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“[That’s] probably twice what most of our listed peers are reporting,” he said, “and that’s really a reflection of the health of our business, in terms of winning new clients and, critically, in attracting talent into our business to win those clients. When you break it down, 30% of that 19% came from the over 500 senior colleagues that joined us around the world and are really helping us develop new products, win new business and drive the business forward. To me, that’s the big barometer of our health and the first thing I always measure.”

Exploring that talent piece further, Howden said he believes a key differential of the insurance group is that it is a real magnet for talent. Howden recalled that when Peter Blanc [Aston Lark CEO] decided to bring Aston Lark into the group, he highlighted that he was looking for a “forever home” for the broking business. That’s a feeling that resonates within the market at the moment, he said, as a lot of people in the industry are becoming a bit disillusioned with some of the other models available and are open to exploring more long-term solutions.

Over 2,000 of Howden’s employees are shareholders in the business, which is proof of purchase of its long-term orientation, and Howden noted that being part of a business built for the long haul is an attractive proposition for many insurance professionals. It is attracting the interest of strong industry talent, he said, as they are drawn to a people-first business model that believes that attracting and retaining talent is the key to providing great client service. Short-term gain doesn’t interest Howden, rather the focus is on finding the longer-term opportunities available to the insurance market, and investing time and energy into those areas.

Where organic growth, as facilitated by a talent focus, is the first measurement of success for Howden, the second looks through an acquisitive lens. 2021 made for pleasant viewing, given the key strategic acquisitions completed last year which have taken the group into a prime position in the UK market. Howden now has 160 offices in the UK, with over 5,000 people looking after around 1.7 million policyholders and controlling about $8 billion of GWP in the UK market.

2021 saw Howden acquire both A-Plan Insurance and Aston Lark – and the combined businesses aim to offer the insurance market a new broking powerhouse. Craig noted that while the Aston Lark deal is still waiting for regulatory approval, it is expecting to complete the acquisition by March 31.

Read more: Aston Lark-Howden – a merger, a rebrand and what’s next?

“Peter, Carl [Shuker, A-Plan CEO] and I are very active already, working out exactly how we will bring these [businesses] together,” Howden said. “What we want to create in the UK, and beyond, is a very client-focused business. We’re looking at our clients and asking how we can show that – from an individual wanting a car insurance policy in Yeovil right through to the very largest financial institutions in the UK – we are relevant to them.

“[We’re asking] how we can build a business that provides all that expertise and all those products. All of our regional expertise is really going to be looking at clients’ needs, because it’s one thing insuring what clients need today but much more interesting is what the needs of our clients will be in the future. How can we listen to them and work out where insurance will be relevant? I think creating this new powerhouse is a very exciting opportunity. And certainly, Peter and Carl and lots of people in the group, have got a lot of work ahead of them as well as a lot of opportunities.”

After the success of last year, Craig noted that the group’s ambition for 2022 is “to grow at least as much as we grew last year”. Initial indications at the end of the first quarter are looking very promising, he said, and Howden is performing well ahead of where its budgets lie and so is expecting another very good year.

For David Howden, there are three key areas of focus for 2022. Firstly, he said, he wants to deliver the message to those in the insurance industry looking for a new home that in Howden they will find a long-term player with an eye fixed on the future. That people and talent piece is critical and goes to the very heart of Howden as a business. Already over 2,000 people in Howden are shareholders, he said, but he’d love to see at least 30% of staff become shareholders and enjoy being owners in the business they are helping to shape.  

“Secondly, I think relevance [is key],” he said, “We believe there’s room for a European powerhouse, we’ve already taken that position in the UK. And an interesting stat is that we are now, by most metrics, bigger than JLT was when it sold to Marsh. They had 10,000 staff, we’ve got 10,500, their EBITDA was around £320 million, ours is around £440 million including Aston Lark. So, [our question now] is how can we be as powerful and as relevant in continental Europe, as we have to become with Aston Lark and A-Plan in the UK.”

Read more: DUAL CEO sheds light on major transaction

The third string to Howden’s bow in 2022 will focus on redefining underwriting, which its international MGA arm DUAL is now well on the way to doing. That means providing thought leadership to the market and discovering what they want and how it can be achieved via investments in digital and data, in a bid to move the needle of how the market thinks about risks. It comes back to his earlier point, Howden said, about the long-term mindset of Howden and the way it continually explores how to be relevant for clients in a fast-changing world.

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Tesco Bank has also revealed that Michael Mustard, legal director and company secretary, who has been with the business for seven years, will be departing the organisation in February to take on a role in a different sector.

Fiona Burden, who is currently head of legal, has been selected to replace Mustard and will take up the role when he steps down. Burden has been with Tesco for eight years and previously served as head of legal at Tesco Bank. Before that, she led its commercial legal team and has recently acted as interim head of supplier management. Prior to joining Tesco Bank, she spent time in roles at Aviva and Standard Life.

Additionally, Jacqui Mallin, director of colleague experience, will leave the business after five years in the role to allow her and her family to spend more time living abroad. The search for her successor is underway and an announcement can be expected in due course.

Commenting on the leadership changes, Gerry Mallon, chief executive of Tesco Bank, said he was delighted to confirm the above appointments and noted that they demonstrate the strength of the group’s succession planning and its commitment to an effective gender balance in its executive team.

“Having joined us on an interim basis, Gary helped transition Tesco Underwriting to being a wholly owned subsidiary of Tesco Bank and is joining the team on a permanent basis at an exciting time for the business,” he said. “Michael and Jacqui will leave with our best wishes and thanks for their contribution to Tesco Bank, and I now look forward to working with Debbie, Gary, Fiona and the rest of the executive team as we continue to help Tesco shoppers manage their money a little better every day.”

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Read more: GRP’s Alan & Thomas makes first acquisition of the year

“We’ve been on quite a journey with them for a period of time,” he said. “I’d known Malcolm Hicks and the family-run business for many years, actually since I first started working as a broker back in 1984. So, I’d known Malcolm for a long time and there has always been a mutual respect between our two firms, even though we’ve been in close combat at times. And I think as a result of that professionalism and respect, we grew to act as a bit of a sounding board for each other in those early days.”

Later on, Malcolm Hick’s sons – Jason and Paul – joined the BIG family business, he said and he got to know them quite well as they all served in the same community. Each business continued doing its own thing and evolving their structures over time but, culturally, an alignment between the firms became quite clear. That culture is an essential element of what A&T considers carefully whenever it looks at acquisition opportunities.

A few years ago, BIG reached out to A&T to explore their options, Boughton said, as they had picked up a variety of strong commercial accounts but were looking for more assistance in areas around the changing regulatory landscape, technology and evolving insurance market relationships. The team at BIG run their business very well, he emphasised, and are true insurance brokers in the best way but it is those additional pieces that can be time and resource consuming. As it stands, those are the same pieces that being part of GRP makes so much more accessible.

“When we went on our own expansion journey back in 2017, [GRP] was the standout opportunity for us in terms of its model, because it’s so unique,” he said. “We really did our due diligence because we tend to be quite cautious people at the best of times so we explored our options with a fine-tooth comb, as you’d expect us to… And we’re delighted with the decision we made.”

GRP’s model has allowed A&T to keep its name above the door, and to exercise real autonomy while availing of support around everything from technology, HR, regulation and market negotiations. It is a model that allows broking firms to get on with what they do best and focus on their clients to achieve what is best for them, Boughton said, and that focus on high-quality broking is what has enabled A&T to win several sizeable accounts, including the first and second-largest customers in their history.

“We treat every customer with respect to the fact that their business is their world,” he said. “Whether they’re a self-employed painter and decorator or a multinational global company, we will provide that high level of service. But interestingly, we have been able, with all the new tools at our disposal, to pick up two significant accounts over the last couple of years, and that is a testament to the fact that even in the sales arena, we can punch above our weight and compete against the bigger national names.

“[…] I think a lot of that is down to the fact that we draw on this national scale but local and very targeted and focused delivery, from a team that’s very capable of doing it within our own business. That resonates with customers particularly well and has definitely stood us out from the competition.”

Read more: Alan & Thomas CEO: “Insurance broking was the obvious choice for me”

A&T is excited about the future, Boughton said, and passionate about continuing to do what it does best – getting out there and serving the interests of its customer base. Looking at the firm’s key areas of focus for 2022, he noted that the business has been encouraged by the easing of restrictions and is reflecting on the changes it made during COVID. The pandemic has been a great opportunity for the broker to galvanise its team and align itself with its customers even more, he said, and now it is looking to build on that platform going forward,

“Acquisition, of course, plays its part,” he said. “We’re hoping to land a couple more this year, but it’s not acquisitions at all costs for us, it never has been. We’ve always looked at it from the point of view of whether it’s going to add value for us and, importantly, whether we’re going to add value to that business. It’s an investment for us, so if we can’t reconcile that element at the outset, then we don’t tend to sort of progress things too much. And the people involved are a key ingredient of that.”

A&T has been in business planning mode for a while now, he said, which involves exploring input from business partners and considering elements like rate strength and index linking across the market over the next 12 months. The broking business now finds itself in an optimistic place and can see the potential for solid organic growth, rooted in caring for existing clients and advising them on the areas where they are not insured as well as identifying where they are covered.

That gap analysis is something the business already does well, he said, but it’s not about driving sales but rather establishing a unique proposition that sets A&T apart from its competitors. The business is also embarking on its insurer roadshow at the end of this week, which will see it spend valuable time with its key insurer partners and unveiling some of its plans for 2022 to further evolve those relationships. Those insurer partnerships are critical to the success of the business, he said, and the ongoing support from A&T’s insurer partners is immensely valued.

“So, organically we’ll grow well,” he said. “New client wins will feature significantly and, along with the reducing service levels we seem to be seeing from our competitors to clients in our geographic area, it hopefully bodes well for the future. And if we can top that off with a couple of acquisitions, wonderful.”

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As a landmark, the Lloyd’s of London building is distinctly iconic and has played host to a number of momentous moments for the insurance industry, both positive and negative. However, today the Financial Times (the FT) has reported that Lloyd’s is exploring a move away from the Richard Rogers-designed building.

The FT noted that the news on the Lloyd’s building, which was first reported by the property trade publication React, is a blunt reminder of the impact COVID-19 has had on the office market. Lloyd’s is reported to be “considering a range of options around our workspace strategy and the future leasing arrangements for Lloyd’s”.

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But as highlighted by Carolina Klint (pictured), risk management leader, Continental Europe, at Marsh, the report does not exist to simply pinpoint concerns but also to identify how they intertwine and where work can and must be done to mitigate them. Finding solutions rather than analysing problems is at the very heart of what Marsh McLennan does, she said, as it works at the coalface of advising and protecting its clients.

“We want to make this real, not only hypothetical but [reflecting] the things that companies are challenged with, and the need to think about solutions to them and to really think about how to improve resilience and build flexibility into processes and structures,” she said. “That’s so they can bounce back when things like this happen, like the pandemic or other systemic risks, such as floods or extreme weather events.”

The past two years have been something of a heyday for risk professionals, Klint said, because all of a sudden talking about risk seems a lot more popular. She has seen from her industry conversations that there is an increased acceptance of the role that risk management plays in safeguarding the future. The focus of many leaders has shifted to the ‘Governance’ element of ESG, which encompasses everything from corporate structure, to corruption, to bribery, to ethics.

Yet despite the evolving nature of the risks faced by businesses, there is a clear through-line between them, as identified clearly by the Global Risks report – that is the complexity and interconnectivity of risk. Klint noted that by examining any single risk you can also see it exacerbates or accelerates other risks. It’s like an enormous bowl of spaghetti, she said, and if you start pulling one strand everything starts moving which makes it very difficult to manage.

During a webinar discussion on the findings of the report, Klint emphasised that by building real partnerships between the public and private sectors based on new approaches to risk mitigation, allocation and data sharing, the choices can be made now that will enhance risk preparedness and resilience going forward. By taking these steps now, when the next crisis occurs, businesses and individuals will be ready to respond with greater agility and cohesiveness.

Exploring this further in an interview with Insurance Business, she noted that the global environment is now thinking about such partnerships in a new light. For instance, she said, the unprecedented speed of the COVID-19 vaccine development wouldn’t have been possible without the collaboration seen between the public and private sectors.

Read more: Zurich CEO: Public-private partnership needed for systemic loss events

“Also, in terms of the insurance industry, there have been a lot of discussions and efforts towards finding insurance mechanisms and then a better structure to address the protection gap that the pandemic exposed,” she said. “[There’s more] discussions around how to manage systemic risks in a much more creative way. And I think what has happened is that the pandemic really exposed that these claims can be quite dramatic, and it’s not really fair to expect a private insurance company to carry that weight alone. It just doesn’t work.

“But what could make sense is to have a public-private solution for pandemics or other systemic risks involving the insurance sector, of course. And that could offer many benefits over government crisis loans or grants because it could then include the efficiency and fairness and also the incentives for risk reduction that the insurance industry can represent. So, in terms of public-private partnerships, that insurance lens is really interesting to watch.”

The move towards developing strong, long-lasting partnerships is part and parcel of developing a more sustainable, resilient world, she said, and it’s definitely part of the agenda that Marsh McLennan is looking to foster among its clients. She believes the involvement of the insurance and reinsurance industry in distributing coverage and assuming risk is an essential factor in building future resilience.

Klint highlighted that resilience is a journey, not a destination and that it needs to be built up at both local, national and global levels. With so many considerations currently facing organisations, starting a resilience journey likely seems a bit overwhelming and so she shared her key tips on how to get started. For companies just starting to think about resilience, the Global Risks Report is an incredibly valuable tool for the insights it shares on the changing risk landscape, she said, so reading the report is a very good starting point.

Another tip to be found in the report is the key takeaway that among the many factors critical to managing and recovering in the constantly changing risk environment, adaptability and trust are essential. Businesses need to be ready to adapt response strategies based on quickly evolving circumstances, she said, while another element is fostering trust that these strategies are being founded on science-based decisions. The problem of social cohesion erosion is a risk raised by the report, and so organisations need to focus on rebuilding trust in their decisions and strategies, by effectively communicating how these have been reached.

“And so I think that’s a way to get started,” she said. “But it’s also in terms of leveraging diversity as a tool for a truly holistic view of the evolving risk landscape. Because one of the things that we’ve seen is that companies that actually push for collaboration and a non-siloed approach to looking through their risk registers, to really connecting risks with strategies, and to leveraging all of those different areas of expertise that are available in their companies – those have fared better throughout this pandemic and will probably be more ready and more flexible and agile as we move forward and maybe come up against other threats.”

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Jeremy Trott, SoCP non-executive director, said that claims professionals must ensure they are up to date with all of the technical aspects of coverage and how various scenarios could play out from a claims perspective.

“Let’s be honest – outside of a few industry experts, there were few that truly understood business interruption cover and all that it entailed; and this is only from one very specific perspective – pandemics,” Trott said. “We now need to review what other key aspects of cover we need to consider going forward, and work with underwriters and other areas of the business to drive forward both policy and technical developments across our businesses, with simplicity and transparency at their core, for both customers and employees.”

Trott said that claims professionals must also consider more leadership and behavioural support, because the various restrictions and the need to work from home more frequently have changed the way the sector operates.

“We’ve gone from everyone in an office to everyone from home and will probably morph into a hybrid of the two during the coming years, with a variety of different models being set up,” he said. “How do we ensure that we are thinking about all of the regulatory, welfare, customer, technological, training and induction concerns moving forward, and provide support to our membership?”

SoCP will assist its members regarding the changing skillset required by the new normal by producing good practice guidance and by providing a forum for the advancement of new ideas, career development and professional qualifications.

According to Trott, the pandemic has accelerated development in areas such as data, AI and customer expectations, and all these must be taken into account when creating a support programme for claims professionals moving forward.

“Whatever we need to do should come from clear and simply explained policies that we deliver on in the key moment of truth of making a claim,” Trott said. “Small steps towards building back this trust, with some strong messaging about how many claims we do pay out on, will slowly and surely rebuild trust.”

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The International Underwriting Association of London (IUA) has outlined its business plan for the new year, which seeks to address the topics of concern for London company market clients.

Based on results of recent risk management surveys, the IUA said the areas that need addressing include climate risk, business interruption, regulatory changes, and pandemic response.

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Niall Carberry has joined HDI Global SE – UK and Ireland as underwriting head for the industrial lines insurer’s Irish business.

“I am delighted to take up this role with HDI Global in Ireland,” said Carberry, who made the switch from Chubb where he was in charge of casualty underwriting. “It is a fantastic opportunity to grow the business here providing insurance solutions that matter to both clients and brokers alike.

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Yorkshire-based Marshall Wooldridge is back on the acquisition trail, today revealing that it completed a deal for Goldthorpe Insurance Brokers at the turn of the year.

Goldthorpe, based in Rotherham, is a family-owned business, led by Steven Garlick who founded the business more than 30 years ago.

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Costello, whose career to date has seen him take on roles with some of the biggest brokers in the UK, noted that hubb was founded on the view that the insurance market has changed, and not for the betterment of the client or the insurer. He believes that stress on the distribution value chain has created an opportunity for hubb to do something different to augment that distribution in a way that works for the insurers’ benefit as well as the clients’.

“We started right before the pandemic,” he said, “and what we support is the value chain from two different sides,” he said. “I’ve seen it from the business side and what I thought could be achieved there. And Ed has seen it as a vendor selling technology to insurance businesses and seen what actually is available in the technology world to make the whole value chain work better.”

Given its beginnings, a lot of what hubb has done and is doing ties into the wider market shifts being seen in light of COVID-19 – from using technology to make claims more efficient, to creating a work-from-home roadmap for staff. What the pandemic has done, Costello said, is validate the actions that he and Halsey believed would make the value chain work better and show that they are feasible.

Halsey, whose 15+ years in the industry have seen him work in various underwriting and tech-orientated roles for companies including some of the top insurers, highlighted that there is a fascinating curve occurring in insurance at the moment. Underpinning this, he said, is that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has repeatedly implied that firms need to do a better job of disclosing commissions and earnings or else be helped along the road to doing just that.

Read more: FCA and Consumer Intelligence reveal the meaning of fair value

He and Costello knew it was coming, he said, and the real question was what impact it would have on the clients that make up the insurance market when they knew the commissions they were paying. hubb did a study and 76% of the people the firm asked didn’t know what they were paying in commission.

“Now, that’s a damning indictment on our industry that we’re taking money and 76% of the people that we asked had no idea what they were paying,” he said. “If you don’t know what you’re paying, you can’t assess value and that’s a really important thing. And that’s what usage-based models do, they completely flip that on its head. They enable the customer to assess value, and then enable them to budget themselves in terms of [questioning] ‘is that something I want to do? Is that worth my while? Or is it not?’”

Conversations across the insurance sector have posed the question as to how to make insurance ‘loveable’ again, Halsey said, and the key to doing that is first and foremost about transparency. Insurance professionals need to start proactively declaring their commissions to customers and telling them about that. Another interesting element of the study that hubb conducted revealed that 90% of those surveyed – of the 76% who had no idea what they were paying – said they thought 5% or less was a reasonable commission for the service they were getting.

“Now most of those people will be paying 35 to 40% for the service that they’re actually receiving,” he said. “And when the FCA inevitably make that announcement, a lot of people are going to be upset. So, what Mark and I looked at was, how can we get ahead of that curve? How can we look at the impending storm that’s coming in and get ahead of it? What’s the model we can put in place that enables us to align value with the price that the customer is paying? And that’s ultimately how hubb was conceived.”

Last year saw remarkable success and growth for the firm, and proved the value of its offering within the industry as it was able to onboard esteemed insurance professionals and successfully apply its value proposition to the insurance marketplace. Its acquisition of DFP was another example of this, noted Costello, and hubb has seen that the client market is responding well to what it is offering.

“The insurance industry, for all its faults, is full of really talented people,” he said. “But I think we have lots of really talented people doing mundane tasks that are a waste of time. If we can get rid of all of that, I think the really interesting part for ourselves as we grow is we’ll be able to attract the most talented people because if you give the best talented people the tasks that they like to do, I think it makes their job much more interesting.”

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