Dara Hanley is a Risk Underwriting Manager at Coface UK & Ireland, based in our Dublin office. He moved to Ireland from Australia in 2004 and joined Coface in 2012.
1. Tell us about your role at Coface?
I’m a Risk Underwriting Manager in the mid-market team which looks after the UK and Ireland-based companies (rather than multi-nationals). The mid-market team is divided into two categories: the ‘light industry’ which concerns retail, food, and consumer products while I head up the ‘heavy industry’ team with a specific focus on construction, metals, industrial manufacturing, and automotive sectors. We also have an underwriting team dedicated to multi-nationals and financial institutions.
2. Put simply, what does a Coface underwriter do?
Our three primary responsibilities are assessing credit limit requests on behalf of our clients to evaluate the risk of buyer non-payment or insolvency, monitoring our risk portfolio and liaising with our clients to ensure that they are getting the right level of coverage from their Coface credit insurance policy.
3. What qualities do you need to be a good underwriter?
An understanding of financial accounts is important, but I think what matters more is experience and having the natural curiosity to ask questions and do your research.
Being able to analyse a set of numbers doesn’t necessarily translate into being a good underwriter because they’re often a snapshot of a particular point in time. We might have a company's published accounts from December 2022, but given the turbulence of 2023 and the fact that it is now May 2024, these accounts won't provide the most accurate picture. This is when the underwriter’s curiosity comes in – being ready to investigate the dynamics that have come into play in the 18 months since and how they have affected the risk, such as the economic situation, the trade sector or company-specific challenges.
It’s up to us to look at the request and merits of the buyer concerned and make a judgement call. Our role within Coface is to support our existing portfolio of clients and grow our book so we won’t just shut the door. In fact, our appetite for risk is comparable to what it was pre-Covid, even within sectors that have been hard hit recently in terms of claims and notifications, such as construction and metals.
4. What kind of information do you typically use to make an underwriting decision?
We’re fortunate that we have access to wide range of information to get an accurate reflection of a buyer’s financial risk (and their parent group if applicable). Companies House records are a jumping-off point, but we also use agency reports, payment performance data from the market or incidents reported to Coface by policy-holders, corporate governance information and the latest intelligence from the analysts in our Enhanced Information Centre (EIC). For example, we might request an updated Debtor Risk Assessment (DRA) score, unique to Coface, which shows the likelihood that a company will be able to honour its financial commitments in the next 12 months or ask them about a debtor visit. In some cases, we’ll ask the policyholder to request specific information to make a decision because they have a close relationship with the buyer.
Ultimately, all these different pieces of information go into the pot and then it’s up to us as underwriters to weigh up the different factors and assess the risk.
5. Can you describe a typical working day?
No two days are alike, but we always prioritise reviewing credit limit applications from our clients as they come in, so they have the cover they need to trade. Another focal point is monitoring risk positions within our portfolio – looking at fresh data and keeping up to date with developments that might impact risk, including internal meetings with our colleagues in the EIC.
Another aspect of our role which has evolved in the last 12 months is engaging with policy holders. Each underwriter is responsible for their own client portfolio, and they are the point of contact for risk related enquiries. For example, we might review a restricted decision concerning a buyer in France and provide extra insight if required and we’ll discuss the decision with our UK policyholder. While respecting confidential information, it allows us to elaborate on the concerns that might have been identified and give some sector-specific context.
Our underwriters also try to meet with clients at a minimum, every six months. We want to engage with them and build a relationship that enables us to do the best we can in terms of cover which means having confidence in their internal credit control procedures while considering other relevant factors.
I recently had a meeting with a client who was worried that they might jeopardise an existing limit on a buyer if they requested an increase and I was able to reassure them that wouldn’t happen and talk through their buyer risk to help them utilise their policy better. It turned out to be a much more open and productive meeting than would have been possible by an exchange of emails.
6. What do you enjoy most about your job?
I’m always pleased to work with our clients and receive positive feedback because we’ve been able to add value. I think effective collaboration is really important. It might be that the client has told us that they’ve known a director for 30 years and have never let them down and we’ve been ready to factor that into our decision-making. Meanwhile another contact might be grateful to have an explanation about why we can’t cover a buyer because they’re being put under pressure internally.
I also enjoy my day-to-day interactions with colleagues – we’re a diverse group of people with different skills, expert knowledge, and perspectives – and work with different brokers. The UK credit insurance market is very broker-driven and thankfully, I have good working relationships with our broker network because they make an important contribution to the process.
7. What do you do to switch off after work?
Spending time with my family is important. I have three kids and my middle son is football-mad which is a challenge as I wasn’t brought up playing football in my hometown in Australia. I’m playing catch-up but it doesn’t come naturally. I try to keep myself fit by playing basketball and currently play for a master’s league team in Dublin which is for over-40s. We always bring the Deep Heat.
