Five Questions for Martin Lanting, IMU
WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT IS YOUR JOB?
I am Martin Lanting, a chauvinistic Rotterdam native, who has founded and built several marine insurance companies as an entrepreneur over the past 40 years. After Dutch P&I and RaetsMarine, I started Insure Marine Underwriting in 2018. My job is CEO responsible for the development and growth of IMU as a specialised underwriting company in marine liability insurance. We currently have more than 250 clients from all corners of the world and this fully reflects my chauvinism, namely showing Rotterdam and the Netherlands to the world as a strong maritime nation.
WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY FOR YOU LOOK LIKE?
Every day should provide an intellectual challenge and not shy away from the risks of the profession with guts, boldness and knowledge. Every day should also be used to protect and promote IMU’s values. Believing in results with passion, being able to put ourselves in the client’s interest with empathy and always being able to provide a solution with knowledge.
WHAT WAS THE BEST ADVICE (WORKWISE) SOMEONE GAVE YOU?
I think the best advice is the accumulation of other people’s wisdom. Read a lot, but get the cherry-picked. What has never left me is to set the bar so high that you can say I am a person doing something that others say cannot be done. Go where others don’t.
HOW COULD YOU BE OF HELP TO OTHERS IN THE INDUSTRY OR THE RMSC?
IMU stands for ‘I am you’ and our slogan is ‘Growing Better Together’. I truly believe that if you make space for the opinions of others, and can add those opinions to make your own vision, opinion or decision better, you will not only make yourself better, but you will also contribute to the improvement of others. If you then don’t lose sight of strengthening the Netherlands as a maritime nation, it can be a win-win situation, for me, for my company and its people, for RMSC as a networking organisation and for the maritime industry in general.
AND LASTLY: WHAT’S IN THE NEWS WHICH RELATES DIRECTLY TO YOUR PROFESSION?
Our maritime world is in the news every day, both politically and economically. Developments follow quickly. War and political unrest directly affect world trade, shipping and, of course, maritime insurance. Compliance, sanction screening is daily business, and in addition, we need to keep a close eye on changing risks. Our advisory function also plays an important role, as we also get questions from our clients almost every day about the situations they find themselves in with their cargoes and ships.
