Ela Metalia: Inside the IUA’s bid to bridging generations and next gen engagement

When conversations about the future of the insurance workforce happen in boardrooms, they are often led by those who built their careers in a very different market – a pre-digital, face-to-face world, where apprentices learned by sitting beside underwriters rather than logging onto Teams calls.

But for Ela Metalia, underwriting and claims executive at the International Underwriting Association (IUA) and the driving force behind its IUA Futures programme, the future of talent engagement cannot be left entirely to those who began their careers decades ago.

“As someone who’s still fairly new to the market, I know what people my age probably want – more ways to learn and connect,” she says.

Metalia joined the IUA three years ago – her first role in insurance – and now leads one of the London market’s freshest early careers programmes.

IUA Futures encompasses all next generation initiatives across the association’s underwriting and claims communities, aimed at practitioners with up to 10 years’ experience.

Bridging the generational gap

Metalia explains: “When I speak to senior market figures, I see a recurring theme – they want to support training initiatives in the market. They want more opportunities for their younger practitioners to meet, network, learn and share ideas.

“Because we’re seeing that recurring theme across classes, we created a dedicated point of contact for that – myself.”

Under her guidance, the programme has expanded into a network of committees, including the NextGen Claims Committee, which recently hosted a masterclass on claims featuring senior panellists from Swiss Re, Generali and Arch.

On the underwriting side, initiatives such as policy wordings masterclasses – now a regular fixture in the IUA calendar – have emerged directly from committee feedback.

“A year from now, I’d like to have a detailed agenda established that we run annually,” she adds. “Something we can say, ‘We’re running this every year.’”

In an industry that still faces persistent challenges around attracting and retaining young talent, Metalia represents a positive shift – a voice from the generation that market leaders are trying to reach.

Who better to understand what emerging professionals need than someone who shares their experience of entering the market in the midst of remote working, digital communication and the fading of traditional office networks?

Insurance, she argues, “isn’t represented in the wrong way – it just doesn’t get as much promotion as it could”.

At university, Metalia recalls being encouraged towards finance or law.

“Insurance requires many of the same skills and offers the same intellectual benefits,” she says. “People just don’t realise it.”

That lack of awareness is a consistent problem the IUA – along with other market bodies – has tried to address through collective action.

Collective action

In October 2024, the IUA and Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) launched two online claims job simulations with educational platform Forage. The tool allows students to experience what it’s like to work as a claims adjustor or operations specialist, offering a risk-free introduction to London market careers.

Forage has more than six million global enrolments.

“It helps break down barriers and gives people insight into different roles,” says Metalia.

That partnership sits alongside other talent initiatives across the market, such as the London and International Insurance Brokers’ Association’s (Liiba) London Emerging Claims Committee, which gives early-career brokers a direct voice in market reform discussions, and the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII)’s long-running New Generation Programme, which pairs professional development with policymaker engagement.

As Insurance Times’ Destination Insurance charter, launched earlier this month, emphasised, the future of UK general insurance will depend on collaboration – and on letting talent initiatives be shaped by those they are meant to serve.

Metalia is acutely aware that the generational shift in working habits has altered how people form networks. Hybrid models, while flexible, have eroded the informal learning once absorbed through osmosis in the office.

“We’re trying to help young professionals build their networks, especially post-Covid, when hybrid working has made that harder,” she says.

“Our networking breakfasts are designed as safe spaces where you can ask questions like, ‘I hear this term a lot, but what does it actually mean?’”

These smaller, discussion-based sessions are complemented by large-scale educational events like the NextGen Aviation Conference – which Metalia chaired on 27 October – bringing together underwriters, brokers and claims handlers for debates on emerging risks such as sustainable aviation fuel.

For her, maintaining the market’s social fabric is non-negotiable.

Her perspective reflects wider research on workplace wellbeing. According to WTW’s Understanding Employee Voice – 2024 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey, employers can improve social wellbeing by encouraging connection and participation in workplace culture. For younger employees, the report found, career development opportunities are critical.

A collaborative market

The IUA Futures initiative is also notable for its collaborative philosophy.

“We’re trying to take a cohesive approach – finding where we can collaborate rather than replicate,” Metalia says.

“Sometimes initiatives will be specific to the IUA or LMA, but where we can join forces, we do.”

This collaborative mindset aligns with the industry’s broader push for unified talent strategies – as championed in Insurance Times’ Destination Insurance campaign – which brings together insurers, brokers, MGAs and trade bodies to share best practice and tackle the talent crisis collectively.

For Metalia, the sense of community is the draw. “What’s motivated me most is how willing people are to help out,” she says.

“Senior professionals have been incredibly supportive – people are keen to run tables at events or put their colleagues forward to attend the sessions.”

By the end of 2025, the IUA aims to have its first full Claims Bootcamp – complete with agenda, speakers and training materials – firmly established in the calendar.

Metalia envisions a self-sustaining programme of annual workshops and networking events that give every early-career practitioner a chance to connect, learn and feel part of something larger.

“No day is the same,” she says. “I hear something new every day.”

In a market still wrestling with the question of how to attract and retain talent, Metalia’s approach offers a simple reminder – to build the future, the industry must listen to those living the issue, not just those remembering it.