In Person: Simon Cooter and Carolyn Callan, Covéa

On the 1st May Simon Cooter effectively handed over the commercial and high net worth director baton at Covéa to Carolyn Callan and became in his words ‘minister without portfolio’. At last week’s British Insurance Brokers’ Association Conference Jonathan Swift sat down with both to discuss the insurer’s journey from an also-ran to profitable and growing presence in the mid-corporate and SME market.

Departures from insurance companies are often greeted with much gossip and conjecture.

You might get the ‘thank you for their hard work and dedication …” parting shot, but insurance being insurance, there is often [not positive] speculation about why someone exited their employer.

So with this in mind, it is pleasant to meet someone in Covéa’s former commercial and high net worth director Simon Cooter, who has very much left on his own terms.

“I always had the idea in my head that 55 years