From law student in the south of France to internationally sought-after risk management expert: Pascal Prévost shows how a career in the insurance world can not only be planned, but also creatively shaped.
At the end of the 1970s, Pascal Prévost asked himself a seemingly simple question: how can you earn a meaningful living with a Master’s degree in business law and a Bachelor’s degree in English? A brief presentation by the Insurance Institute at the law faculty in Aix-en-Provence gave him an idea and led him to an industry that would accompany him throughout his entire professional life.
At that time, the term “risk management” was hardly known in France. Prévost began his career in London at Lloyd’s, where he placed insurance programs. However, he quickly realized that he was not only interested in hedging risks, but above all in actively shaping them: recognizing, avoiding and managing risks and understanding insurance as an important, but not the only building block.
Risk management in the company: More than a job profile
Prévost has worked in insurance, brokerage and risk management in France, Switzerland and the USA for over 40 years. His 22 years as a risk manager at Euro Disney and Nestlé were particularly formative.
What surprised him was that his actual work often had little to do with the original job descriptions. “You can develop your role in the company,” is one of his key findings. If you recognize opportunities or create them yourself, you can generate real added value, provided you think ahead, take responsibility for decisions and learn from mistakes.
For him, risk management is not a purely technical profession, but a social one: influence on employees, on corporate culture and ultimately also on their families. However, this requires credibility, built up through expertise, reliability and a strong network within the company.
Learning, networking, staying curious
A common thread running through Prévost’s career is continuous learning. Specialist knowledge alone is not enough. Equally important are: building and maintaining informal networks, openness to new trends and a willingness to constantly develop.
His membership in national risk management associations in France and Switzerland and in the International Employee Benefits Association is an expression of this approach.
Today, Prévot works as an independent expert and freelance resource with a focus on risk management, captives and the optimization of insurable employee benefits. His aim is to share his experience, promote exchange between risk managers and build bridges between risk management and human resources.
Risk management in a VUCA world
In a world characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, Prévost sees risk management as a socially relevant task. Collaboration between HR and risk management in particular can help to make organizations more resilient.
One example of this is his involvement in the Risk-!n conference in Zurich, which he helps to organize. Experts from insurance, risk management and IT meet there to discuss new solutions that can make everyday work in the industry easier.
Professional inspiration without an expiration date
For Pascal Prévost, risk management is not a completed career stage, but a never-ending source of professional inspiration and personal satisfaction. His story shows: The insurance and risk industry is not just about policies and processes, but about creative freedom, responsibility – and the opportunity to play an active role in shaping the future of companies.
Binci Heeb
Paul the Insurer has other content that may interest you, such as the series of interviews with insurance industry executives.
Read also: When AI makes risk reports readable
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