Conversation with Helen Hunt
Senior Account Manager at Hallett Independent
What has been the most important lesson you've learned on your career journey?
People often think insurance is going to be really technical and boring, but actually having soft skills - such as being able to talk to people, listen and engage, as well as being creative and coming up with solutions to their problems is just as important, if not more. I think this is probably true for a lot of careers; if you can connect with your client beyond providing them an immediate service, then that's going to do wonders for your business relationship. Meeting people in person takes more time, but ultimately, it's going to be beneficial for you in the future. If you ever have to deliver any bad news - which nobody ever wants to do - that relationship is going to be really important.
What do think you think more people should know about in the insurance market?
I think it's important not to neglect your insurance. I think people often think that insurance is really complicated and boring, but actually, it can be the simplest things that are the most important. For example, if you have a claim having things like your loan paperwork in order is really, really simple, but can make a huge difference to the way that a claim progresses smoothly. I think people think that brokers don't want claims to happen, but actually for us it gives us an opportunity to prove our value to our clients. Whereas for a client, if you don't have the right insurance in place it can make or break your business.
What is the key to success in the art world?
I think the key to success in the art world from an insurance perspective, is having a broker that speaks your language because they can help you manage your business and become a part of that success. They become a trusted adviser and collaborator. I think a lot of the time, there's this slightly weird dichotomy between people in the art world who really don't like insurance because it goes against the creative nature of their business, alongside the fact that they actually really need it in order to do business. I think if you can kind of get over that aversion and work with your broker then it can become a lot easier.
What is the most interesting thing to have to come out of a pandemic?
How adaptable and resilient the art world was. When the pandemic hit there was a real fear that this could be catastrophic for galleries because they rely so much on face-to-face interaction to do a lot of their sales and business. I think there was a real worry that that was all going to go, but people found other ways to sell and overcame that. A lot of people went on to have their best years, which shows how adaptable they were.
Before the pandemic, for Hallett Independent certainly, it's really difficult to imagine a situation that could have affected all of our clients at the same time and resulted in all of them having a claim. It's proved to us that we can cope with that and allowed us to prove to our clients what we say about our personal service. I think we all went above and beyond.
Lastly, tell us about a woman - well known or not - who you admire, and why?
We all have probably heard recently about the value gap between artworks by male artists and female artists. I think it's really intriguing, especially given that there are much more female art school graduates. Therefore, I really admire the collector Valeria Napoleone, who has set up a project with Contemporary Art Society. They purchase and donate a significant work by a living female artist every year and donate it to a UK museum to try to raise the visibility of women artists in our institutions, and therefore try and help close that value gap.