Starting 1 September 2021, Petra Hielkema became the new chairperson of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). She answers some questions about her new job, the challenges she sees ahead and what steps she thinks need to be taken to get more women in leading roles in finance.  

You have only just recently started in your new position. How have you found the first few weeks?

In one word: Busy!

We have a lot on our overall agenda: sustainability, digitalisation, cyber, as well as some big deliverables in pensions and insurance, so I have had a lot to get stuck into.

But when I started, I also wanted to take time for listening. So in my first few weeks, as well as talking to our Board members, I met with European consumer associations. Given that essentially everything that we do is to protect consumers, it was important to me to hear first-hand from this group of stakeholders. After this, I started meeting with key colleagues at the European Commission and Parliament and with industry associations and our stakeholder groups.

When we talk about issues like sustainability or cyber risk, one thing that is clear is that these are things that affect us all – they are rarely limited to one single country. So we need to work together to meet these challenges and build on the opportunities that they present. I feel that this is one area where EIOPA really adds value: making it easier for our members to share their experience, to learn from each other and together to come up with solutions that strengthen the sector and society as a whole.

The Commission recently put forward a review of the Solvency II rules. How will these changes make the insurance sector more resilient and better protect consumers?

We welcome the changes the Commission has proposed recently. A good framework needs to stay robust so that markets can function well. We have seen that Solvency II has worked well, also during the crisis. But as it is the case with every regulation, if it wants to stay fit for purpose, it needs to be up to date with the current economic circumstances. Otherwise, it is not serving its purpose: in this case keeping policyholders protected.

We are very happy that the proposals largely share our approach and also the objectives that we set out in our opinion in December last year. I am sure that proposals such as the introduction of the Insurance Recovery and Resolution Directive, the macroprudential perspective in Solvency II, enhancements of the proportionality principle will help the insurance industry to stay resilient. We also think that the mandates for EIOPA for further action on sustainable finance are a very positive step. This will also definitely help the transition to a more sustainable economy and insurers have a great role in facilitating this.

From a perspective of consumer protection, we think that some aspects need attention and action in the near future. Here I refer to the need for a minimum harmonisation of insurance guarantee schemes at EU level. The current fragmentation leaves policyholders with different levels of protection, depending on the country from where the insurance policy originates. This is something that we want to be able to prevent.

The first pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP)s will come to the market from March next year. How will it contribute to making the European market for personal pensions less fragmented?

It is important that there are simple pension products in place, including for the people who can or do not benefit from workplace pensions. We must ensure that these products offer the right value for money.The Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) framework is a European innovation. It should be simple, transparent, portable and digital. It could be a game-changer for people who do not fit the traditional workplace pension mould. As the first PEPPs enter the market next year, we need to learn from that experience, as most likely more of these types of products will be needed.

PEPPs will provide consumers with an alternative sustainable way to save for retirement, including if they move from one Member State to another.  The regulation should bring more competition among the different typical pension providers, as a PEPP can be offered by different providers. This should in turn contribute to the further development of the internal market for personal pensions.

How does the work of EIOPA fit in with some of the EU’s wider goals – for example, the green and digital transitions and the development of a capital markets union?

Both the green and digital agendas are priorities for us and we fully support the Commission’s sustainable finance and digital finance strategies.

Starting with sustainability, insurance companies and pension providers will play a really important role in the transition to a green economy. Both have large sums of money to invest and can choose where to invest. They can also use their investing power to engage with business to act and operate more responsibly. And insurers, in particular, can also play a role in helping policyholders adapt to climate change. EIOPA will continue to work on a number of sustainable finance issues, ranging from further developing our work on a natural catastrophe dashboard and impact underwriting, to continuing to assess both sectors’ resilience to climate change through stress testing.

Digitalisation is also changing the way people engage with insurance and pensions and brings many benefits including greater choice and lower costs. As part of our work, we want to see that innovation can flourish without compromising consumer protection. We will focus on supporting the market and supervisory community through digital transformation. This includes looking at cyber risk and making sure that the financial services sector remains resilient, in particular working on the implementation of the digital operational resilience act (DORA).

Women are still vastly outnumbered by men in the financial services sector, at least at higher levels. What has your experience been, as a woman, of building a career? And what steps do you think should be taken to get more women in leading roles in finance, both in industry and as regulators or supervisors?

It’s true that the financial services sector suffers from a lack of diversity, and I would add in all areas – not just gender. This lack of diversity is particularly  striking at the senior level, whereas the situation is much better at the starter level. So we need to focus on what happens in the middle.

I truly believe it is not one set of tools that will change where we are. It is a question of entering into a dialogue with staff, both men and women. It is about creating a culture in which not only ambitions but also doubts – about how to combine care and career – are discussed and dealt with. Role models, mentoring and flexibility when it comes to workplace and hours are key, as is a leadership that is able to motivate, encourage and steer on output instead of presence.  We need to keep the issue of diversity and inclusion in people’s minds and here I very much support the work done by the Commission and the European Parliament to keep the issue on the political agenda.