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At the World Federation of Insurance Intermediaries (WFII) annual meeting in Amsterdam in 2022, Nic De Maesschalck, our sovereign leader, noted that it was extraordinary that representatives from both the United Kingdom and the United States of America had cited “political instability” as a key concern in their country. It was June. 

At home we were mired in the dying days of the Johnson premiership. In the US, the immediate past-president was doing all he could to stamp his mark on the upcoming mid-term elections by endorsing candidates running for the Republican nomination against incumbent party candidates.  The sense that two of the world’s most stable democracies were in, at best, turmoil was tangible.

Fast forward 14 months and has this problem gone away?

The Rishi Sunak-regime, by restoring the concept of basic competence to the governance of our country, has certainly calmed tensions.  But we are very far from a stable base where industry can plan and lobby to add our expertise to help drive public policy. 

We have spent considerable time over the last few years working with a number of government departments to help develop their net zero strategy. And we have been reasonably successful (I hope) in persuading ministers and civil servants that we are a community with deep knowledge in the area who, with the right incentives, can help deliver very positive outcomes. 

This work is valuable on several levels.  It helps develop compelling solutions for clients – specifically around climate transition and new green technologies.  But it also develops our relationship with government such that, when other subjects arise, they think of us a trusted partners to consult. 

A shifting focus on net zero

But the result of the Uxbridge and Ruislip by-election has, despite protestations to the contrary, seen government appear to retreat from a key focus on net zero. This comes only a couple of weeks after Lord Goldsmith’s resignation letter suggesting that the climate challenge is not at the forefront of the prime minister’s mind. 

Emission zones and low traffic neighbourhoods are in the government’s crosshairs; fossil fuel extraction is back on the agenda. Whilst the science remains the same and so helping clients meet the need to wean themselves off carbon is crucial, it does present a conundrum. Clearly meeting client need must be paramount over flirting with politicians.

But what if the two aren’t mutually exclusive? The issues around regulatory treatment of new technology and potential need for tax incentives to aid green development have not gone away.  But will they be met with as sympathetic an ear as they might a few months back?

Meanwhile, in our largest market, the man facing three criminal trials before the general election next November, is currently, according to the RealClearPolitics average, nearly 36% ahead in the polls for the Republican nomination for President. (Spoiler alert: US polls this far out from election day do tend to be disproportionately influenced by whether people have heard of the candidate, but it is still quite a big number.)

And even conviction in any of the trials is unlikely to preclude him from running for and, potentially, winning the Presidency. The only misdemeanours that would rule that out, I believe, being acts of rebellion as set out in the 14th Amendment and it may be a stretch to include the events of January 6 2021 within that definition.

Which presents another conundrum.  Not wanting to beat the climate drum too much but it is a good yardstick, the difference in environmental stance between a second Biden administration and a second Trump one is likely to be stark. And even if Trump is not successful in winning the nomination, there is a reasonable possibility that whoever does will have had to make significant concessions to the climate hawks to do so. So, again, the long-term interests of clients and the short-term interests of having influence with government might not align.

A chance for the insurance profession to shine?

All of which could come to vex, say, the person running the trade association representing London and international insurance brokers. But I think there is good news. This is a live issue, but managing issues is what this industry is supposed to be good at. 

Indeed, when we returned to the subject at WFII this year, we agreed that a world of heightened risk should be an opportunity for the purveyors of risk management solutions. And we will act on that. 

We will look to engage with the Labour party on this and other topics. And whether January 2025 brings President Biden, President Trump or President Brian Kemp (you heard it here first) we will find a way to ensure our voice still carries weight whilst continuing to do right by our clients. Political instability in UK and US may not be what you would want or expect in 2023.  But break it down to its component parts and it is just another thing we are good at handling.

What goes on behind the scenes of a successful fundraise in the insurance ecosystem? Lending their insights from both an investor and investee perspective, insurance industry stalwart Neil Utley (pictured left) and MD of Percayso Inform Rich Tomlinson (pictured right) each emphasised the blend of timing, trust and opportunity it takes to form a successful funding partnership.

Utley recently led a second major investment into Percayso alongside the insurance data provider’s venture capital investor Praetura Ventures, securing £2.7 million in funding. Contextualising the current environment, Utley highlighted the number of businesses that are failing to secure funding and how Percayso is not just bucking this trend but subverting it by commanding investment either from existing investors looking to invest again or people like himself who have been in the industry for decades.

“I’ve been in this market for donkeys’ years and I partly exited into semi-retirement about eight years ago after listing Hastings but I still kept an active interest,” he said. “Either by keeping up with the Press or through my friends in the market, I am always looking at opportunities. I believe the insurance market in the UK is probably the most disparate but competitive market in the world.

“And there’s always people wanting to start new ventures or expand existing ventures. So, there are always opportunities coming across your desk for funding and support. And to be honest, most of them don’t really have great potential or they’re in a very crowded market where you don’t really see anything different.”

Utley noted that he looks for three key factors in any prospective opportunity – that the people running it know what they’re doing, that he feels he can work with them and trust them, and that he believes their product(s) will make a difference. With Percayso, he said, the team at the top are very well-regarded and respected across the industry and they have a strong track record in creating market-leading propositions and products that stand out as new and innovative.

“Rich and Simon [James, Percayso founder] know the market from having built a successful, market-leading business before,” he said. “But they’ve created [Percayso] from scratch, from the ground up – starting with the Cloud and going down into the bespoke databases and creating something that’s flexible for all brokers, MGAs and software houses to easily integrate into.

“It’s a mixture for me of the team, the space, the opportunity and the product all being fantastic. I’ve seen the team do it before, so it wasn’t a difficult decision. Having turned down virtually everything else I’ve seen, it’s unusual for me to be so excited by an opportunity but I think this is very different.”

It’s not the first external funding raise round Percayso has been part of with the firm commanding a £3.4 million investment led by Praetura Ventures in February 2022. That was a big step for the firm and allowed it to gain a lot more traction in the market, Tomlinson said. In the intervening period, Percayso acquired the automotive data insight platform Cazana – a move which opened it up to a much bigger and broader client base and expanded its product proposition and internal capabilities. 

“But it also opened our eyes to the inherent opportunities and additional potential in the market,” he said. “It made us even more ambitious and gave us the platform for further expansion over the coming years.”

Percayso’s high-profile acquisition of Cazana as well as the expansion of its proposition to deliver a full quote intelligence suite has certainly made it quicker and somewhat easier for the firm to foster the relationships it has across the entire market. However, Utley highlighted that these have served as “acceleration” rather than a redefinition of the firm’s tried and tested growth strategy.

With an eye to where Percayso goes next with this new investment to its name, Tomlinson shared that there are a variety of growth plans on the agenda.

“We’re planning a lot of new product development,” he said. “There’s a lot of new areas that we’re looking to get into. Having all that ex-Cazana data in-house with our Percayso Vehicle Intelligence offering has sparked a lot of new product development ideas around where we could take that next.

“Equally we’re looking at our core platform and the amount of data we’re collecting on a daily basis now with 10s of millions of quotes and policies [feeding in] huge amounts of information about vehicles and individuals. That just leads to more and more opportunities to create new products out of that for things like verification, fraud detection, and understanding your policyholders and customers as an insurer.”

New product development is a core area of focus, he said, but that doesn’t mean that Percayso will be taking the eye off the ball when it comes to its existing platform. Making sure that core platform continues to be resilient and high performing is essential because customers rightfully expect a lot from Percayso as a partner in terms of how it supports them.

“We’re very proud that we’ve had 100% uptime, bearing in mind the amount of transactions we’re doing, and the resilience we need for that kind of capability,” he said. “There’s never been any outage or downtime. We’re pretty proud of that and obviously we want that to continue so we need to continue to invest in the platform so there’s lots of plans there.”

Having access to Utley’s 30-plus years of insurance expertise will also be “hugely invaluable”, Tomlinson said, and he noted that he’s already received affirmation from the market of the natural fit represented by the partnership.

“My role is to help where they need it,” Utley said. “I don’t pretend to be an expert on what Percayso are doing, they’re the experts on what they do. What I can do is be a sounding board for ideas and ask pertinent questions on monthly board packs and help Simon on structuring things and things like that.

“But I’m not interferer of good businesses. I’ll help them with the issues that they will inevitably have at various times, because I will have probably been in a similar place before at some time or another. My role is very much as a helper and a coach, doing whatever I can to help while not interfering in the business plan. They’ve got a very strong strategy and plan, and I’ll just be helping them put it into place.”

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Destructive February earthquakes in Turkey and Syria proved a devastating example of global challenges around building safety standards and resilience measures.

The February 6 earthquakes that shook Turkey and Syria were the deadliest global disaster since 2011 and are expected to have driven economic losses of more than $90 billion (£71 billion), according to Aon.

The death toll from the earthquakes, which struck on February 6 and hit 7.7 and 7.6 on the Richter scale, quickly surpassed 50,000. As of March 1, more than 11,000 aftershocks had occurred, according to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority.

In the aftermath of the quakes, footage showed downed buildings and widespread devastation.

Among these buildings, according to media investigations, were new builds, which should have been held to a rigorous set of safety standards.

“Turkey has quite modern building codes, which are supposed to help with how buildings perform in earthquakes,” Aon head of catastrophe insight Michal Lörinc told Insurance Business. “The reality is that in some cases, the building codes were not followed properly, or they were not properly enforced, which resulted in physically higher material losses.”

While the economic loss of the earthquakes across both Syria and Turkey is projected at $91 billion, a fraction of this is likely to be covered under insurance.

The Insurance Association of Turkey has estimated private insurance sector losses at TRY76 billion (£2.2 billion). The Turkish Catastrophe Insurance Pool scheme has received almost 600,000 claims, but total payments could reach just TRY29.5 billion, according to estimates published by the entity and referred to by Aon.

Turkey had building safety standards, but experts fear these were not adhered to

Turkey is no stranger to destructive earthquake activity. In 1999, the country was rocked by the magnitude 7.6 Izmit earthquake, estimated to have led to more than 17,000 fatalities. It was in the aftermath of this catastrophic event, more than 20 years ago, that new standards began to be brought in.

But soon after the February 2023 earthquakes hit, experts shared concerns that some of the damage could and should have been prevented.

Speaking in February, Professor David Alexander, an emergency planning and management expert at University College London, told the BBC that part of the problem was “that there’s very little retrofitting of existing buildings, but there’s also very little enforcement of building standards on new builds”.

“This is a recurring theme around the world and there’s a need to adapt to the disasters of today, because we’re talking about climate change, and how it’s going to affect future catastrophes, and that’s going to put even more pressure on the building stock,” said Lörinc. “We’ll need to prepare and invest into resilient building stock, and you can see that even now it cannot perform 100%.”

“This event showed that there are still problems – even though there were building codes in place, they were not properly enforced entirely.”

Hurricane Ian impact in Florida showed how rigorous building safety standards and adherence can help

Like Turkey, the US state of Florida is no stranger to disasters, and it too has a stringent set of building safety codes.

Hurricanes, rather than earthquakes, are the potentially costly and deadly major threat facing Floridians.

“We also saw this theme in Florida last year with Hurricane Ian, where you can see how building codes help protect the property,” Lörinc said. “Our teams went to Florida to examine the damage, so all the parameters and the stuff that is put into the buildings that helps to prevent damage from hurricanes, and in Florida, it works relatively well.

“Florida is, again, one of the places where the building codes are stricter, and more properly enforced.”

Individual and smaller dwellings also at risk without resilience boost

It is not just larger buildings that pose a risk, with individual homes and units potentially built of materials that may prove counterproductive or lacking resilience in the face of a catastrophic event.

Across continents, insurers and authorities have pushed for disaster affected regions to look to greater resilience measures, through initiatives such as the UK’s ‘Build Back Better’ scheme.

With economists’ projections undulating between prophecies of doom and forecasts of blue skies in the form of a V-shaped economic recovery, insurance intermediaries are facing a tumultuous period.

As executive chairman of intermediary & market services at Davies Group Ltd, Chris Butcher (pictured) has a ringside view of the interplay of these factors and the knock-on effect that these conditions are having on M&A and innovation in the marketplace.

“Being heavily involved in MGA launches, I see the trends around what’s happening in the UK with MGAs, particularly what’s happening in terms of capital flow,” he said. “I think my broadest observation would be around the slight slowdown in available working capital for these businesses. There are exceptions, of course… but that capital element is slower which also affects further raises, where a business was expecting to be able to raise more cash to get it to the next level of growth. It’s just not as available as it was.”

Butcher highlighted that while Davies has not seen any resulting failures in its portfolio of 35+ businesses, it’s clear that conditions are getting tougher and that intermediary businesses are facing a challenge of scale. The MGAs most exposed to this are those which are running on optimistic predictions that can’t meet their rising cost base, he said, though this can be counterbalanced by other factors, including strong customer demand.

“Essentially, if a business has got decent distribution and hasn’t seen a massive reduction in customers, they still have an opportunity to grow,” he said. “The key factor is where they’ve anticipated and slightly leveraged positions in terms of getting cash in that will allow them to step up the business at pace. It’s the rate of growth that will make the difference, though of course this could be offset by the range of global factors coming into play.”

Challenges bring opportunities

As night follows day, challenges bring opportunities – which Butcher noted holds true in the present MGA market where he can see the opportunity for larger, well-capitalised players to sweep up businesses and strengthen their proposition through targeted M&A. This fragmentation element isn’t limited to MGAs, he said, with broker consolidation also opening windows for brokers or broker teams that want to explore new horizons to spin off at the point of acquisition.

“Certainly, we have been setting up new brokers that are offshoots of existing businesses and are coming in as teams,” he said. “We set up Ballantyne Insurance Brokers relatively recently and we have got a pipeline of others that are coming in. There’s fewer than in the MGA market, but they’re there. And there will always be fragmentation, there will always be teams that want a change of environment or who see an opportunity and want to seize it.”

Broker and MGA differences

Discussing the differing needs of Davies’ broker and MGA clients, Butcher identified that the focus of the broker model tends to be on clients. To put it in basic terms, he said, brokers look to enlist Davies to take on the full suite of the back-office activity for a lot longer. And even once they receive full regulatory approval, they often still want to leave that back-end platform work to the expertise of the Davies team, because they don’t view that as their core activity.

Meanwhile, the MGAs tend to be more technology-focused, he said, and they’re looking to build a business and build out their own back-end team. Taking for example, Coalition – a well-capitalised US-headquartered cyber insurance business that recently entered the UK and EU market with the support of Davies – what the firm needed was expertise on how to become operational quickly within a tight governance framework.

“Our model allows us to create a legal entity immediately to which we can lend regulated permissions, subject to FCA approval, quite quickly,” he said. “We can provide that framework of support to the business from day one, because we have all those resources to hand. That model offering speed to market, tight governance and tight control, as well as the ability to trade under our license, continues to be a persuasive offering.

“So, for Coalition, which is highly tech-driven and already has a lot of expertise and a strong proposition, what they needed from us was the confidence to know that they’re doing the right things within the UK business environment. That comes back to compliance structures, knowing the risks of the business environment and the right people they need for the business, and understanding the broader governance framework.”

For Butcher, it is the opportunity to support Davies’ range of clients and evolve the group’s offering as these businesses grow and change that makes his role so interesting. Looking across Davies’ client base, he said, it’s clear that the spirit of entrepreneurship is alive and kicking, and it’s great to see those insurance entrepreneurs who have the energy and the idea of doing things differently and taking the market to the next level.

“I think it’s also a testament to the ability to form a small business under the type of structure we have, which provides an opportunity [these entrepreneurs] wouldn’t have otherwise,” he said. “It’s a point I regularly make to the FCA – that the appointed representative model in the UK and having strong organisations which can support that innovation is critical.

“You don’t want to lose the strength of the AR model because it is a really vibrant and helpful support to the UK economy, providing a sandbox structure, which allows a lot of entrepreneurial, innovative businesses to get their start.”

With significant involvement in handling test case litigation in HAVs (hand arm vibration), asbestos-related and sensitive claims, including group actions and policy trigger litigation to his name, Michael Mackenzie (pictured), head of specialist claims at Pro Global has a unique perspective of the trends currently impacting the complex specialty claims space.

Speaking with Insurance Business, Mackenzie, who has been involved in work on a range of public inquiries, including the Hillsborough disaster and IICSA, and who currently chairs IRLA’s Legacy Committee, highlighted how changes to the legal environment continue to dominate experience in this area. Jurisdictional relativity is also becoming increasingly pronounced, he said, while key trends include the following:

• A pronounced increase in noise induced hearing loss claims, which is likely driven by the upcoming changes to the Fixed Recoverable Costs “FRC” regime.
• The consolidation of the noise induced hearing loss market, with a small number of claimant law firms intimating the majority of new notifications.
• The increased frequency and severity of abuse claims, with differences in the Scottish jurisdiction around the law of limitation and quantum driving increases in the frequency and severity of losses.
• The emergence of sports head injury claims related to the onset of neurological conditions, such as dementia, caused by head injuries have been on the rise.

“A number of interconnected factors and stakeholders contribute to the complexity, and understanding of some of the issues that affect or influence such a claim can help (re)insurers be more proactive and responsive,” he said. “Whatever the type, severity or amount of a claim, the key is to have a firm grasp on data analytics to diagnose and plan interventions and good and timely communication to remove friction, delay and unnecessary distress – and ultimately improve outcomes for those impacted.”

Reinsurance challenges

Mackenzie noted that (re)insurers operating in the complex specialty claims space are facing several pressing challenges. Rising inflation and the subsequent increase in legal costs and claims payouts are impacting the overall costs of claims, he said. Meanwhile, the continued emergence of new, pioneering life-extending treatments creates challenges in assessing mesothelioma claims.

Accurately reserving against historic books of business that are affected by an evolving legal environment and shifting claims trends can be particularly challenging, he said. (Re)insurers must also navigate the complexities of historical long-tail claims, which require dedicated resources and expertise for effective management.

“Different laws in different UK jurisdictions is another factor (re)insurers must contend with, as is keeping up-to-date with changes in the legal environment,” he added. “Increasingly, data is king, both in terms of monitoring trends and understanding the likely impact of a changing legal environment. The ability to diagnose issues and plan interventions is essential to ensure outcomes are appropriate.”

Mackenzie cited the impact inflation is having on (re)insurers’ current books of business as “significant”. Rising prices, particularly in legal costs and specific heads of loss are driving increased claims settlements, he said. This inflationary pressure necessitates insurers gain control over their claims exposure and seek operational efficiencies to mitigate the impact.

“Inflation is also affecting (re)insurers’ historic books of business,” he said. “The rising costs of servicing long-tail claims from an administrative, legal, and payout perspective are a concern. It is crucial for insurers to reassess their reserving policies to ensure accuracy and potentially increase reserves to address the impact of inflation.”

Mitigating the issues

Identifying some of the key steps (re)insurers are taking to mitigate these issues, he highlighted that they are focusing on operational resilience, embedding operational efficiency measures, and triaging complex claims effectively.

“By proactively managing claims and adopting optimised claims management systems, (re)insurers can enhance cost efficiency and accurately reserve for liabilities,” he said. “They are also leveraging technology and data to drive improved supplier engagement, streamline claims handling processes, and identify trends for effective defence strategies.

“It is critical that (re)insurers stay up-to-date with the latest legal, political, medical and media developments in the complex claims environment and work closely (and early) with trusted subject-matter-expert partners to help analyse their exposure, and handle all complex claims fairly, sensitively and efficiently.”

Pro Global is actively working to support (re)insurers in navigating the complexities of historic and current claims, he said, and it is well-positioned to do so due to its expertise in reserving accuracy, optimised claims management systems, and access to specialised resources.

“We are focused on being a proactive and supportive partner that can be relied upon to accurately assess exposure, define claims handling strategies, engage with leading lawyers and physicians early in the process, and streamline claims administration and triaging,” he said.

Looking back on the evolution of QuestGates over the last two decades, managing director Chris Hall (pictured left) noted that “it doesn’t feel like 20 years at all.” One of the original three founders of the specialist loss adjusting and claims handling company, Hall remembers the ‘have a go’ approach taken to building the business.

“Never in our wildest dreams, did we think we’d get to where we are,” he said. “And the pace of change in the last three years alone has been incredible. In three years, we have more than doubled the size of the business. It took us 17 years to get to £20 million and only another three years to get to £40 million. So obviously we were slacking in those early years!”

M&A – a focus at the heart of QuestGates’ growth strategy

Several factors have underpinned this rapid growth, key among them the acquisition trail QuestGates has been blazing . Similar to the broking market, Hall said, the loss-adjusting sector has seen quite a bit of upheaval in recent years with owners approaching retirement age and looking for the right exit strategy. And COVID had quite a big impact on encouraging people to more actively think about and plan those exit strategies.

“I think COVID had a big impact on people’s attitudes,” he said. “A number of the businesses we’ve acquired or are acquiring, we’ve been talking to for quite a long time. One of the businesses we recently bought, I’d been talking to them for about 10 years. And the owner rang me and asked to go for a coffee, and told me that things had changed, that COVID had made him rethink things.”

Regulation and compliance are also critical factors behind this M&A activity. Hall noted that a number of the acquisitions made by QuestGates have actually been driven by insurers’ messaging around compliance standards. However, as part of the wider QuestGates group, these companies meet insurers’ IT, security and business continuity requirements.

“The final thing is that from day one we had two USPs,” he said. “We wanted to do specialist work – we didn’t want to do high-volume, low-margin type business. And we wanted to stay an owner-managing business, and we’re now the only owner-managed business of our size in the market, all the others have gone. I think that owner-managed piece is very attractive to business owners who want to sell their business but still want to carry on working.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is that we’ve done 14 acquisitions to date, with two or three more close to completion and we’ve brought those senior people with us. That goes back to when we started the business by buying QuestGates Partnership and we still have some of the original people from that team. So, our model is pretty unusual in that we keep the management teams of the businesses we buy and allow them to do the bits they love about running the business, without having to worry about compliance and all that other stuff.”

What’s next for the QuestGates team?

Hall noted that while it has taken 20 years to get to where QuestGates is today, he firmly believes that the firm is now “at the most exciting stage we’ve ever been.” There are so many opportunities present in the market, he said, and QuestGates is now of a size, scale and reputation that it is being actively approached by potential vendors and by insurers which previously considered the independently owned business too small to work with.

“In addition, we’ve developed so many new services and the people that go around them,” he said. “We’ve brought in engineers and surveyors and we’ve recruited accountants. The area where I think we’ve really surprised people is around major loss. Speaking with insurers and other adjusters, you hear that everyone’s worried about the ageing market and younger people not coming in. But we’ve taken a totally different attitude to major loss.

“Rather than focus on recruiting the guys that are 55-plus with great experience and expertise, but aren’t necessarily here for the long term, we’ve deliberately gone for people that are younger and mentored them and brought them through the sector. And now we’ve got a young, highly competent major loss team that work with the likes of Allianz and AXA and AIG – and it’s a team that’s potentially going to be with us for the next 20 years.”

Technology plus people – the right blend for meaningful development

For Alistair Steward (pictured right), director of business development at QuestGates, who has been with the business since its early years, one of the most instrumental changes he has seen is the evolution of how technology is used in loss adjusting and claims handling.

“In the loss adjusting sector, you often find that you’ve either got the technical expertise but not the tech support that you need, or you’re very driven by technology but you don’t have that technical expertise,” he said. “We’ve always taken the view, given the fact that we deal with large and complex claims on the whole, that you’ve got to have people dealing with the claim. And those people need to know what they’re talking about and be able to show empathy, but also be supported by some really good technology.”

That blend of people and tech is what it takes to deliver a client-centric proposition at a cost-effective price and Steward has been gratified to see how advancements in technology are enabling claims to be settled more quickly and in a way that supports the customer journey. QuestGates has done a good job of using technology as an enabler for the human at the front of the claim, he said, which has been ratified by the firm retaining its flagship Investor in Customers Gold award.

20 years – a comma, not a full stop

As for what’s next, Hall emphasised that QuestGates’ 20-year anniversary represents an opportunity to look back, not an excuse to stand still. The team is always reviewing everything it does, he said, and prides itself on being adaptable to new opportunities as and when they arise.

“We want to stay an owner-managed business and we will,” he said. “Whether we will look to take external investment in at some point in the future, that’s possible. We’ve always done acquisitions by retained money – but if the right option meant we had to borrow the money, then we would do so. In the same way, we may look to take on external investment, though there’s nothing on the cards from that perspective.”

Keeping the momentum of the business high is also critical to Hall’s growth agenda, and he highlighted QuestGates’ continued commitment to further diversification of its reach and proposition.

“The key for me is to carry on but not to lose our ambition or our enthusiasm,” he said. “Whenever I get asked when will I give this up, I say two things – “one, when I’m not enjoying it anymore and two, when it no longer annoys other people that I do it’. And as long as both those two reasons are still there, I’m carrying on.”

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Insurance and legal services provider Carpenters Group has announced its sponsorship of the world premiere of Bolan’s Shoes on September 14 in Liverpool.

Produced by local independent production company Buffalo Dragon, the film promises to take audiences on a nostalgic journey through the glittering era of 1970s glam rock while touching upon the enduring legacy of childhood experiences and the deep bonds of sibling love.

Bolan’s Shoes features a narrative weaved around the music of Marc Bolan’s T. Rex, a band that pioneered the glam rock movement. The film, however, does not merely celebrate the iconic decade’s culture but delves into the poignant aftermath of a tragic road accident, reminiscent of Bolan’s own fate in 1977.

Donna Scully, director of Carpenters Group, expressed her enthusiasm for the sponsorship in a news release.

“When we were approached by Liverpool-based Buffalo Dragon about being headline sponsor for the premier of the wonderful movie Bolan’s Shoes and found out they would be supporting Sean’s Place, it was a no-brainer for John and me,” she said. “It ticks so many boxes for us with its huge connection to Liverpool, its support of the brilliant work Debbie and the team at Sean’s Place do to support mental health in Liverpool and supporting the arts which has taken a huge hit with the pandemic.”

Sean’s Place is a local charity that focuses on men’s mental health and offers access to social and therapeutic support in an environment that is non-clinical and free of judgment.

“We’ve worked with Sean’s Place since Debbie set it up during the pandemic so it’s wonderful to see them get the platform and support from this project,” Scully added. “We at Carpenters Group are very much looking forward to being involved.”

Terri Dwyer, co-owner of Buffalo Dragon and producer of Bolan’s Shoes also commented on the Carpenters’ sponsorship and said the company was a great match for the project.

“Sometimes you meet people, and you just know straight away that you’re all on the same page in trying to achieve the same thing and do something really special,” said Dwyer. “This was the feeling I got when I meet Donna Scully and her team at Carpenters Group. We are all delighted to be working with them.”

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“This has been a disappointing half for me in many regards, but I do think we’re making progress on our key initiatives and have good momentum in the business.”

Those were the words of Andrew Horton (pictured), group chief executive at QBE Insurance Group, during the company’s earnings call on Thursday prior to which it was announced that the insurer saw a massive lift in its net profit after income tax – from US$48 million in the first half of 2022 to US$400 million this time around.

Trouble in North America

“Underwriting performance was impacted by catastrophe costs, both in the current and prior year, resulting in a combined operating ratio (COR) of 98.8%, or 97.6% excluding the upfront cost of the reserve transaction we announced in February,” the CEO noted during the results webcast.

“Though we’ve been able to better absorb some of the setbacks and still maintain a double-digit return on equity, I’m disappointed with the extent of the catastrophe volatility this half on our result in North America. Improving returns in North America remains our highest priority.”

In terms of underwriting profitability, only North America posted a COR above 100% during the first half. Australia Pacific, barely making it, took a hit from the weather events in New Zealand earlier this year.  

Echoing Horton’s sentiment, QBE group chief financial officer Inder Singh declared: “This has been a very challenging half for underwriting performance. The impact from catastrophes has been too large, and the returns in North America are not acceptable.”

In his one-on-one with Insurance Business following the results webcast, Horton cited the above as among the “elements of disappointment” marring an otherwise outstanding set of financial results.

“We’ve been focussing on North America for a number of years now, and it needs to be a lot better than that,” the CEO said while at the same time highlighting the “many, many positive things” such as the group’s capital strength and stability of management.   

The plan for North America, in terms of core lines, is to have a good balance between crop, specialty, and commercial.

Horton told Insurance Business: “Then how do we ensure they’re all delivering in this low- to mid-90s combined ratio? So, there’s more work to do on the US. But the US – it’s a much more straightforward business than it ever has been. It’s not that many lines of business, so we haven’t got too many areas to focus on to improve it.”

Profit source

During the first half, QBE’s total investment income amounted to US$662 million – a huge jump from last year’s US$20 million loss. This positive result was the main driver behind the insurer’s largely improved net profit after income tax, instead of what QBE earned from underwriting.

As highlighted during the company’s presentation, QBE generated more investment income in the first half than it did over the course of 2022. Horton, however, would like underwriting to contribute more to the bottom line.

“It’s purely driven by our investment income being so much higher, and that’s likely to continue for the rest of the year,” Horton said when he sat down with Insurance Business. “So, we’re probably going to earn a similar number in the second half of the year.

“Overall, profits of the company look good and return on capital looks good. But we are an underwriting company and, therefore, we need to deliver a good underwriting profit.”

With a new group chief underwriting officer slated to take on the post in September, the group CEO is keen to further advance QBE’s portfolio optimisation, which is among the insurer’s strategic priorities.

Referring to Peter Burton, who is moving on from his international markets role, Horton said: “So, let’s look at our underwriting. Are we consistent in what we’re doing? And then second is this aggregation issue – have we got aggregations we haven’t thought of yet? Then he’s also going to be responsible for the reinsurance buy. So, these are all linked things.

“Let’s get our consistency of underwriting and underwriting appetite. Let’s ensure we understand the aggregations. That will link into our reinsurance, and ultimately links into an improved combined ratio. So, these are the conversations Peter and I have had and will continue to have.”

According to Horton, efforts to better manage volatility continue at QBE, with property catastrophe risk remaining a major focus.

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