Knowledge is power: Shaneen Dixon’s surety success story

I come from the New Forest region of the UK. During my final years of school, I took a business administration course which fueled my professional ambitions, leading me to move to London at the age of 18 and begin my career. There, I started out in travel insurance before joining Allianz Trade, where I would work in trade credit over the next four years.

I later went on to work in surety roles in several other companies before gaining some valuable experience as an insurance broker. However, my fond memories from that first experience at Allianz Trade stayed with me. It was always a very sociable place filled with the most kind, encouraging people – I’d felt like I was part of something truly special. Therefore, when I saw they had an opening in surety, I jumped at the opportunity! 

I really enjoyed broking and think it’s a great place to gain a broad market perspective, but my heart has always been in the underwriting side of things. You get to have exposure to multiple areas – financial risk analysis, legal aspects, client interactions, sales. This ensures you never stop learning, which I personally love. As they say, knowledge is power!

What helped me accelerate to the next level was being recruited to our multinational surety initiative. This role, executed alongside my daily underwriting job, opened my mind to how other countries and nationalities worked, enabling me to see a much bigger, global picture. Determined to become more involved, I was thrilled when the opportunity to lead this initiative opened up last year.

As Global Head of International Accounts, I lead a team of wonderful, dedicated professionals focused on growing Allianz Trade’s multinational offering in surety. This role enables me to bring the best of the company to our global clients by leveraging the skills I’ve gained throughout my career, while also developing them further. Multinational surety is a major business growth pillar, and building upon it means continuously asking ourselves how we can improve the quality of service we provide our customers. 

In the early days of my surety career, I was one of only a handful of women in the industry. I struggled at this time with confidence in terms of my professional abilities, especially given that I didn’t go to university. It’s thus been a journey coming to terms with the level of success I’ve achieved, as a woman and as someone whose career has taken an unconventional route. While I have always been very driven, my biggest critic has always been me and my own high expectations of myself!

Now, about a year into my current role, our multinational surety business is thriving, and I’m proving to myself and hopefully others that I am more than capable. And the best part is, I absolutely love the challenge! I’m grateful that Allianz Trade is where my career has really taken off. I’ve always felt at home here, and my colleagues feel like a huge extended family.

I believe that if you’re ambitious, adaptable and have an interest in financial and legal topics, you can start a career in surety. It’s a small, niche industry that needs fresh faces – especially at the rate we’re growing.

To anyone out there questioning themselves, don’t hold yourself back! If you enjoy a job with a diverse set of challenges that pushes you to learn continuously, just go for it – what have you got to lose?