Women in Leadership: Surbhi Goel

Surbhi Goel was until recently Head of Reinsurance, Property & Casualty Underwriting at HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company in India. She started her career in 2002 as an underwriter in Commercial Underwriting and gradually took on more and more responsibility. Her journey shows: Perseverance pays off!

Surbhi Goel, how did you start your career?

I started my career in 2002 as a commercial underwriter with ICICI Lombard and moved to Reinsurance function in 2005. In 2008, I joined HDFC ERGO as assistant Vice President managing both treaty and facultative reinsurance. In 2014, I began handling large Global Relationships like FM Global, AXA XL, and Zurich. I continued leading the reinsurance function and became head of department in 2019. In some lateral moves, I also took additional responsibilities of casualty underwriting, followed by property underwriting, which turned out to be a major milestones in my career. The underwriting exposure gave me direct insights into the customer needs thus enabling me to take better decisions on reinsurance purchases.

How do you switch off in the evening? How do you manage to balance demanding work and private life?

Once home, I like to spend time with my kids or meet friends over coffee or just relax with a good book. I am very disciplined about spending at least one hour every day on my health & wellbeing. So I indulge in yoga, functional workouts or play tennis to stay fit. This gives me energy for work and allows me to manage stress and pressure.

I keep a low participation on social media sites to make time for myself & my family. I also advocate taking frequent short breaks for switching off and rejuvenation.