Malcolm Newman BSc Accounting and Economics, 1980

Managing Director of UK Operations, SCOR SE

I chose my degree course as a stepping stone in my career and it has worked out perfectly.

Malcolm Newman knew he was interested in working in business when he embarked on his studies at the University of Southampton. "I chose my degree course as a stepping stone in my career and it has worked out perfectly," he says. "I really enjoyed my student years and liked the city."

He graduated with a BSc Accountancy and Economics in 1980, a degree that offered some valuable exemptions from exams for his chartered accountant's qualifications. Malcolm says the solid grounding in economics he gained at Southampton has also proved very useful in his business life.

Malcolm started his career as a trainee accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers but decided he wanted to specialise in insurance and reinsurance. During his years with foreign-owned companies, including CNA Reinsurance and Winterthur International Insurance, he worked in various roles, leading teams of up to 100 finance specialists in Zurich, New York and London. He is most proud of being chief financial officer then managing director at Winterthur, explaining: "I played a key role in growing the UK business from a small company with 28 members of staff to a major organisation with 600 people in 26 countries and a turnover of $1billion. We used the EU single market regulations to forge a new business model in the mid-1990s that others still copy to this day."

The Southampton alumnus is now the managing director of the UK operations of the French-listed reinsurer SCOR SE. In the UK, the firm has a turnover of around €750m and a staff of about 140, all located in the City of London.