Van der Waart hands over Narim leadership to Van Haastrecht

Adri van der Waart, director of global insurance at engineering firm Arcadis, has handed over the presidency of Dutch risk and insurance management association Narim to Albert van Haastrecht, head of the corporate insurance department at construction and engineering company Ballast Nedam.

The move was made during Narim’s annual general meeting this week. Van der Waart was in charge for four years. Before taking the presidency, he was Narim treasurer for six years. Van Haastrecht was previously a board member at Narim from 2007 to 2012.

Van der Waart said he is proud to have been part of the Narim success story during the last 25 years.

“I am proud of Narim. In 1996, a group of people got together and founded Narim. I joined six years later and was allowed to help build Narim. In the beginning, we organised a congress once every two years, then the congresses took place every year,” he said during a discussion with Van Haastrecht published on the association’s website.

“Narim became more and more professional. Michel Frommé said it during one of the members’ meetings about 15 years ago: be good, be proud and show it. And so it is. Narim is the centre of the market. After all, we pay the premium – the experts, insurers and lawyers are paid through that. Everyone depends on us. That sounds big but it is true. That is why the Narim Congress is such a phenomenon: the entire market is present,” said Van der Waart.

Asked what he has achieved as a director and president of Narim, Van der Waart said: “I acted as a spokesperson. And that’s what I wanted. If something was going on, my opinion was asked. The market also sees Narim as a sounding board. It is great that we have achieved that. As a result of the hard market, risk and insurance management has again become a profession where you have to deal with new, changing and expanding risks. That makes it interesting.”

“What I thought was a serious development, for example, was the fact that there were companies that could not, or could not be fully, be insured. Insurers also have a social responsibility. They exist by the grace of the insured. I understand that if the risks are going in the wrong direction, you have to take action, but then you have to try to find a solution in active cooperation. Insurers may have lost sight of this a bit due to all kinds of circumstances and we have to keep reminding them of that. We understand that they are a commercial institution and have responsibilities towards stakeholders, shareholders and staff, but they also have responsibilities towards their policyholders. As chairman of Narim, I have emphasised that regularly,” he added.

Van Haastrecht has been a Narim member for 17 years and said he has taken over the leadership to repay the association for all the benefits he has received.

When he joined the association, he was working alone in Ballast Nedam’s insurance department. Joining the association helped immensely, he said.

“I had built up a nice network from previous jobs but you have to maintain that to keep abreast of developments in the field. The contacts within Narim are very valuable. The atmosphere is open, there is collegiality. Colleagues, also from competitors, are willing to share experiences, to spar. Gradually, I could also mean something to others. That was also a reason for me to become a board member in 2007. I wanted to give something back to Narim,” said Van Haastrecht.

“That is now my main motivation. Narim has always been very good to me and I have always benefited greatly from it. That may sound idealistic, but that’s how I feel about it. I also really enjoy doing it, especially because you take a broader view of the field. Narim has grown in recent years and, as Adri says, has become a point of contact and a mouthpiece. I think it would be very interesting to do my bit in addition to the fun job I have,” continued Van Haastrecht.

The incoming president said his main priorities are to maintain and build Narim’s position and standing in the market. He also wants to further expand its membership and influence, particularly among smaller companies that have no dedicated risk and insurance manager.

“We have to maintain the position that Narim has and see how we can improve it even further. We also need to ensure that we, as Narim, continue to provide added value to our members. We also have to look at how we can further expand the member base in terms of companies,” he said.

“There is a large group of smaller companies that do not have a dedicated insurance manager. They often run into the same issues as we do. And they may have to do with developments that we, as risk and insurance managers at large companies, have no insight into. If we are in contact with each other, we gain insight into what is going on, on both sides, and in this way we can add even more value to our role as a mouthpiece. I also think the connection with Europe is important. After all, the Netherlands is a small player,” he added.

Van der Waart has always been a strong advocate of risk and insurance managers, particularly during the difficult last few years as the commercial insurance market turned. He has spoken out on behalf of the insurance buyer and pointed out the failings of insurers and brokers when others have kept their heads below the parapet.

Van Haastrecht recognises the importance of being such a strong voice for the risk management community and vows to try and fill the big boots left by Van der Waart.

“I think that we should be very happy with Adri, especially given the circumstances. He stood on the barricades and seized his moments to clarify the consequences for the risk and insurance managers if something happened. Of course, the insurers and brokers know this, but it is apparently necessary that someone explicitly draws attention to this and calls on them to think carefully about certain matters,” said Van Haastrecht.

“Adri was always very driven. He already was as treasurer and, as chairman, he has surpassed that. No one could get around him. Narim members can be very happy about that and I think they are. The bar is very high for me. Fun, but also exciting!” concluded the new Narim president.