Playing her game: senior executive Samira Barakat is credited with changing the transparency with which GE Insurance Solutions underwrites risk

Risk & Insurance, Sept 15, 2005 by Paula L. Green

Armed with fluency in three languages and decades of management experience honed on three continents, Samira Barakat, senior vice president of risk and underwriting for GE Insurance Solutions, has moved across the Atlantic to aggressively manage the multibillion-dollar risks of her employer.

For the past five years, the Egyptian native has brought a clarity and razor-sharp focus to a company that wrote more than $8 billion in premiums last year and handled risks around the globe that are as tricky as asbestos and terrorism, or as mundane as auto insurance.

As the chief risk officer for General Electric's giant insurance unit, Barakat is successfully using a mix of flexibility, vision and inclusiveness--qualities she believes any senior executive needs to manage a multinational--from the home office in Kansas City, Mo., to direct a staff of 160 people spread around the globe.

"I enjoy a challenge. To look at the risk and challenges of a business, develop a plan and then execute that plan," says Barakat, who is especially proud of her management skills in execution and delivery. "In risk management, you make the job. There are a huge number of issues in enterprise risk management ... it's very exciting."

And as an Egyptian Muslim woman who grew up in Cairo with a diverse professional career that spans Northern Africa, Europe and the United States, Barakat is a perfect fit for a global insurer that does business in nearly 30 countries with exposures around the world. The 47-year-old executive carries a professional and personal perspective that acutely recognizes the need for a flexible management style that envelopes various cultures.

"I've worked across many divisions of GE around the globe and with many groups," says Barakat, who reports directly to Ron Pressman, the chairman, president and chief executive officer at GE Insurance Solutions. "You have to be able to include different styles as you go through the process of creating and then distilling a policy across the company in different markets."

David R. Nissen, the head of GE Consumer Finance who brought Barakat back into the GE fold nearly 10 years ago, says Barakat's international experience played a part in his decision to hire her as chief credit officer at GE Consumer Finance.

"She's very comfortable with different cultures and people and works hard ... whether in the office or outside the office. She gets out and travels around the globe," says Nissen, adding that at the time of her hiring, all of the company's business was overseas. The president and chief executive officer of GE Consumer Finance also lauds Barakat's analytical skills and her vision.

"Samira's very comfortable with complex mathematical and statistical models. She can take a complex insurance problem and break it down and forecast what to expect in the future," Nissan says. "She can spot problems before others can see them."

Marc J. Saperstein, senior executive vice president of human resources and communications at NBC Universal in New York, has known Barakat since 2000, when he became her mentor as part of the formal mentoring program at GE Capital.

"Samira is great analytically and has a great feel for risks as well as a good business headset," says Saperstein, who left General Electric in 2002 but still has an informal mentoring relationship with Barakat. "She also has a sensitivity to other people and their cultures. She understands the nuances of different environments.

"I have a lot of respect for Samira. That's a big job she has, and I'm sure her boss, Ron Pressman, is happy with her."

Pressman is indeed satisfied with Barakat's performance. "Samira brings great analytical skills, dedication and tenacity to her position as chief risk officer," says Pressman in an e-mail response to questions about Barakat's work at the company. "She is willing to proactively drive change where needed and organize teams to effect the change required. Her focus on data capture, analytics and portfolio strategy has changed the game for GE Insurance Solutions by dramatically increasing the transparency of our underwriting."

Barakat firmly believes that her aggressive stance--especially when handling emerging risks--is an essential technique for any risk executive who wants to run a successful enterprise risk management program in today's rapidly changing world. New risks--from environmental risks like mold to infectious diseases such as SARS to unpredictable risks like terrorism--are constantly evolving. Instead of reacting to these risks after the claims come rolling in, risk mangers need to use risk modeling and other techniques to assess the probability of these risks and be sure contract terms and conditions are dealing with possible losses.

"You have to ask yourself, 'Have you been proactive enough?' Last season there was the issue of global warming and all the changes in the weather. We're looking ahead at technology and cell phones ... everything is evolving, and we're learning what we can do," she says.