Diary of an Insurer: The Exeter’s Rachel Trundle

Monday

After a weekend in Amsterdam, I had a day off to recharge, but I still had to wake up at my usual time to take my son to college, so no lie in for me. 

He’s learning to drive, so we hopped in his car – every minute of practice counts.

Once I was home, I filled up the coffee pot, checked some emails, and ensured everything from The Exeter’s multi-benefit protection platform launch was moving forward. After taking care of that, I wanted to stretch my legs, so I took the dog for a walk and hit the gym.

After catching up with some life admin and sorting the weekly shop, I picked up my son – this time in my car as I drained his car battery by accident. We rounded off the day with a lovely dinner. I packed for a work trip and got tucked into bed nice and early so I was well-rested for a busy week ahead.

Tuesday

I woke up bright and early to catch the train to Exeter for our team meeting and annual product tests. I used the journey to catch-up on emails, occasionally looking up from my monitor to gawp at the beautiful countryside as it rolled past my window.

After arriving in sunny Exeter, I was off to attend our protection distribution team meeting where we covered a quality business review and horizon planning. 

At the meeting, I presented an update on objectives with strategic partners, reviewed upcoming regional events, and discussed how our multi-benefit platform was landing with each partner and how we could support firms at regional level to make the most of the new changes we have made for advisers who write income protection and life insurance business.

Then, to wind down the team and I attended a skittles night at a local pub which was followed by some football. We have a brilliant team at The Exeter and it’s always great to get together to have some fun!

Wednesday

I took the morning relatively easy and worked from the hotel to catch up with our strategic partners. At about 11.30 am, I was off to Sandy Park for The Exeter Colleague Conference. 

I arrived early so I grabbed lunch and caught up with colleagues before the main event kicked off. 

It was a great conference covering all sorts of topics including risk and compliance, a Q&A with our non-executive directors, and a little team building. 

The event taught me a lot about wider business functions, and it was great to reflect on the successes we have had as a business in the past year.

But once finished, there was no time to rest! Judith Brandrick, our regional account manager and I jumped in the car to head to Wembley Stadium for the PRIMIS Conference the next day. After a four-and-a-half-hour drive, I didn’t have much energy to do anything else but eat dinner and roll into bed.

Thursday

PRIMIS Live kicked off nice and early at 9am with a briefing for the exhibitors and I was thrilled to see our new multi-benefit interactive stand and merch. 

The exhibition was buzzing with advisers, and it was great to see so many familiar faces. We discussed the multi-benefit launch updates, and some exciting opportunities came up for the protection distribution team. Before the conference began, I was lucky enough to connect with a variety of providers, which was very interesting.

Then it was conference time, hosted by Clare Balding. There was a fantastic Q&A from Theo Paphitis and a strategy overview from the PRIMIS managing director, Richard Howell. After a busy few hours, I dragged Jamie Page, our head of distribution, along with me to the gym for an upper body weight session.

After the gym, I was straight in the shower to get ready for the PRIMIS awards dinner. At the event, I chatted with lots of advisers, and to top it all off, we closed the night with an amazing DJ set from Trevor Nelson. After all the excitement, I crashed into bed.

Friday

I was up and at it at 9am for a Teams call, and after a much-needed visit to Starbucks, I hopped on the train home.

It was an eventful journey. I jumped onto our weekly Pulse call, where the protection distribution team reviewed figures, discussed any challenges we had faced or feedback received following our multi-benefit launch, and chatted through how we can manage partner queries. 

After that, it was straight into another call to review partner performance, secure resources for upcoming events, and address any distribution quality management issues.

Once I was finally back home to a very clean house – courtesy of my lovely daughter – I was treated to a welcome home cuddle from my dog (my cat was not as interested). 

After a short rest, I grabbed the lead and took the dog for a quick walk. It was a lovely sense of ‘normal’ after a fairly hectic week.

After a few more calls and preparing for an upcoming conference, I wrapped up work for the day, made my dinner, and spent the rest of my night relaxing with my boyfriend. A great way to wind down and see in the weekend.