Dillman ’26 Explores Insurance for Insurers in Summer Internship

As an intern, Dillman used computer models to predict how different insurance companies would fare under different disaster scenarios.       

“I analyzed catastrophic events like giant earthquakes, wildfires, and hailstorms to see how unlikely events impact the portfolios of different insurance companies,” Dillman said. “Then I used that to understand what changes they should be making based on where they are geographically.”

Dillman became acquainted with the niche field of reinsurance through connections with Hamilton alumni. At Dillman’s actuarial internship last summer, Weatherly Hammond ’00 presented to his team about reinsurance. Through networking, Dillman connected with Warren Berkstresser ’06 from Gallagher’s Seattle office, where he wound up landing an internship.

Over the summer, Dillman enjoyed attending Mariners games with his colleagues and competing in Gallagher’s National Sales Competition, where the company’s 500+ interns battle with wit and persuasion to land a sale with a mock client. The competition prepared Dillman for the trials of real client meetings.

“For reinsurance, the clients you meet with are the C-Suite of small companies or specialized teams that know reinsurance risk for big companies,” Dillman said. “You need to prove that you know what you’re talking about with models, numbers, and analysis.”

“We were working with real events that are projected to happen one out of every 100 years ... There’s a lot of logical fallacies that come with statistics, so it’s important to see those and not make them.”

Due to his background as a mathematics major, Dillman felt well-equipped to handle the statistics underlying catastrophe analysis. “We were working with real events that are projected to happen one out of every 100 years,” Dillman said. “Understanding what that means, and what those doesn’t mean, was valuable. There’s a lot of logical fallacies that come with statistics, so it’s important to see those and not make them.”

Dillman also learned how to balance multiple ongoing projects in a work environment. “Brokers have a lot of accounts going on at once. Even though they’re all on teams, a given person might have seven accounts,” he said. “Juggling all these different accounts — breaking things down into priorities — was something I wasn’t used to. It’s notably different from having four classes in a semester. I learned a lot about how to schedule and keep up with deadlines.”

After completing his reinsurance internship, Dillman hopes to work in the industry following graduation as he enjoyed drawing on his technical math skills in a more team-oriented and social environment.