.

A great example of this is the Pulse Globetrotter product, which I’ll describe later. It highlights how our approach ensures that our offerings remain relevant, accessible, and aligned with the evolving needs of our customers.

Congratulations on OneBefore’s recent launch of Pulse Globetrotter in partnership with Pulse Insurance. In what way does the new medical tourism travel insurance offering help close the gap in cover and address current market needs?

Thank you! It was a pleasure to collaborate with Pulse Insurance Limited on this innovative product.

The primary gap we’ve addressed is offering comprehensive travel insurance that covers the standard financial risks associated with travel – even when the purpose of the trip is to receive medical treatment. Most retail travel insurance policies are invalidated when a trip is primarily undertaken in order to receive medical care, which leaves a significant portion of the market underserved for risks like travel cancellations or slips and trips.

The primary gap we’ve addressed is offering comprehensive travel insurance that covers the standard financial risks associated
with travel – even when the purpose of the trip is to receive medical treatment

Pulse Globetrotter also provides critical support for unforeseen challenges, such as coverage for life-threatening complications arising from medical procedures and the costs of an extended stay if recovery takes longer than expected.

Earlier this year you launched Beyond Travel Insurance to offer UK residents comprehensive coverage for both domestic and international travel. It was developed and launched in three months. Were there any challenges to launching within such a short timeframe? 

We think timing is critical, and our aim always is to work quickly to deliver value to our clients and prospects.

As an Accelerant member, we work closely with their team on broad, pre-agreed underwriting guidelines; we can develop and deliver products efficiently, driven by their data-driven insights and access to a range of capacity providers through their Risk Exchange. These guidelines streamline our process and speed up our time to market.

For example, with our travel insurance policies Beyond and Infinity, we collaborated with Just Travel to go from concept to market in under three months. The idea was born over coffee in December 2023, and by March 2024, we sold our first policy.

Peter and I drafted the policy documents in two weeks. Just Travel’s compliance and operations team provided feedback on these while we built an initial rate sheet using publicly available data and our industry experience. Their system build and onboarding process, supported by Mission Underwriters and Accelerant, ensured a seamless launch.

Throughout, collaboration and a shared commitment across all partners were critical to overcoming hurdles and delivering on time.

How will OneBefore ensure that it continues to maintain pace with the ever-evolving industry and diverse customer needs?

Peter and I prioritise staying engaged with a wide range of distribution partners and entrepreneurs. The MGA market is thriving, and a series of conversations over an americano at Lloyd’s of London can shift focus from traditional travel insurance to niche areas like reproductive health in a matter of hours.

Our goal is to continue forging relationships with both new entrants and with existing partners, supporting product innovation where we believe it meets a real customer need and can be delivered sustainably. Once Peter and I get behind a product, we can develop a bespoke solution to take forward as needed.

Nor does our work stop at launch. We actively manage our products, learning from past experiences – including claims and complaints – to refine and enhance them, ensuring they remain clear, valuable, and relevant to our customers.