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2023 – it has been a year in which geopolitical turbulence and economic disruption have dominated headlines, and granted the insurance market multiple opportunities to display its inherent resilience. Now, with 2024 looming on the horizon, what better time could there be to take stock of all that 2023 brought to and for the insurance industry?

Touching on some of the economic considerations at play Stephen Bramall, credit director for Allianz Trade UK & Ireland, highlighted that 2023 was a year that saw credit risk return to our markets. The government support measures that were in place through the COVID period are running off, he said, inflation has been high and the effects of the raising of interest rates have started to affect demand.

This has resulted in a sharp rise in business insolvencies, Bramall said. From Allianz Trade’s internal data, it is seeing higher levels of payment issues and disputes and he expects to see this continue into 2024. Meanwhile, on the supply chain side, the market has seen significant disruption as a result of several conflicts between key countries.

“With higher insolvencies and tighter financial conditions we have seen supply chains come under pressure,” he added. “When we speak to businesses, disruptions in the supply chain remain one of the key risks faced. We expect these issues to continue moving into 2024.”

What 2023 brought for the insurance market

Offering his insights into what he has seen dictate discussions this year, Jon Walker, commercial CEO at AXA UK, noted that 2023 was a challenging year for the insurance sector with claims inflation and supply chain issues dominating.

“However, it also provided opportunities such as the introduction of Consumer Duty that reinforced our commitment to deliver exceptional service to our customers,” he said. “We ensured and will continue to ensure our teams were and are equipped to meet or exceed the standards it sets, many of which were already in place.”   

Walker added that claims inflation impacted both motor and property insurance throughout 2023. Across the industry, he said, supply chain challenges caused issues with motor claims and increases in the cost of building materials and labour contributing to property claims costs rising.

Underinsurance remains a challenge that the insurance industry must face, he said, to ensure that customers are well informed and experience no unexpected issues should claims arise. Proactive communication has been and will continue to be crucial to keep customers informed and help them understand the macroeconomic issues impacting some services. 

“Our ambitious programme of business transformation continued at pace throughout 2023 and was central to all our discussions,” he said. “By continuing to introduce automation and enriching our data, as well as losing unnecessary admin and simplifying complex processes, we aim to deliver our ambition of giving businesses the confidence to thrive, today and tomorrow.” 

For Rich Tomlinson, MD of Percayso Inform, real time data and the ability to predict customer behaviour were two critical areas this year. Since the firm acquired Cazana at the beginning of the year and created Percayso Vehicle Intelligence, he said, it has experienced significant engagement not just from existing customers but new brokers and insurance providers.

“The partnership we formed with Close Brothers has led to a lot of conversations about how brokers can benefit from a cancellation model that predicts those consumers who are likely to cancel their insurance early or mid-term,” he said. “Brokers want to understand what makes their customers tick and being able to pin down their likelihood to buy, cancel, in essence, their lifetime value is vital to maintaining profit margins, reducing fraud and pivoting business models as the economic environment changes.”

What did the industry do well in 2023?

Despite the challenging external environment, good news was in no short supply during 2023 and Walker spotlighted the further improvement seen across all AXA Commercial’s business performance metrics in 2023, and the step change in its market visibility between appearances at BIBA, the MGAA Conference, and brand, broker and partner events.

“Our people are keen to get out in the marketplace and promote our products and services,” he said. “We’re also incredibly proud to have received the Investor in Customers gold award this year, the highest standard awarded by ICC to businesses, demonstrating that our commitment to service is being recognised and appreciated.

“But it’s not only customers who have voiced their approval. AXA’s eNPS score has seen a significant improvement, highlighting our employees’ increased job satisfaction and likelihood to recommend us to others as an employer.” 

Across the sector, he said, business optimism is slowly returning despite the ongoing challenges presented by COVID-19, the cost-of-living crisis, adverse weather and geopolitical events, and his team are starting to see more customers expanding their operations. This is especially positive considering that fundamental economic stability and business optimism are the lifeblood of the UK insurance sector.                

Looking to some of the key successes enjoyed by Percayso this year, Tomlinson paid credit to the whole team who have worked so hard to help the business achieve its aim for 2023, but said two achievements stand out most for him. The first is Percayso’s second successful investment round led by the former chairman of Hastings, Neil Utley, and its existing VC, Praetura, as well as other industry heavyweights such as Andy Homer and David Rasche.

In what is a challenging environment for many when it comes to raising funds, he said, the fact that Percayso was able to secure their interest is a huge testament not only to the value that the business is delivering to insurance providers but also its commitment to generating positive outcomes for clients.

“Secondly, we recently achieved ISO 27001 certification,” he said. “I appreciate this may not sound that exciting but as a business that manages literally millions of different bits of data every day, achieving this global standard for effective information management demonstrates to our customers, partners and investors that we are doing all we can to protect the data we hold and manage.

“Both of these achievements involved massive team efforts and both are hugely important to the future direction of our business. I couldn’t be prouder of everyone involved.”

After six years of incredible growth, I am still amazed by how iCAN continues to flourish, disrupt and challenge today’s market.  I want to use my last column of 2023 to review the progress iCAN has made and to hopefully entice more of my colleagues in the market to join iCAN’s ever-expanding network.

Sponsor and Partner organisations

iCAN’s growth in 2023 was underscored by the significant expansion in sponsorships, with over 30+ organisations (both brokers and carriers) across the UK market committing to iCAN’s mission of helping those from multicultural and international backgrounds to advance their careers in the market.

I believe together we can make a real change at all career levels by creating a more diverse insurance market which is reflective of today’s society and prevailing attitudes.  Through establishing a robust network of sponsors and supporters representing the entire spectrum of the insurance industry, iCAN’s primary objective is to promote a culture of inclusivity for all of those working in today’s market.

Our sponsors and partners are not just passive donors, they genuinely push us to deliver bigger and better results and, in return, we help them shape their corporate diversity strategies to attract and retain the best talent in today’s insurance market.

The launch of iCAN’s Birmingham and Manchester Regional iCAN Hubs

The Spring of 2023 saw iCAN take a significant step in membership growth from 3,500 to 7,000 members across the market, as well as furthering our strategy to increase our visibility on a national level by launching Regional Hubs in both Birmingham and Manchester. 

The iCAN team successfully ran four amazing events in Birmingham, ranging from panel discussions and workshops to speed networking events, catered exclusively for our members in the Midlands.  These events not only provided valuable insights and networking opportunities but also showcased iCAN’s ability to expand regionally. 

In December, we successfully launched iCAN’s Manchester hub encouraging colleagues from the north of the country to connect. The expansion into new regions signifies iCAN’s commitment to reaching and positively impacting diverse communities throughout the UK,  thereby fostering a culture of inclusion which is no longer just London-centric.

iCAN’s Elevate Gen Z Career Conference

Friday 8 September 2023 was a pinnacle moment for iCAN as we held our first-ever careers conference tailored specifically for those in the early stages of their careers in insurance. 

The iCAN Elevate Career Conference saw over 300 insurance colleagues from the ages of 18 – 25 attend an all-day career conference where 12 keynote speakers discussed a range of topics such as how to use your inner creativity to boost your personal and professional life, key skills for successful networking and how to confidently ask for a pay rise. 

The feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive as many of our ‘Gen Z’ members were grateful for the spotlight to be placed firmly on them and signified iCAN’s commitment to supporting a demographic of people who felt they were being overlooked by today’s market. 

This milestone publication, launched in celebration of our 6th anniversary, featured inspiring stories of 60 transformative figures shaping the insurance industry today.

“60 Role Models for 6 Years” is part of iCAN’s ongoing commitment to inspiring the younger generation by showcasing the wealth of talent and opportunities that abound in the insurance sector.

By sharing these unique stories, we hope to energise emerging industry professionals and encourage them to envision and realise their potential in this exciting field. And we got to celebrate some very special individuals in doing so.

iCAN’s ESEA Community (iCAN’s East Asian and South East Asian community group)

The start of 2023 heralded a ground-breaking moment for the UK insurance industry as iCAN hosted its first traditional Lion Dance, welcoming the Year of the Rabbit in grand style.

This event not only marked a cultural milestone but also inspired the launch of iCAN’s first dedicated community for people of East and Southeast Asian heritage.  We did not stop there either, in September the Mid-Autumn Festival (celebrated in many parts of East Asia) organised by iCAN was a major highlight, featuring stand-up comedy, networking opportunities and chef-made mooncakes!

This event became the talk of the town, emphasising iCAN’s commitment to championing and celebrating diverse cultural traditions.

iCAN’s expansion across the UK, its commitment to several diverse events (55 in 2023) and increased support from sponsors and members demonstrate its growing influence and effectiveness in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the insurance industry.

2024 will see iCAN continuing to focus on its three core programmes: INspire – our initiatives all about mentoring and training, iCAN Apply – our recruitment initiative and jobs board and iCAN Connect – our work with corporate firms, including our network of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). These are all programmes that I would encourage you and your other colleagues to get involved in!

Having taken his first insurance class in high school before going on to study financial management of risk at university, Mike Mulray’s (pictured) career trajectory bucks the trend of so many of his market peers who “fell” into insurance. In a recent interview with Insurance Business, Mulray, who became president of Everest’s North America Insurance division earlier this year, highlighted why attracting and retaining great talent is at the top of his growth agenda.

“There’s a constant war for talent out there, so trying to attract the best and brightest, and continuing to develop the talent we have and retain them through training and development opportunities is so important,” he said. “And as an industry, we need a bigger pipeline coming into the market, that’s one of the main challenges we’re facing – getting more people attracted early on.”

Promoting insurance as a career from early doors

Mulray noted that going out to schools and universities to promote the idea of an insurance career as rewarding and fulfilling is essential and how to do that at scale is a pressing topic for him as a leader. Being one of the relatively few individuals in the market with a degree in insurance underscores why having studied insurance is not a pre-requisite to enjoying a great career, he said, and why the sector needs to continue to focus on attracting individuals from all disciplines.

“You can teach people insurance,” he said. “You can’t teach people hard work, or about having a growth mindset, or to ask the right questions, or to be flexible. There are certain things like having passion and drive and energy that you just can’t teach. To me, having people who come from different backgrounds and who bring diverse experiences is just as valuable… Of course, we still want to hire people with insurance and risk management degrees and qualifications, but to our mind, it’s not necessary.”

Understanding the societal value of insurance

To people not yet on the path to exploring insurance as a career option, Mulray has a clear message – “this is a great career path, which offers the opportunity for huge societal good”. It’s all too easy to lose sight of the force for good that insurance can be for individuals, businesses, communities and societies, and the industry needs to get better at telling its story and why nothing really happens in the economy without the safety net provided by insurance.

The ”secret sauce” of Everest’s success

Examining Everest’s talent emphasis, he touched on the spate of recent key hires and internal promotions announced by the group and the two fundamental ingredients in the “secret sauce” of Everest’s success in this field.

“It’s all about people and culture,” he said. “We have a ‘no jerks’ rule. We want to hire the best people who fit our culture which is grounded in humility, collaboration and diversity. People have to fit that mould and that’s just the way we think about things. When it comes to talent specifically, we’ve spent a lot of time and investment in developing our people.

“Through our development programs, our early talent program, our associate underwriting program and internships, we’re trying to build the next generation of leaders. That’s really important to our success. I think some companies have got away from doing that in the same way that we are. For example, through COVID, we maintained our internship program when others cancelled theirs because we knew how important it was to support folks in that way.”

Speaking candidly, he said, he firmly believes the success Everest is seeing is all due to the ground talent spread throughout the company, and he feels very fortunate to have such a strong team.

Fast times for the team at Everest – all underpinned by culture

It has been a busy period for the business which announced the rollout of a US wholesale and programs market division and unveiled a new business travel accident protection plan in September. Growing a business at pace without diluting your culture is a balancing act for leaders and Mulray emphasized that it all starts with getting the right people into the company at the earliest juncture.

“Everyone you hire is a reflection of you,” he said. “So, when we talk to our business leaders and managers, we tell them if you’re bringing somebody in, you can’t just settle. We really need to make sure that people have connectivity to our culture and who we are, and we test for that in interviews… When we interview, we want candidates to have a chance to meet as many people in the business as possible. Because they’re interviewing us as much as we’re interviewing them. We want them to see the consistency across our team.”

The importance of candidate feedback

Candidate feedback often highlights that consistency piece, he said, which he feels reflects the authenticity of Everest’s approach to people and culture. Rather than taking a scripted approach, his focus is on nurturing the passion of his team as that’s really the only way to guarantee that Everest continues to attract and retain the best people.

“We simply can’t afford to settle, we want to have the best people,” he said. “And great talent attracts great talent. We know that, which is why it’s so important to us to stay focused on bringing in the best people we can find. We’re actively recruiting right now, around the world but particularly in the United States, to add more people in a number of different areas, especially in our wholesale division – and this is the key to us doing that.”

“As an organisation, our culture and our philosophy have never really changed. We like to do things with a bit of pace, a bit of warmth, a bit of wit and confidence, but always with a lot of professionalism.”

When Nick Hobbs (pictured) was appointed chief distribution officer for Allianz Commercial in the UK earlier this year, he was hailed as “the natural choice” in helping to affirm Allianz as a leader in the UK’s commercial insurance market. Now four months into the role which sees him lead all aspects of distribution for the recently unified business unit, he shared what’s at the top of his agenda and why his new position is a little bit like coming home.  

“It has been a bit of a ride because I started my career in the large corporate world of AGCS as it was then,” he said. “So now, to be working in a role that brings me back into that space, where I’m back looking after elements of large corporate and specialty is a nice position to be in.”

Bringing Allianz Commercial together in the UK – what it means

Over two decades with Allianz has shown him what a richly diverse organisation it is, he said, as underscored by his current role which encompasses large-corporate, specialty, mid-corporate, digital/SME and engineering inspection business lines – and supports 80+ products. Allianz’s global commercial business is a €20 billion proposition, of which the UK represents circa €3 billion so laying the foundations for this realignment has involved a lot of moving parts.

“I think that’s why we’re so excited about this,” he said. “Whenever you’re building a new organisation, you find energy, driving ambition and enthusiasm around that and that’s no less the case here. And that ambition and the drive behind the creation of Allianz Commercial is really quite compelling for people like me but also all those who work alongside me as well.”

It’s a natural part of the lifecycle of organisations that different functions split and join apart again, and the coming together within Allianz Commercial of different elements that were separated 20 years ago, is having several key impacts. When you separate any business, let alone one with 80+ products, you create gaps, he said, and those gaps become clearer as the pieces slot back into the overall puzzle.

The second impact of this re-alignment is that it is enabling Allianz Commercial to fill those gaps with an expansion of appetite and an expansion of proposition, he said, which allows the team to go out to the market and offer more to customers and brokers alike. It’s been a deeply rewarding experience for his team, he said, allowing them to “scratch the itch” they’ve developed over the years from not being able to get to all the corners of the market.

“For our customers and broker partners, this brings clarity about who’s doing what because it’s one company dealing with it, an aligned organisation with an aligned appetite,” he said. “We’re going to make it easier than ever for the customer and the broker. Rather than them having try and navigate us, we’ll do the navigation on their behalf.”

“Grace and pace” – getting the foundations right

Hobbs noted that it’s a hallmark of Allianz, informed by its senior leadership team, that it moves “with pace and with grace”, and the rapid evolution of Allianz Commercial in the UK has been no exception. When you’re putting a business together, he said, it has to be done quickly and in such a way that makes sense to both your internal teams and your external partners.

A lot of the work being done behind the scenes is on getting “the plumbing” of the restructure right, Hobbs said, whether that’s sorting out legal structures or trading basics. Meanwhile, the front-facing work has been around introducing the business’s internal teams and external customers and partners to the revamped proposition and appetite of Allianz Commercial in the UK.

“Bringing the business together has allowed us to identify all the great places our teams haven’t been able to fill before,” he said. “And once you’ve identified those, you can make more certain statements about what you’re going to do in terms of climate solutions, multinational solutions, etc. So, that’s absolutely at the top of the agenda as far as Allianz Commercial is concerned.

“However, it isn’t the only show in town as, within that commercial operation, we also have an e-trade offering – QuoteSME – the transformation of which culminated in 2023, allowing us to go out to market with some vim and vigour about what that digital offering means for all our broker partners – whether small or large, because it’s a volume-based part of our business. We’re not just looking at supporting the big, complex stuff, and the mid-market, we’re also making sure we go large with what we’ve been doing to transform our digital offering as well.”

Attention has also turned to the business’s engineering inspection offering, which represents such a value-add for clients, he said, and ensuring every effort is made to maintain its market-leading status amid everything else that’s happening. Plans are already in place to expand that significantly in 2024.

Bringing colleagues along on the journey – what’s next?

Underpinning all this work is the ambition to bring everyone within the business along on the transformation journey of Allianz Commercial in the UK, he said, and that all starts with education. It’s about making colleagues and the wider market aware of the full suite of products on offer and what that means for them, which is an ongoing exercise but a lot of fun.

The plans in motion for advancements in the digital space and engineering inspection space are running alongside business as usual, he said, which for Allianz is never a case of resting on its laurels and includes the launch of a new accident and health product, and the refresh of its mini fleet product. The business is also paying close attention to what’s happening in the regulatory space particularly around Consumer Duty which as an exercise “is never concluded”, and around multi-occupancy residential buildings.

ESG remains a critical priority, he said, as Allianz continues to find new ways to play a bigger part in the communities it supports. Efforts include the net-zero accelerator proposition which looks to support its prime partners in attaining or protecting their net-zero status, and its sports community fund, which sees brokers nominate teams to secure grants from the insurer. On a larger scale, Allianz Group published its first comprehensive Net Zero transition plan in September – in which the UK will play a part.

At the core of all this is Allianz’s claims proposition, Hobbs said, in recognition of the fact that a claims offering is the proof-of-concept of the insurance industry. He pointed to the work being done by chief claims officer Graham Gibson in curating a “second to none” offering, as backed by multiple Gracechurch surveys.

“And we continue to build out our segmentation philosophy,” he said. “We changed how we approach different segments of our business in late 2022 and relaunched a couple of propositions for our broker partners, and our prime partners who are brokers who are just starting to do meaningful business with us or those who’ve been doing meaningful business for a while. That’s had some significant success in 2023 so we’re going to continue to invest in that which is a great platform to build on as we head into 2024.”

Graham Reid (pictured above), a 72-year-old employee of TL Dallas, an insurance brokerage in Glasgow, has successfully raised £12,000 for charity by completing the Camino de Santiago trek, a pilgrimage spanning 775 kilometres to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. It was completed over a period of 45 days.

Reid’s interest in the Camino de Santiago began 12 years ago after a conversation with Sister Margaretta from the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary, based near Glasgow. Having previously walked the West Highland Way from Glasgow to Fort William, Reid was inspired to take on the more challenging Camino de Santiago.

The funds raised are in aid of the Beatson Cancer charity, which holds personal significance for Reid. Both he and his wife, Jane, received treatment for lymphoma and bowel cancer, respectively, at Beatson Cancer.

Grateful for the support received, Reid was motivated to give back to the charity. His colleague, Lorraine Scott, set up a Just Giving page to facilitate donations. The £6,000 raised was matched by TL Dallas, contributing an additional £6,000 to the firm’s Charitable Trust, which supports various charities across the country.

A historic trek for charity

Reid’s journey began in September, starting from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees and traversing through major cities like Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos, and León before reaching Santiago de Compostela. Throughout the trek, Reid maintained communication with his supporters via WhatsApp and postcards, the latter specifically for Sister Margaretta.

“I created a WhatsApp group so I could send updates and pictures of my progress. Unfortunately, Sister Margaretta isn’t on WhatsApp, so I sent her postcards instead! I used a local travel agent, Macs Travel in Glasgow, to plan and book the 40 hotels that I would stay in along the way. My wife kindly escorted me through Glasgow airport – my first challenge – and accompanied me for the first week and then flew back out for the last two days to fetch me home,” Reid said.

“One of the trickiest parts of the trek was getting up each morning with my bags packed and delivering them to reception in time for them to be dispatched to the next hotel,” he said.

He covered a daily distance of 15 to 20 miles, with some days reduced to five to nine miles due to challenging terrain. Reid allowed himself four rest days and enjoyed “pilgrim’s meals” each evening, a three-course meal typically priced between 15 to 20 euros.

Having completed the trek without any injuries, Reid plans to return in spring to walk the Camino Finisterre, a 90-kilometer trail leading to Finisterre on the western coast of Spain.

Reid has been with TL Dallas Group for 12 years. TL Dallas, a family and employee-owned business, has offices across the UK, including in Edinburgh, Falkirk, Shetland, and several other locations.

The Beatson Cancer Charity provides a range of services, including complementary therapies, health and work support, and activities facilitated by staff and volunteers. The charity aims to enhance the wellbeing of individuals affected by cancer.

What are your thoughts on this story? Please feel free to share your comments below.

Munich Re has set its sights on achieving a net profit of €5 billion in 2024, bolstered by strong operational performance across its business segments. The company anticipates group insurance revenue to reach €59 billion in the same year, with an expected improvement in return on investment to above 2.8%.

In its reinsurance business, Munich Re projects an increase in insurance revenue to €39 billion, along with a net profit of €4.2 billion for 2024. The company plans to capitalize on the favorable market conditions to drive profitable growth. In the property-casualty reinsurance sector, Munich Re foresees an improved combined ratio of 82%, attributed to operational enhancements from the 2023 renewals and expected outcomes of the 2024 renewals.

Unlike in 2023, Munich Re does not intend to further increase reserve prudency to offset the impact of discounting, given its robust reserving position. In life and health reinsurance, the company expects a technical result of €1.45 billion in 2024, supported by annual releases of Contractual Service Margin (CSM) and risk adjustment, along with a continued strong contribution from business involving non-significant risk transfer.

The ERGO business segment is projected to generate insurance revenue of €20 billion in 2024, continuing its recent positive trend with a profit contribution of €0.8 billion. For the ERGO Property-casualty Germany segment, a combined ratio of 87% is anticipated, and 90% for ERGO International.

As with all forecasts and targets, Munich Re noted that there are heightened uncertainties due to geopolitical and macroeconomic developments. Additionally, these projections also assume that major losses will remain within normal limits and that the income statement will not experience severe fluctuations due to currency or capital market volatility, significant changes in the tax environment, or other one-off effects.

Munich Re will release its full-year financial figures for 2023 on February 27, 2024, as per its scheduled announcement.

What are your thoughts on this story? Please feel free to share your comments below.

A Telegraph report on recent comments made by Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc on diversity hiring has sparked outraged calls for a boycott of the insurer. While some commentators aren’t wrong that it’s reductive to focus on race and gender without considering other career barriers like class (something the insurance industry needs to work on), the Aviva rage is largely unfounded.

‘White male recruits must get final sign-off from me, says Aviva boss,’ the Telegraph’s original Thursday headline, topping a paywalled article, declared.

The splash has hit social media, Twitter in particular, with a vengeance and led to calls to boycott Aviva for its CEO’s “woke” actions.

GB News presenter Martin Daubney teased a segment by saying: “As a female boss of Aviva says she has to approve all senior male recruits all in the name of diversity, I look at whether white people are facing racism.”

“Clue, yes,” Daubney added.

“White male recruits must get final sign off from me, says Aviva boss”

If you’re male and white, it’s time cancel that @AvivaUK policy.https://t.co/zsQLjg0auv

— Ramon Agusta (@ramonagusta) December 14, 2023

Taken at face value, Blanc’s (pictured below) Treasury Committee inquiry comments as framed by the headline, which has since been amended, would pose a big point of concern. Discrimination, be that on the basis of race, gender or any other protected characteristic, is absolutely unacceptable.

Dig a little deeper, however, and Blanc was not saying that all white male recruits at the 22,000 strong insurance company are vetted. Rather, as the Telegraph points out lower down in its article – where many non-subscribers will be unable to see this – Blanc was responding to questioning specifically on senior employees.

What did Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc say to spark boycott calls?

Blanc’s actual words were that there was “no non-diverse hire at Aviva without it being signed off by me and the chief people officer”.

“Not because I don’t trust my team but [because] I want to make sure that the process followed for that recruitment has been diverse, has been properly done and is not just a phone call to a mate saying, ‘would you like a job? Pop up and we’ll fix it up for you’,” the Aviva boss said.

What the Aviva CEO did not say was that white male candidates were being rejected from roles (57% of senior hires at the insurer last year were male, according to an Aviva media statement) – rather, that the recruitment process was being vetted. Nor did she qualify what exactly a “non-diverse” hire might be, or specifically say that she was checking hiring processes around a specific group of people.

Insurance – building diversity in a people business

If you’ve never worked in or around insurance, you might not know that it badges itself as a proud people industry. This is fantastic if you’ve got an in, but not everybody has a pass to what has traditionally been seen as an Old Boys’ Club.

Historically, it hasn’t been easy to climb the ladder in insurance and financial services as a perceived outsider, whether that’s because of your gender, your race, or another protected characteristic like a disability or even class.

Senior leadership stats reflect this.

Meanwhile, just 78 of Aviva’s senior leaders are ethnically diverse, versus 670 who are white.

The figures hardly scream that Aviva is anti-white or anti-male.

What Blanc appears to be saying (if clumsily) here is that the organisation is looking to clamp down on ‘jobs for mates’ and make sure that historically discriminated against people get the same opportunities as others. This is not about refusing white men, a diverse group of people within itself, a place at the table unless they do not deserve it.

There is far more to diversity and discrimination than gender or race, and this is something that insurance companies do need to get to grips with.

Nevertheless, Blanc and her top team are not wrong to scrutinise hiring processes.

What’s your view on Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc’s comments on non-diverse candidates and the hiring process? Share a comment below.

When Patrick Brice (pictured) joined CFC eight years ago after almost two decades serving with RSA, the business comprised a team of circa 110 people occupying just one floor of an office. Today the specialty underwriting giant employs nearly 900 people across multiple offices and is recognised as the biggest independent MGA in the world.

Speaking with Insurance Business following CFC’s UK Broker Summit, distribution director Brice noted that while the firm has seen significant changes, its fundamental DNA – a resolute focus on broker distribution and an ambition to grow the market as well as CFC’s market share – remains unchanged. 

Why CFC has no interest in going direct

“I can’t think of a single reason why we would ever go direct; I just can’t ever see us doing it,” he said. “Commercial insurance is a broker-led business. It has to be, given the complexity you’re dealing with, given the wide range of different products and the wide range of different requirements that commercial clients need. And bear in mind, commercial clients include everything from micro-businesses all the way to large corporates. So, brokers are absolutely central to that.

“If you’re working in commercial insurance, you need to understand the broker market. And I’ve always loved that aspect of insurance. It’s one of the things I hammer home when I’m talking to new joiners at CFC – that insurance is fundamentally a people business. And we at CFC talk a lot about the technology that we use and the tools we use to streamline the insurance process but the one thing we’ve been really consistent on is that brokers remain fundamental to the success of our proposition.”

What makes working with commercial insurance brokers so special?

Having seen the insurance market through multiple iterations over the last 30 years, Brice noted that what has held his interest so long is the opportunity to work with brokers and understand how their businesses operate. From the personalities involved, to seeing the strategies they put into operation to getting a first-hand look at the way in which they advocate for and support their clients, he’s continually impressed by the level of innovation displayed by brokers as they pivot to meet the ever-changing demands of insureds.

“Over the years it has become clear to me that pure selling in commercial insurance is actually really difficult,” he said. “What you need to do is build partnerships with your brokers, and to understand what kind of clients they’re working with and how your propositions match the solutions they’re trying to provide for their clients.

“For me, it all comes back to people and relationships, and understanding that brokers have a tough job to do. They’ve got clients that, nine times out of 10, don’t understand insurance and certainly don’t want to buy insurance. It’s a grudge purchase for anyone who isn’t one of those sophisticated buyers that use it purely for risk transfer.”

Making brokers’ lives easier – assessing CFC’s ambition

Making brokers’ lives easier is the name of the game for CFC, he said, and integral to that is recognising the pressures brokers face with the client on one side of the equation and the insurance market on the other. The key to navigating that is tailoring a proposition to match their requirements, and that’s the bread and butter of what Brice’s team do at CFC – crafting solutions that make the business accessible and its products efficient and tailor-made to what the broker needs.

Brice highlighted that, from a reputational perspective, the insurance industry had a rough ride during the COVID crisis, and he knows from his time serving on a BIBA advisory board that brokers are still navigating the challenge of ensuring the reputation of the industry is as powerful and positive as possible. But that’s where the role of the broker really comes in, he said, as it’s through the provision of professional, high-quality, impartial advice and guidance, that clients can learn or relearn to trust the insurance proposition.

“That’s their job,” he said. “Their job is to be professional, impartial advisors who understand their clients’ requirements and can then turn to the market and find a market for those products. Our job is to design the products, to manufacture the products and to find the right distribution partners for them. It’s also our role to educate our broker partners to the point where they feel really confident in talking about the value of those products.”

That education piece has been a responsibility CFC has taken very seriously since its earliest days, he said, and he doesn’t ever see that focus slowing down. The simpler and more accessible you make a product, the less work the broker has to do in converting that into something comprehensible from a client’s perspective.

‘What’s next? What can we do better?’

However, he noted that no matter how positive the feedback from brokers to CFC’s proposition and emphasis on creating a more sustainable specialty insurance marketplace, the business is determined not to rest on its laurels. The team knows never to take its market relationships for granted, he said, and works off the conviction that it can always be better and always do more for its brokers.

“The moment we get complacent about the fact our brokers are giving us fantastic feedback, or that we’re growing at 20-something per cent year-on-year, that’s the moment that delivery slips,” he said. “That’s when you start losing your grip on the things that made you a successful business in the first place. We’re owners of this business, so we’re all invested in its success, and we care about it deeply. And that means constantly asking ‘what’s next? What can we do better?’”

Hopefully, this continues to translate into a differentiated service proposition and a differentiated way of interacting with brokers, Brice said, because, no matter what, the broker sits at the centre of CFC’s offering.

“Their role in providing impartial, professional advice to a client that doesn’t understand insurance by coming to experts that understand that particular channel of insurance is a really powerful combination,” he said. “So, we’ve just got no business dealing directly with clients. It’s not for us. That’s where the brokers add their real value and long may it continue.”

Dickson & Co Insurance Group announced that it will be acquiring Kerr Group Insurance. The deal will form one of the largest independent insurance policy providers in the UK and Ireland.

“We are excited to welcome Kerr Insurance and its dedicated team to the Dickson & Co family,” said Ashley Dickson, managing director at Dickson & Co.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Dickson & Co and become a part of this prestigious group,” said Roland Kerr, managing director of Kerr Group Insurance.

“Our two businesses share many similarities, both family-owned and run community-based independent brokers: both well-known across Northern Ireland and down South. We offer a combined 125 years of experience in the insurance industry, and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve together,” he said.

What did the acquisition entail?

With the acquisition of Kerr Insurance, the broker’s workforce will be increased by 50%. The two community-based brokers will be employing more than 150 staff members and will serve customers across a combined network of 17 trading sites in Northern Ireland as well as two branches in the Republic of Ireland. It will be put under the Dickson & Wilson Insurance brand.

“While both Dickson & Co and Kerr Insurance will retain their independence, preserving their distinct brand identities, we look forward to expanding our shared product portfolio across the Group in order to offer our customers even more choice at the most competitive rates,” said Dickson.

“This acquisition affirms Dickson & Co as a leading force in both the UK and Ireland insurance marketplaces and we have further expansion plans pipelined for 2024, including the opening of a new Client Liaison Suite and Corporate Centre of Excellence based in the Centre of Belfast,” she said.

The firm’s expansion will be supported by its new recruitment drive, which aims to nurture talent in order to meet the growing demand for skilled professionals that were part of the company’s personal and commercial lines sales teams.

The multimillion-pound investment also included the development of a new training academy which will be a facility used to induct and train employees as the firm’s workforce continues to grow.

The deal was the latest in the series of acquisitions and expansions that were made by Dickson & Co as part of the £7 million investment made by the Dickson family to double the size of its operations in the UK and Ireland.

This marked Dickson & Co’s fourth acquisition in the last two years as well as its 13th overall acquisition.

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