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In its announcement, Allianz said its partnership with Solar Energy UK will enable it to support solar power insurance customers better and help the association and its members understand the key risks facing the industry.

Steve Kelly, head of insurance for Allianz engineering, construction, and power, said Solar Energy UK was a perfect fit for Allianz because the insurance giant has diverse engineering and insurance expertise within the renewable energy sector, but it still wants to build on that expertise to become a leading force in the insurance industry.

Cherry Parker, director of business development at Solar Energy UK, commented: “We’re delighted to welcome Allianz onboard as our first associate member. It’s impressive to see Allianz reinforcing its credentials for decarbonisation and seeking to grow its services portfolio in the fast-growth solar energy and storage industry.”

Commenting on being Solar Energy UK’s first insurance member, Kelly said: “We are happy to be the first insurer member of Solar Energy UK, and we hope we are not the last.

“No doubt other insurers and brokers will follow suit, not necessarily with Solar Energy UK, but with other trade associations or groups that promote and support the path to a more sustainable way of doing business.”

The move is the latest step in Allianz’s commitment to a more sustainable future. In 2021, it joined Aviva, AXA, Generali, Munich Re, SCOR, Swiss Re, and Zurich Insurance Group in establishing the Net-Zero Insurance Allianz (NZIA), convened by the United Nations Environment Programme’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative.

As part of their commitment, the founding members will transition their insurance and reinsurance underwriting portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as well as individually set science-based intermediate targets every five years and independently report on their progress annually.

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Reflecting on the move, Lloyd’s CEO John Neal said: “We are deeply disappointed by the behaviour highlighted by this case, and I want to be clear that discrimination, harassment and bullying have no place at Lloyd’s. The robust action we have taken today, including the largest fine ever imposed by the Lloyd’s Enforcement Board, shows that we will not tolerate poor conduct in our market. Lloyd’s expects all participants in the market to meet the highest standards of professionalism, and we are continuing to use our powers to intervene when needed.”

Everyone in the Lloyd’s market and corporation should expect to work in a culture where they feel safe, valued, and respected, he said, and should feel empowered to speak up when they see unacceptable behaviours, with full confidence that action will be taken.

Christopher Stooke, independent non-executive chairman at Atrium, also commented on the rulings and said they are fully accepted by the MGA. It is with deep regret that Atrium failed to live up to its values, he said, and serious errors were made in the handling of the charges. He added that the firm apologises for the hurt this caused and the difficulties it placed on those affected.

“The behaviour outlined in the Notice of Censure has no place in our business or our industry, and we recognise that we must go further to ensure that this situation is never allowed to happen again,” he said. “We have moved quickly to address and learn from these past failings and update our policies and procedures to ensure the highest standards. Furthermore, we have also been working for a number of years with colleagues from right across our business to strengthen our culture.”

He noted that Atrium has made significant progress in many areas and worked closely with Lloyd’s throughout this process. Atrium has also appointed an independent third-party to review the allegations and make recommendations on actions to the Atrium Board, which are now being implemented. Stooke said Atrium will continue to engage with Lloyd’s and other stakeholders to ensure its workplace is somewhere colleagues feel supported.

Meanwhile, the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) announced its support for the decision reached by the Lloyd’s Enforcement Board in response to the three charges of detrimental conduct.

Commenting on the news, chairman of the LMA, Andrew Brooks said the judgement by the board and the penalties levied against Atrium send “an unequivocal message” that bullying, harassment and inappropriate behaviour have no place in the Lloyd’s market. He added that the association supports Lloyd’s for its decisiveness and the “unprecedented” level of the fine which demonstrates the market’s commitment to fostering a better culture.

“Any individual or organisation which threatens this or condones those who do, must now recognise that there will be severe consequences,” Brooks said. “We applaud those individuals who had the courage to speak up. To stamp out this behaviour, we need people like them who come forward and we need to ensure that we cultivate a supportive environment across the market which encourages anyone who experiences or witnesses bullying, harassment or similar inappropriate conduct to speak up.” 

CEO of the LMA Sheila Cameron also commented on the decision and said that, while there is clearly still a lot of work to be done, the market has made strong strides in improving its culture and now has structures in place that allow individuals to speak out on inappropriate behaviour, safe in the knowledge they will be taken seriously.

She noted that the LMA encourages anyone who has experienced or witnessed inappropriate behaviour to report it either via their own internal procedures or to the Lloyd’s confidential Care First Bullying & Harassment line.

“Further,” she said, “the LMA will support any individual in the market to report unacceptable behaviour through to the delivery of appropriate consequences. We are committed to working with Lloyd’s to improve the culture in the market and welcome the strong stance taken today.”

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He noted it’s a good albeit leading question as it calls to mind the intricacies and idiosyncrasies that come with a career in financial services. It’s a huge market in terms of the GDP of the country but really a very niche market in terms of the people who make it up and, during a career, you often come across the same people, systems and distributors time and time again. And while trying to explain that to an 11-year old is not straightforward, he said, it’s interesting to reflect on your journey and what brought you to where you are today.

Oakes started his career as a field sales agent with Pearl Assurance in the mid-90s and the last 25-odd years have seen him advance through the ranks of businesses including Cardif Pinnacle, Legal & General and Gallagher.  

“[My latter roles] really consolidated my experience, and were when I started to get more into the leadership and strategy side of things,” he said. “That’s in part why I am where I am today, because I’ve had the opportunity to do so many things – to run a very important part of a business and to bring all the skills I’ve built up over the years to lead a business, and to help them with their strategy and [to pursue] the direction they want to go in.”

Source has been supporting brokers with their general insurance businesses for some 25 years, Oakes said, and it’s a business he has known for a long time. When he had the opportunity to meet with them, it was a simple decision for him as it represented a chance to work with a business he had admired for many years and to bring his skills and experience to bear in a market he enjoys working in alongside a team that is highly respected.

After a quarter of a century serving the market, Source’s primary focus remains on providing an insurance proposition facing into the mortgage intermediary market with a brand that’s trusted. Throughout the different iterations of technology and broking propositions the last two decades have seen, at its heart Source is still a fintech, he said, which has provided it with the adaptability and forward-focus required to become a challenger in the space.

“One of the challenges of the market today is that you have to have a bit of cash to play in it,” he said. “There are demands from certain elements of distribution that are almost ‘pay and play’. So, it’s hard for new entrants to come to it. But Source has always been very honest about what it does, and what its proposition is about. It’s always been very customer-led, customer-driven and very clear, and offered a fair and straightforward proposition that hasn’t changed in 25 years.”

Read more: Establishing a professional map for insurance careers

Source’s offering is quite unique in that it strives to always offer choice to the mortgage broker that they can then in turn offer to their customers. Some of its competitors offer more of an “illusion of choice”, he said, while Source’s offering focuses on separate insurance policies from separate insurers. From its outset, its proposition has been marketed as a ‘whole of market’ insurance solution for mortgage brokers – which has held fast even as the business has grown and evolved.

Over the course of this year and beyond, Oakes’ role as sales and marketing director for the business is to help the business achieve its strategic ambition of going firmly back to its roots as a fintech business that happens to sell insurance products. He is looking to support the wider team as it seeks to redefine its future growth strategy and to execute that strategy.  

“[That’s] making sure we continue to maintain really good and strong insurer relationships, that we continue to maintain good strong distribution relationships and partnerships,” he said. “And that we execute that through a good-quality, high-performing sales team, backed up by good-quality marketing support.

“We have a real stated ambition of growth, that’s what’s interesting me. And [I’m looking] to deploy my skills and my experience into a market that I like, with a company that I respect, at a time when it wants to grow – and I can help take it on that journey, that growth strategy that is underpinned by that technology and people service.”

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Insurance Business UK’s fifth annual Rising Stars report, proudly supported by the Insurance Cultural Awareness Network (iCAN), the African-Caribbean Insurance Network (ACIN), the Managing General Agents’ Association (MGAA), the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) and the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA), has begun its search for the up-and-coming stars in the insurance profession.

To be eligible, candidates must be aged 35 or under, and currently working in a role that relates to the general insurance industry.

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Read more: National Apprenticeship Week – Insurance apprenticeships

“It’s a bit of a running joke in insurance that nobody everybody leaves school saying, ‘I want to work in insurance’,” she said. “People tend to either fall into it or are guided into it by family members. A downside of this is that, as an industry, it lacks some diversity. Traditionally, it has been quite white and middle class, which is perpetuated by the families involved and by people not really knowing about insurance unless they’re consumers themselves. That’s something the taskforce is really keen to change and modernise.”

Against the backdrop of an ageing demographic and a shifting cultural mindset about the future of work, conversations about different routes into insurance are more critical than ever. Examining the inroads the taskforce has made since it began, Blunt highlighted that changing how people think about insurance and apprenticeships is a work in progress. However, recent developments in the higher education sector and governmental sectors are going some way to further move the dial.

“It used to be that it was when people hit the £28,000 per annum earnings, they would start paying back their student debt, but that has now been reduced to £25,000,” she said. “There’s speculation that a lot of graduates who are coming out of university with significant debt are going to be paying back money for a very long time.

“Particularly since the pandemic, when online teaching wasn’t giving people the university experience, more people are deciding it’s not worth taking the risk of going to university to potentially learn online and then come out with all that debt. They’re thinking, ‘I might as well start working and learning at the same time’. And more organisations are now putting together apprenticeships schemes, particularly for early careers.”

Read more: Insurance apprenticeships – what to look for

Interest in apprenticeship opportunities is being piqued by a variety of factors including the above, and she noted that the level of prestige associated with apprenticeships is also changing, albeit at a measured pace. One of the key findings to come out of the taskforce was that people take great pride in the professional qualifications they obtain via an apprenticeship from the CII. They’re proud to put ‘ACII’ on their email signature, she said, but they don’t put ‘senior insurance professional, ACII’ which is the designation of the apprenticeship.

The taskforce determined that it was necessary to create a cultural change to empower people to feel proud of that designation, and the dedication and hard work it took to achieve. So it worked with a non-profit organisation called Badge Nation, the CII and Zurich’s Jude Pilcher to come up with a digital badge that companies can purchase and download for apprentices to use on their signatures once they’ve passed their exams and their apprenticeship.

“It’s not instant, but by getting more of that out into the sector, and with people seeing that on other people’s email signatures, over time people start to recognise [the designation],” she said. “Where the prestige for the ACII comes from in a lot of places is that people see it on the signatures of the more senior leaders in the business and think, ‘that’s what I want to have’.“

The Davies team are particularly busy around National Apprenticeship Week, she said, and keep active in the media and on social to raise awareness of apprenticeships and the opportunities they offer. Apprenticeships need to change in people’s minds, she said, they’re not just about trades or even just early careers and graduates. An apprenticeship is an opportunity for all existing staff to avail of further professional development.

Read more: UK insurers commit to doubling apprenticeships

“The levy fund is now becoming an organisation’s first choice to fund people development,” she said. “Many employers are saying they have a levy-first rule. If you come to your L&D department and say you want to do a qualification or training, they will look and see if it can be funded by the levy first. And that means that more people are actually doing apprenticeships at different stages in their lives and careers, and making sure that they receive the opportunity to learn with a supportive, long-term, structured approach.”

Different sectors have different specialist providers who are able to do quite prestigious work, she said, and that’s what Davies is aiming to do for insurance. She’d love to get rid of the word ‘apprenticeships’, as it is a word mired in confusion, but seeing as it’s not going away any time soon, the next best thing is to bring the word out into the open – to open up discussions around it and change the slant of those conversations.

“And the more line managers seen to be getting involved in apprenticeships, the more helpful that is,” she said. “Later this year, we’re launching a new apprenticeship programme called Learning Mentor. It’s a learning mentor level three programme, so if I’m a line manager of 10 graduates, while they’re going through their senior insurance apprenticeship, I can be going through my learning mentor apprenticeship.

“That means I’ve got hands-on experience of what it means to be an apprentice, but also that what I’m learning is relevant to supporting [my team’s] learning on that programme. It’s helpful when people see their line managers exemplifying why it’s really important to do this a certain way. So, a lot of top-down leadership is what we need to keep this momentum going.”

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Commenting on his appointment, Swift emphasised the role’s “strong sense of responsibility” amid the transformative movement for the world and the financial services sector.

“I’m proud to be taking on this role on behalf of the Lloyd’s broking community,” he said. “With Brexit receding slowly in our rear-view mirror, COVID’s impact still playing out and the resultant changes in the geopolitical landscape, net-zero, and now Ukraine, brokers are responding to a global economy in a state of flux. During my 32 years in the market, I’ve not known a period during which we’ve seen so many systemic changes interacting and affecting our clients.”

Swift also thanked Dudley for his work during two of the most volatile yet progressive years that the UK insurance industry has known.

“When Richard took over in early 2020, the pandemic’s impact was still to be understood, yet he rose to the challenge, and our members emerge stronger and more closely aligned,” he said.

For the rest of 2022, LIIBA aims to help London’s insurance brokers achieve net-zero carbon emissions amid huge economic and cultural changes in the UK, aligning with the UK government’s goal to make London a global green finance hub.

Swift commented: “While Ukraine presents a set of immediate challenges, we must press ahead with our work on net-zero, having accomplished much in the last two years. The House of Lords inquiry into commercial insurance and the regulation of the London market also remains high on our agenda.”

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Emma Clegg (pictured) has joined Markel Corporation subsidiary Markel International as media and entertainment underwriting assistant.

“I’m pleased to be joining Markel, which has a strong foothold and presence within the media and entertainment sector,” said Clegg, whose credentials include time spent as a broker for film, media, and television at Tysers Insurance Brokers.

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Marsh has announced three senior appointments to its affinity business, international division. Rebecca Bleek has been appointed as affinity leader for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA); Leo Gibbons has been named placement leader for international affinity; and Sam Suen has been appointed business digital strategy leader for international affinity.

Marsh’s affinity business provides insurance products and services that are aligned to clients’ brands, cultures and values and are tailored to customers’, members’, or franchisees’ interests. Marsh’s international division includes Africa, Asia, continental Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, MENA, the Pacific, and the UK and Ireland.

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Dan Maloney (pictured above) MD of Champion Insurance Group and John Jones (pictured below) MD of its specialist division Champion Professional Risks have seen a resulting shift in market conversations which have evolved to increasingly take up an ‘advice over price’ slant. It’s difficult to be all things to all people, Maloney said, but embracing that brings opportunities for brokers to form strong inter-industry partnerships – and to utilise all the expertise available to supply services they might previously have felt uncomfortable offering.

When it launched in April 2020, Champion Professional Risks was founded on that proposition, offering both a retail and wholesale solution to the financial lines and PI market. Jones noted that being a specialist means being driven by the ambition to provide the best solution possible rather than the cheapest, a particularly critical consideration when dealing with such specialist risks.

Since its inception, the brokerage has developed a strong network of quality brokers as part of the Willis Towers Watson Networks, he said, and currently partners with some 30 brokers who regularly refer business to the firm. Jones and his team look to support brokers struggling to place professional indemnity insurance in the market in making those placements but also in guiding them through the presentation process to ensure they approach the market in the right way.

“That means making sure the presentations are correct before they go to market because a lot of insurers have been swamped by inquiries that they can’t read or work out,” he said. “What we’re doing is effectively just helping them along that process… We arrange a Teams call or online call with the client and broker and then go about understanding the risks and getting a better feel for what they do. Then we look through the proposal form and drill down into the question sets to get the right information that we need to get it out to market.”

Essentially, Maloney said, Champion Professional Risks acts as a broker’s in-house PI team to establish tripartite communication channels that make the process easier for brokers and their clients alike.

“What we’ve found traditionally is the Lloyd’s brokers aren’t really interested unless its big-ticket business,” Jones said. “But we’re here at the coalface because of our retail background. From that retail broking point of view, I generally understand what clients are looking for and I can relay that on from that particular point of view to the broker, who can then [utilise my experience] to get the right information from their clients.”

Read more: Pandemic drives personal liability worries among senior management

Maloney highlighted that an integral part of the business’s offering is that the team offer support not just before a broker goes out to market but also afterwards. Its approach to supporting brokers is to empower them to have every kind of conversation with a client, including the sharing of bad news when that’s applicable.

The ethos of Champion Insurance Group as a whole is to move away from the idea of a “postbox” approach to wholesale broking, he said.

“Off the back of that success, we recognised the real demand for specialist service services for insurance brokers, in areas where they might not traditionally be particularly comfortable,” he said. “So, on December 21, we launched another specialist insurance business called Champion Health & Benefits and brought in a specialist [director, Ed Barnes] who has worked in that area for the last eight or nine years.

“He’s coming in as a director to run that side of the business and his remit is to grow the book for private medical insurance, group life assurance (death in service), group income protection and other employee-related benefits… It’s back to that idea of focusing on [areas] where we have real expertise and making that offering available to direct clients but also to our sub-broker panel.”

It has been a busy start to 2022 with the rollout of this new proposition and the unveiling of a new office based in Manchester city centre. Champion Insurance Group will have been trading for 12 years come May, Maloney said, but its growth trajectory is showing no signs of slowing down, in fact, the last five years have been a time of great acceleration for the group.

Between new business divisions, great new hires, and the growth it is seeing in contacts, prospects and its new business pipeline, the future looks bright for the business. Its new office offers the right environment to continue to encourage that growth, Maloney said – and to continue to evolve Champion’s niche proposition of providing support to brokers who are looking to place risks that would once have seemed a world removed from their comfort zone.

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Discussing what ‘Break the Bias’ means to her, Carla McDonald (pictured above), director of product management, claims, at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, highlighted that the theme is a reminder that despite how far the world has come, bias still exists. As such, she said, it is the responsibility of everybody to help change that in any way they can, in order to ensure people are treated fairly, without discrimination and given opportunities to succeed.

For BT’s director of insurance, wealth management and financial services, Alexandra Foster (pictured immediately below), IWD’s 2022 theme means having the confidence and courage to challenge bias and truly support women on their journey.

“Remote working has provided the opportunity for greater female participation within the insurance industry and the industry has excelled at the entry level,” she said, “with equal numbers of men and women coming into the organisation from education, with both formal and informal mentorships playing an important role helping to level the playing field.”

However, Foster said, despite these recent gains, gender parity remains a major issue and organisations must also be confident, courageous and bold themselves to support women coming through the talent pipeline.

Adding to this, Louise Isaacs (pictured below) chief marketing officer at Cigna Europe, said: “[‘Break the Bias’] means consciously being aware of gender inequality, calling it out when you notice it, and making sure action happens to address it. I think too often we settle into the status quo, and make it difficult for women to move ahead.”

Isaacs will be celebrating IWD with an off-site all-day sales leadership conference. It is great to see equal representation for women across the sales leadership team at Cigna, she said, and she plans to open the day by calling out International Women’s Day and asking each member of the sales leadership team what breaking the bias means to them. Cigna will also be doing a series of activities to celebrate the day, including sharing videos on how the leadership team are ‘breaking the bias’.

Meanwhile, at BT, the team will be able to avail of a variety of planned events, from company-wide panels to more informal gatherings, Foster said. Personally, she is looking forward to spending time participating in the smaller group sessions which provide the opportunity to really listen and understand how everybody can help women progress within the organisation.

“LexisNexis Risk Solutions Insurance will be using IWD as a great opportunity to showcase the female talent we have in our business,” McDonald said, “and to demonstrate the great career prospects that exist for women today in data, analytics and technology across the insurance sector.

“All these segments have traditionally been male-dominated, but we hope to show how rapidly gender balance is being achieved.  We’ll be profiling some of our leading women on social media and showing our support for the Break the Bias theme as well as the IWD mission to celebrate digital advancement and champion the women forging innovation through technology.”

As well as offering an opportunity to reflect on the contributions made by women across every strata of society, IWD also serves as a day of contemplation of what the future has to offer and the role everyone can play in achieving that a brighter tomorrow. Looking at what the future holds for talented women working in the insurance ecosystem, Isaacs said she was very excited about the opportunities she sees there.

Read more: Celebrating International Women’s Day with women in insurance

“I continue to hear about an increasing number of women in senior positions at competitors, at clients, and in brokers,” she said. “And, equally important is that up and coming female talent are getting good opportunities and continuing to push the boundaries. I recently joined the insurance industry from the payments industry and have been encouraged to see how both industries equally have senior females in senior positions and give high importance to gender equality.”

If you look at insurtech in particular, Foster added, the number of women playing an active role, including in leadership positions, is high when compared to the fintech industry as a whole. The growing number of women working in finance and technology is an exciting trend to watch.

Lending her thoughts on what the future holds, McDonald noted that even just by looking at the people she is lucky enough to work with – including LexisNexis’s newly appointed senior manager of claims, Kajal Vakas – and those that she has the opportunity to meet from across the industry, it’s difficult not to feel hugely positive about opportunities for women in insurance.

“We have some fantastic role models making big waves in this market and while they are still in the minority compared to their male counterparts they are showing that barriers can be broken in insurance,” she said. “I don’t think there’s ever been a better time to join the industry, with the changes to risk and consumer expectation driving new data-driven innovations. It’s a privilege to play a key part in changing what the face of the insurance market looks like.”

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