ISC Group has appointed Chloe Ferguson Ekserdjian, senior vice president and middle market leader at Sompo North America, as a US ambassador for the London-founded women in insurance and reinsurance network.
The appointment is the organization’s second US ambassador addition in two months. In September, ISC Group named Randy Termeer, president of USAA’s property and casualty group, as its first US male ambassador, extending the program’s reach beyond its original constituency. Ferguson Ekserdjian has been with Sompo since 2016 and previously held underwriting leadership roles at AIG across large limits property, energy, and engineered risk. Her background also includes a consular Fulbright appointment with the US Department of State in Hong Kong and Macau.
The expansion of ISC Group’s US ambassador program arrives against a deteriorating picture for women in insurance leadership. Women account for more than 75% of frontline staff at US insurance agencies but only 26% of agency principals or owners, down from 31% two years earlier, according to research published by Liberty Mutual’s Agent for the Future program based on its 2024 Agent-Customer Connection Study. At the industry level, women make up approximately 59% of the US insurance workforce but hold around 22% of C-suite positions, according to an Insurance Information Institute analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data published in March 2025. As of early 2025, only two women led Fortune 500 insurance companies.
Research from McKinsey and LeanIn.Org’s Women in the Workplace 2025 report found that women with sponsors are promoted at 1.7 times the rate of women without them. The same report found that one in six companies have cut staff or resources dedicated to diversity and inclusion, narrowing the pipeline at precisely the point where the data shows sponsorship matters most.
As a US ambassador, Ferguson Ekserdjian will work to expand ISC Group’s presence in the American market, with a focus on professional development and networking for women across the sector.
Carmen Powell, CEO of ISC Group, said: “Her industry expertise, international perspective and leadership experience will be invaluable as we continue to strengthen our US community. As senior industry leaders, our ambassadors play an important role in sharing their experience, bringing fresh perspectives and helping to shape the future of women’s leadership in insurance.”
Ferguson Ekserdjian said: “Throughout my career, I’ve benefited from the guidance, encouragement and opportunities provided by exceptional leaders and colleagues, and I’m grateful for the chance to give back. I look forward to helping foster connections, support professional growth and create opportunities for more women to grow and lead across our industry.”
For women of color, the numbers are starker. Black women account for more than 7% of entry-level insurance positions but are virtually absent from the C-suite, the Insurance Information Institute reported.
The trend extends beyond the US. Grant Thornton’s Women in Business 2026 report found that women’s share of senior management roles at mid-market firms globally fell from 34% to 32.9%, with North America recording a decline of more than two percentage points.
For broker principals and agency owners, the data points to a retention problem with direct business consequences. Firms losing women at the mid-career stage face a narrowing talent pool for senior underwriting, claims, and account management roles. Ferguson Ekserdjian’s middle market underwriting background - spanning large limits property, energy, and engineered risk - brings carrier-side placement experience to a network whose value to brokers depends on the seniority and relevance of the practitioners it connects.
ISC Group was founded in 2003 as the Insurance Supper Club with 12 members and now has more than 10,000 members and 100 corporate partners across six countries, including the US, Canada, and Bermuda. It held its inaugural Women’s Excellence Awards in London in September 2026 across 18 categories.
