Melih Arslan joined Alta Signa’s underwriting team in April 2023, bringing with him a strong academic foundation and a clear interest in the evolving dynamics of risk. At the time, he was completing his Bachelor’s degree in Economics at the University of Munich and has since continued to build on this, now pursuing a Master’s in Economics.
Based in Munich, Melih plays an active role in supporting underwriting activities across the DACH region, with a particular focus on providing technical assistance within Financial Lines.
His role sits at the intersection of analysis and decision-making, offering valuable exposure to both the technical and relationship-driven aspects of underwriting.
In this spotlight interview, Melih shares his perspective on life as an Assistant Underwriter - from what a typical day looks like to the skills required to succeed in a fast-moving and competitive market.
He also reflects on the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in underwriting, and how it is beginning to reshape the way that risks are assessed while reinforcing the importance of human judgement.
Tell me about your role as an Assistant Underwriter at Alta Signa
My role as an Assistant Underwriter is very diverse. I am grateful that Alta Signa was up until recently still very much a start up and that our team is relatively small compared to larger corporate organisations. This means that my role is varied, challenging and continuously provides opportunities for me to learn and grow.
I support our Underwriters throughout the underwriting process and across a wide range of tasks. This includes maintaining data, preparing and working on risk work ups and communicating with brokers about the risks we are assessing. This can involve discussing the risk in more detail, clarifying open questions or following up on additional information we may need. I also support the team with various activities before and after the underwriting process, such as preparing presentations, analysing business development and of course taking care of more administrative tasks, such as checking that risk submissions are complete and that everything runs smoothly.
As our team is relatively small, I am regularly given the opportunity to take on larger tasks and more responsibility. I also support the Underwriters in areas that may not traditionally fall within an Assistant Underwriter's role, such as contributing to the hiring process and helping to identify qualified candidates.
I have also been given the opportunity to take ownership of certain risks and gradually get a feel for the Underwriter role. Of course, the Underwriters are always there to support me when I have questions and we discuss the risks together afterwards.
All in all, my role is incredibly varied. There are always new tasks and challenges but it is also very rewarding to know that I have earned the trust of the Underwriters and that I am continuously being given the opportunity to take on more responsibility.
What does a typical day in your role look like?
My day starts with a cup of tea and checking my emails as well as organising my priorities and deadlines. Since I am not assigned to one specific Underwriter, I can receive requests from three or four different Underwriters depending on who is working on what at the time.
A typical task might be preparing a company for underwriting by gathering, reviewing and analysing all the relevant information and documentation. This analysis usually takes up the largest part of my day.
I then spend the rest of my time on various administrative tasks, mainly maintaining internal data, following up with brokers when documents are missing or clarifying outstanding questions and points.
Despite having a certain routine in my day, I am always happy that new and different risks come in and bring variety to my daily work.
What advice would you give someone looking to get into underwriting?
I do not think there is one specific piece of advice that applies to everyone. I was more or less thrown into the deep end when I started with very little background knowledge of the industry.
I think one of the most important things is to have a strong and knowledgeable team around you, especially when you are entering such a specialised and complex field.
My colleagues took the time to explain the different aspects of underwriting and the industry to me repeatedly and I started writing down the key points and patterns that came up again and again.
The job can definitely feel overwhelming at first, especially when you are entering an industry you have never worked in before. My advice would simply be to take it step by step, communicate openly, ask questions and stay curious. With the right team around you, things start to come together naturally.
What areas of underwriting do you cover?
I work in Financial Lines, supporting the underwriting of risks involving both commercial companies and financial institutions.
I assist our Underwriters across these areas and act as a point of contact for the relevant underwriting processes.
What is your perspective on the underwriting landscape in Europe?
The European market has been in a prolonged soft cycle, but what’s changing now is not just pricing pressure, it’s the level of scrutiny around underwriting discipline.
While competition continues to compress margins, carriers and MGAs are being forced to make more deliberate, data-driven decisions about risk selection and portfolio performance. In that sense, a soft market doesn’t just test profitability, it exposes the strength of underwriting fundamentals.
At the same time, the volume of new business and renewals remains resilient. Europe’s diverse and evolving business landscape continues to generate opportunity, but the differentiator is no longer access to business, it’s how effectively that business is assessed and priced.
Ultimately, underwriting has always adapted to economic cycles. What makes the current environment so fascinating is that adaptability is now being driven as much by data, governance and technology as it is by market conditions.
What challenges do you face as an Underwriter?
One of the biggest challenges today is assessing risks and doing so consistently given the current economic environment in Europe and globally, in a market where risk is being interpreted very differently across participants.
Macroeconomic uncertainty and prolonged soft market conditions have created an environment where pricing and risk appetite can vary significantly, even for similar exposures. That puts pressure on underwriters not just to assess risk, but to stay disciplined when others may not.
For smaller or more specialised players, that discipline becomes even more critical. Growth can’t come at the expense of underwriting quality, particularly when capacity providers are placing greater emphasis on portfolio performance and governance.
At the same time, there is a competing pressure: speed and simplicity. Brokers expect quick decisions and minimal friction, and overly complex processes can quickly become a barrier to doing business.
That’s where the real challenge lies. The role of the underwriter today is no longer just to assess risk, but to balance technical rigour with commercial accessibility, being thorough without becoming difficult to trade with.
Finding that balance between being thorough and being easy to work with is in my view one of the key challenges in underwriting.Those who get that balance right will be the ones who stand out in an increasingly competitive market.
How do you use technology in your role?
Like many people today, I use AI as a supporting tool in my daily work.
I use different AI tools for a wide range of tasks, from research and summarising information to helping structure projects and providing additional support when dealing with topics or risks that require more in depth research.
AI is particularly useful when I have questions or need to explore a topic further. It helps me work more efficiently and independently while also allowing me to add an extra layer of refinement to my work.
That said, I see AI as a supporting tool rather than a full replacement for human judgement.
It helps me work more effectively while the actual underwriting decisions and expertise still rely on people and experience. That’s why for me the human in the loop is still important in underwriting.
What technology is going to be one to watch in the underwriting space, and why?
AI is undoubtedly one of the most important technologies shaping underwriting today, but its real impact goes beyond simply improving efficiency.
At its core, underwriting has always been about assessing risk based on the information available. What AI changes is not just the speed of that process, but the depth, consistency and scale at which decisions can be made. It allows underwriters to move away from manual data gathering and towards more informed, insight-led decision-making.
However, the real shift is in where value sits within underwriting. As AI takes on more of the analytical heavy lifting, the role of the underwriter becomes less about processing information and more about judgement, oversight and accountability. In that sense, underwriting doesn’t become less human, it becomes more dependent on human expertise in the moments that matter most.
Where the industry needs to be careful is in how it adopts this technology. There is a risk of focusing too heavily on automation without giving equal attention to governance, transparency and the ability to challenge decisions. The firms that get this right will be those that combine strong data and AI capabilities with clear underwriting discipline and control.
Ultimately, the future of underwriting won’t be defined by replacing people with technology, but by redesigning how people and technology work together. Those who can strike that balance will be best placed to differentiate in an increasingly competitive market.
For me, it is this combination that makes the future of underwriting so interesting.