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“With the soft market through most the early 2010s through to 2018, it was an opportunity for most people to keep their powder dry and not look to do anything too dramatic in most instances,” he said. “And then since the Decile-10 project and the turn in the market over the last couple of years, people are now seeing their chance to step out of their comfort zone and do something a little bit more entrepreneurial or a little bit more challenging. And some of that flows over into the delegated authority (DA) market, which is great.”

Brexit presented an especially interesting challenge to the sector, he said, as in the lead up to its implementation, there was a lot of thought given to how to access the EU market going forward. The bigger players sorted out their options early on and largely tended to set up their own entities within Europe to handle the transition. DA Strategy opted for this approach, setting up DA Strategy Global in Hamburg to aid MGAs who wanted to have a route to market without setting up a separate entity.

“That offers MGAs, particularly those based in London and elsewhere around the UK, an opportunity to second underwriters into DA Strategy Global so that they then are in an organisation that has an EU licence and passporting throughout the EU and can then underwrite that business, through DA Strategy Global. So what we offer is an economy of scale offering for those MGAs.”

Currently, DA Strategy has got a handful of clients, but adding further clients to this offering will enable the business to add sufficient scale to this model, allowing it to deliver a package offering to clients going forward.

It has been a fascinating mix of businesses that are interested in the facility offered by DA Strategy Global, Rowley said. Generally speaking, they have tended to be smaller businesses who, when they initially considered the implications of Brexit, likely did not consider themselves ready to go into Europe due to their smaller scale or limited business there. At that time, they did not see the business case for setting up a Brexit solution, he said, but they have since reached the scale where this has become necessary.

Read more: MGAs – what are their biggest challenges and opportunities?

“[For many], it’s now too late to set up their own entity in an easy way so they’re opting to use the DA Strategy model to have access,” he said. “So, typically that’s the smaller size firms. We’ve had [several businesses] come to us – we’ve had one come to us that is brand new and we had another that approached us very recently where they have had a new team come on board that they didn’t have last year which wants to write a significant proportion of EU business and they need a solution. So they’ve seen the opportunity to go into Europe, and now want to access it.”

This is an example of the range of businesses looking to access Brexit-friendly solutions, he said, a range that goes from new businesses, small existing firms who didn’t have the opportunity two years ago and existing firms who have taken on new teams that want to access that portfolio. For some of these businesses, there has been an element of waiting for the furore surrounding Brexit to die down before they elected to choose a solution. But the other aspect, he said, has been the capacities appetite to enter Europe. A lot of capacity providers were hesitant about going into Europe through an entity that they weren’t sure was going to be there for the long term.

They were thinking ‘let’s just hold back’, he said, but now that those capacity providers and other market players are getting back into the City to trade, there’s more of a relaxed attitude. Now carriers are opting to help firms who are looking to add a section to write European business, which is part of the reason why MGAs are now opening that door.

Going forward, Rowley does foresee continued interest in market players looking to enter the European market, particularly because a lot of the UK carriers are building a lot of their portfolios in that open market, direct business.

“So I think that though the DA business and the DA market, instead of growing as it has done over the last two decades, was pretty flat in 2020 and the first half of 2021, it’s now starting to pick up again,” he said. “And I think that activity should flow through into the demand for European access.”

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For the second straight year, Hertfordshire-based vehicle leasing company Vanarama assessed the 100 most common job titles in the UK to find out which professions pay the most on insurance premiums. 

The firm gathered data from the Office of the National Statistics, broadcasting company BBC, and database firm Statista to paint a picture of the average UK driver. What Vanarama came up with is someone who drives a Volkswagen Golf, travels 7,600 miles each year, has comprehensive cover and no previous accident claims to their name.

Here’s the complete profile of Vanarama’s hypothetical average driver.

• Named driver: 39-years old
• Years driving: 15 years
• Vehicle: Volkswagen Golf 1.5L 2020
• Cover level: Comprehensive
• Miles per annum: 7,600
• Voluntary excess: £500
• Day parking: Factory or office car park
• Overnight parking: Locked garage at home

Read more: Top 10 car insurance companies in the UK

The company then entered these details, along with the same birthday and date when the licence was obtained, into the nation’s largest car comparison website changing only the job title. The results revealed how much car insurance premiums are charged for each occupation.

Here are the 10 most expensive and 10 least expensive job titles for car insurance in the UK based on Vanarama’s research.

10 most expensive job titles for car insurance premiums

Almost all professions in the top 10 shot up the rankings from last year. Recruitment consultant topped this year’s list moving from 30th in 2020, with premiums more than doubling to slightly over £815 from about £350. It was designer, however, which experienced the biggest jump from 98th last year to second place in 2021. Premiums for the profession cost on average £776, up from £312.

Social worker and counsellor were tied for third place, with average car insurance costs at about £714. Physiotherapist, midwife, and nurse followed paying about £707 in annual premium. Hairdressers, who dropped from third to eighth, needed to shell out about £506 in premium cost, while senior manager and supervisor rounded out the top 10 paying slightly over £498 in car insurance.

Rank	Job title	2020 ranking	Annual premium
1	Recruitment consultant	30	£815.24
2=	Designer	98	£776.51
3=	Social worker	7	£713.80
3=	Counsellor	14 (tied)	£713.80
5=	Physiotherapist	6	£507.07
5=	Midwife	9	£507.07
5=	Nurse	19	£507.07
8	Hairdresser	2	£505.90
9=	Senior manager	17 (tied)	£498.02
9=	Supervisor	43	£498.02

Source: Vanarama

One additional factor that Vanarama researchers found was that female drivers were being charged about £18 higher (£462.94) than their male counterparts (£444.89), rising from about £15 from last year.

Read more: Revealed: The average cost of car insurance

 10 least expensive job titles for car insurance premiums

At the other end of the spectrum, IT-related professions, which include web developer and software engineer, dropped to the bottom of the rankings after placing in the top 15 in 2020. Average car premiums for these occupations were about £326.

Barrister, personal assistant, secretary, and driver, which experienced the biggest drop, were also among the 10 least expensive professions for car insurance, with annual premiums ranging from £355 to £374.

Rank	Job title	2020 ranking	Annual premium
91	Driver	1	£374.31
92=	Secretary	77	£358.27
92=	Personal assistant	78	£358.27
94	Barrister	49	£355.45
95=	Software developer	13	£326.41
95=	Web designer	14 (tied)	£326.41
95=	Web developer	14 (tied)	£326.41
95=	Software engineer	24	£326.41
95=	Programmer	51	£326.41
95=	Developer	69	£326.41

Source: Vanarama

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Lloyd’s Insurance Company S.A. (LIC or Lloyd’s Europe), the Belgian subsidiary of the Society of Lloyd’s, has appointed Mark Cooper (pictured) as head of LIC’s UK branch.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the appointment is effective on November 01 and will see Cooper replace Keith Stern. The latter, who will continue to focus on his role as regional manager for UK and Ireland, has been the branch manager of LIC UK since 2018 – the year the branch came to life to carry out regulated activities in the UK under Temporary Regime Permission.

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AXIS Insurance, the specialty insurance segment of AXIS Capital Holdings, has appointed three new senior underwriters to its capital risk solutions (CRS) team, effective immediately.

Jim Parker and Richard Jelf have moved to London from Bermuda and Singapore, respectively, to grow the company’s project finance and aircraft financial portfolios, strengthen existing relationships, and drive business growth.

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A management information (MI) and analytics leader, Barclay has notable expertise in leading complex analytical and regulatory projects and a wealth of experience across operations, building, and embedding IT and business solutions and delivering digital transformation programmes.

In her new role at McLarens, Barclay will oversee a team of data professionals and lead the development and implementation of the firm’s strategy around data capture, processing, and delivery and championing a data-driven decision culture across the global business.

She will also encompass everything from data governance and quality through to analysis and visualisation, with responsibilities including developing the firm’s predictive analytics modelling capabilities.

Working with McLarens One, the firm’s end-to-end global claims platform, Barclay’s team is expected to drive innovation and facilitate the delivery of global data sets and dashboarding, utilising data mining, predictive modelling, and machine learning to support insurer and broker clients in modelling around indemnity spend, emerging risk, and claims handling.

 “Better data drives better decisions and outcomes for all stakeholders, and this vital role demonstrates our commitment both to client delivery and to our wider digital strategy, in which we are making significant investment,” said Graham Smart, chief commercial officer at McLarens. “The way that we collect and distribute information to clients is rapidly evolving, improving the speed and quality of our client response, and allowing for better loss estimates, reducing indemnity spend, and facilitating a quicker resolution of claims.

“Jennifer is a true leader in her field and is highly experienced in cutting edge technologies, as well as all aspects of regulatory compliance. Her experience of working with brokers and insurers in this regard will be hugely beneficial.”

Barclay will be based in London and reporting to Adam Weiner, the SVP Technology Strategy and Operations at McLarens.

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We are just over a week away from closing the window for nominations for Insurance Business’s 5-Star Corporate Social Responsibility Awards.

This showcase celebrates companies in the insurance industry that have developed effective CSR programs that help communities, the economy, and the environment.

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Read more: Gallagher’s Peter Matthews on the “turbocharge” effect of Bollington acquisition

“Clients will continue to have the same day-to-day contacts at Bollington, who understand their individual business and insurance requirements, but will benefit from the global scale of Gallagher, its expertise across 32,000 global employees, 5,000 of which are based in the UK, plus increased product choice and buying power,” the firm said in a statement.

Michael Rea, chief executive officer of Gallagher’s UK retail division, said that he was “very pleased to reach this key milestone, having acquired Bollington in February.”

“We knew from our very first interactions that Bollington would be a great fit with Gallagher and by bringing our brands, teams and expertise together, clients will benefit from broader knowledge, products and access to markets,” he said. “We are committed to investing in our team in the North West, as part of our UK wide network, and we look forward to adding further capability to Bollington’s existing specialisms.”

The Bollington acquisition saw Gallagher take on 420 new employees and 230,000 customers across mid-market commercial, niche lines, and SME & micro-SME businesses, as well as personal lines. It also added a significant North West presence to Gallagher’s existing UK nationwide office network.

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McCafferty, whose time in the insurance profession has seen him take on several leadership titles – including as chief executive of Brightside, CEO of AXA Insurance and president of Willis UK & Ireland – highlighted in an interview with Insurance Business that he was drawn to the “great spirit” of NPAI and how this was reflected in the values and purpose of its team. What the team is doing and the way that it’s doing it displays a lot of creativity, he said, and so it has felt like a natural fit.

Non-executive roles such as this often come about through connections with a wider insurance network, he said, and he has worked very closely in the past with several non-executive directors on the board of NPAI. Through that network, the opportunity first emerged and, having followed the business with interest for some time, as that conversation became more serious he got to know more about the team and quickly recognised the substantial variety of values they shared.

“It’s a very purpose-led organisation, which I’ve been passionate about for a long time,” McCafferty said. “They’re really clear about the value that they add in the pharmacy space, which of course, is front and centre these days when you consider the health care response to COVID and other issues as well. [This area] has such an important role to play in society right now and I know NPAI is truly valued for what it does, which tells you a lot about how they’re regarded and what they’re good at.”

Read more: Peach Pi launches industry collaboration advisory forum

It’s a business that has been operating for a long time and is very clear about where its core strengths lie, he said. Now, from this strong platform, it is looking to grow and expand into the intermediated market with a set of products for related trades and professions, and he appreciates that Peach Pi’s emphasis is on building on its core niche and capabilities. McCafferty believes there is a real opportunity for growth for the business by leveraging its operational strengths for the benefit of all its next steps.

“I just found that pretty captivating, I really like the people involved and I wanted to get involved so that’s how it happened,” he said. “And I’m already enjoying being part of the conversations that they’re having about getting a stronger foothold in the broader intermediated broker market.”

From his time in the intermediated market, McCafferty has seen that the most important thing for any broker these days is knowing that they can rely on expertise, service and response from their insurer. Peach Pi is well-equipped to do that, he said, which is evidenced by the foothold it has in the market already. More broadly, however, it is a troubled market and it’s quite difficult for insureds sometimes to get coverage at a sensible price, particularly in PI markets.

“The opportunity to trade with a new market, I think, ought to be quite exciting to a number of players,” he said. “It’s still early days of course, but the team have already done a great job, and are trading with 20 brokers through Acturis on e-trading platforms. So they’re off to a very good start by [focusing on] those freelance and professional businesses. And it’s mostly the wellbeing and lifestyle sector that they’re concentrating on, one which they legitimately understand because it’s a similar space to the one that they’ve occupied for so long.”

Read more: Kaufman Group on growth and customer centricity

For McCafferty, customer centricity and the need to have this at the very heart of business operations and decisions has long been a key value and he is delighted to have this mirrored so closely by Peach Pi. The core belief of the business is to be clear about the purpose that it serves, where they can lend expertise, and what contribution they are making, he said.

“That’s the kind of things all businesses should be doing,” he said. “And I think the regulator customer, apart from anything else, is going to demand that focus on value over price. It’s about being really clear what value you’re adding, how you’re adding it, what capability that reflects and how that turns into a trustworthy proposition for the customer and the client. It’s all very related, and it has to do with the professionalism and the culture of the organisations in which we work and in which we lead.”

For McCafferty, his non-executive position with NPAI reflects an extension of the conversations he has long been having across the marketplace. Those conversations around scale and niche and digital advancements are still strong themes across the insurance profession and he is passionate about continuing them.

“And then, of course, for me, it’s about being back in the world of being part of a carrier,” he said. “I love broking so much but I did miss that, and there are some technical things that you do miss about being involved with an insurer. So I am pleased to get back into that as well but mostly I’m excited about what this business is doing, its specialism and getting out into the broking market, which I’m looking forward to helping them with.”

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It is big news from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) today, as the association has announced that Sian Fisher (pictured), CEO, will be stepping down next year after more than six years leading the professional body. Fisher, who was first appointed CEO in 2016, will complete a six-month notice period and depart on March 31, 2022.

In a Press release, the CII noted that during her tenure as CEO Fisher led the modernisation of the CII, resolving several complex and historic issues, in addition to overseeing the delivery of a new Manifesto, CII strategy, IT transformation and a substantial culture change programme. Discussing her experience as CEO, Fisher highlighted that when she joined the institute in 2016, she made a commitment to modernise the organisation to ensure it is “fit for the future” and able to support the vital role its members play in society.

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TMMA is a managing agent in Australia for Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance (TMNF).

In May, Lex Greensill blamed Tokio Marine’s non-renewal of Greensill’s trade credit insurance coverage for his company’s demise.

“It is deeply regrettable that we were let down by our leading insurer whose actions ensured Greensill’s collapse,” he then told Members of Parliament in the UK as part of a House of Commons probe.

Guy, meanwhile, is said to be staying at TMMA and will report to Strong in his new capacity as executive director.

The Financial Times cited Tokio Marine – which did not extend Greensill’s policy due to supposed concerns – as saying that the soon-to-be ex-CEO will continue to play an important role, part of which will be focussed on supporting the operations of BCC.

Earlier this year, the insurance group stated in a clarification: “Trade credit insurance does not cover the liability of the policyholder nor the insured; rather it covers the accounts receivable of the insured.

“Hence if Greensill were the insured, trade credit insurance would cover what Greensill is owed, rather than what Greensill owes others. As such, in that case, the insolvency of Greensill does not crystallise any exposure for TMNF.”

It was in the middle of 2020 that BCC notified Greensill and its broker that it would not be renewing, increasing limits, extending, or underwriting new polices for the business.            

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