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Articles » Rowing the Pacific Ocean with the Convex Dream Pitch
I joined Convex as Head of Investments back in May 2019, when we were establishing Convex. Having the opportunity to develop the function from scratch is very unique – it’s been a fascinating journey. Our daily portfolio management activities are outsourced to external investment managers, with the investment team providing oversight and driving the overall investment strategy and asset allocation, amongst the other key investment activities such as portfolio and risk monitoring, reporting and governance. Before joining Convex, I worked as an actuary by trade and got my first job at Swiss Re before joining Catlin which helped me to evolve into my role at Convex.
Theresa Patricios – Head of Investments
“It’s been a fascinating journey.”
The Convex Dream Pitch is an incredible initiative, in which each employee has the chance to fulfil a lifelong dream, and I think it says a lot about how Convex treats its employees and endorses its brand values, placing employees as foundational to success. A friend of mine once rowed across the Atlantic and I found it incredibly inspirational when he told me about the journey and the feeling when crossing the finish line. Since then, I’ve been really intrigued about the Atlantic rowing competition, so when Convex announced the Dream Pitch in 2020 I saw it as the perfect opportunity to challenge myself and fulfil this long-held dream of mine.
“I’m excited to experience being in the middle of nowhere, off grid, being meters away from wild marine life and seeing the stars against the dark sky.”
I will be undertaking the Pacific Challenge, a 2,800-mile row, with no stopovers from Monterey Bay, California to the ‘Garden Island’ of Kauai in Hawaii, organised by Atlantic Campaigns, with my friend Cameron who originally inspired me, making us one of the first Reinsurance teams to take part! It’s a large project with a lot of training but we have a strong, enthusiastic and energetic team.
The inaugural Pacific Challenge starts in June 2023 with up to 20 global teams participating and we anticipate that it’ll take us 40 days. Ironically, I’m not a rower but the ocean rowing technique is very different so I don’t think this will hinder me. We don’t have any support from other vessels and all supplies for the race must be onboard from the start of the journey; that’s food, water and medical or health supplies. We’ll also carry a distillation device to distil fresh seawater.
The plan for the race will be two hours rowing and two hours resting. There’s four of us carrying out the race with a fifth team member as reserve. My two hours off will probably be spent sleeping, cooking and cleaning the salty water off my skin to avoid lesions and blisters. Though I don’t usually get seasick, the Pacific Ocean is the world’s biggest ocean and so I’m apprehensive of big storms. If a storm hits, we’ll have to lock up, stay in our cabins and seal the boat. I’m also quite apprehensive to be really close to marine life like sharks, though it’s unlikely they’ll attack boats.
I love anything nature related and so I’m excited to experience being in the middle of nowhere, off grid, being meters away from wild marine life and seeing the stars against the dark sky. I keep imagining the feeling of crossing the finish line which I’m incredibly excited for as my family and friends plan to meet me at the finish line and so that’s going to be a really special and proud moment for me.
As a team we’ve chosen Mind as our charity, and we have committed to raise a total of £100,000 as we believe that mental health is foundational to living a happy and healthy life. It’s evident that people have struggled significantly over the last two years with many socio-economic hardships, financial stresses and COVID-induced worries. Now more than ever, we’re seeing the importance of prioritising mental health and breaking down stigmas around it.
