Daniël de Swaan

I’ve never been to the Netherlands. What should I know?

It’s a great country, and we’re very happy in it. It’s well developed. It has a relatively strong economy, and there are very nice people living there. I was born and raised in Amsterdam, and I still live there. I’ve only been away for around four or five years. Amsterdam is almost like a village. It’s very, in a way, cosmopolitan, but it’s also small, and it makes for a pleasant place to live. The Netherlands is in the top 10 of happiest countries in the world, and I can vouch for that.

What makes the Dutch such happy people?

It’s quite a stable place to live, although that has changed a little bit over the past decade, I would say, politically. There’s a lot of trust between people. There’s a good balance in terms of work life and private life. There are a lot of things that still need improvement, but there is a good health system. There’s not a huge difference between the really wealthy and the poor people. And I think, culturally, it’s a good place.

Where in Amsterdam do you most take visitors?

You have the canal tour. One of our clients organized the Amsterdam Light Festival in winter, with beautiful light sculptures along the canals. We have great museums, with contemporary art and, of course, older works in the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum.

Rijksmuseum. You’ve been at Meijers for over 20 years. How did that happen for you?

There’s a famous German expression, “Wenn nichts ist gelungen, geht man in Versicherungen.” It’s something like, “If nothing has worked out, you go into insurance.” But that’s not the case. I started my career in banking in London at J.P. Morgan. My wife and I were in London for almost four years, and then our oldest son was born—Joshua, now 24—and we quickly realized that we wanted him to grow up in Amsterdam. After a few months, my father-in-law [Jaap Meijers], who’s the co-founder of Meijers, approached me. Before that, I had not thought about insurance at all. I was employee number 55, and I thought, why don’t I do this for a couple of years, and then we’ll see what happens. After I joined, I quickly realized this is the best industry in the world.

Is there one critical lesson you learned from your father-in-law?

One does good business with good people.

What three words would your co-workers use to describe your management style?

Fair. What you see is what you get. And ambitious.

What’s the most interesting item in your office?

The picture you see in the back over there—it’s my grandfather with his five brothers. It was taken just before the Second World War. Luckily, all the brothers survived.

How would you describe Meijers’s company culture?

It’s about personal relationships. We like to get to know each other and the clients. We prefer people who have a creative, innovative mind, so they think in solutions and not in problems. Lastly, we like people with what we call execution power—people who tell their colleagues or their clients what they’re going to do and then do it.

If you could change one thing about the insurance industry, what would it be?

Improve the sharing of claims data between brokers and insurers. That could increase our understanding of clients’ risks, especially recent risks around climate, cyber, and sustainability. This would help with better prevention. So this would help everyone—brokers, carriers, and our clients.

What gives you your leader’s edge?

It’s all about who you surround yourself with: smart, entrepreneurial, and empathic people. The teamwork creates the success.