The CEO Magazine Asia - February 2018

theceomagazine.com | 17

Finding

BALANCE

There aren’t many people who lead

a global firm and DJ in their spare

time. For David Jacob, a 27-year

Marsh stalwart, both continue to

create the perfect work–life balance.

WORDS ADRIAN FLORES • IMAGES YEW KWANG

E

ver since he began his career at

insurance giant Marsh in New York

27 years ago, David Jacob has made

DJing his outlet of choice in his spare

time. Asked about his favourite musical

genre, the Marsh Asia CEO says he

gravitates towards house, but has also branched out

into techno and tech house over the years. “I’ll DJ

any chance I get,” he says. “Obviously it’s a little less

now that I have three children, but it’s fun and breaks

the everyday rigour of being an insurance CEO.”

The rigour David describes comes from Marsh’s

flawless execution of a consistent strategy in an

industry that has significantly evolved over many

years. Risk is now front and centre of any boardroom

discussion, and risk management is more sophisticated

and embedded in company culture. David thinks this

is due to innovation and technology having come

a long way, with data-driven insight now a core

component of decision making.

One of the newer risks dominating a lot of

discussions in the insurance world is cyber risk,

with more traditional brick-and-mortar companies

beginning to move into that space. “Companies are

now wanting to improve their distribution models

and becoming digital-ready,” says David. “With that,

there is an associated risk of cyber that companies

have never really factored.” »

Interview | INSPIRE