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“We believe a key reason for Claudio being listed is due to his very strong core values,” she said. “He believes that kindness in leadership and trusting and respecting all employees is crucial to instilling a positive workplace culture. The award is also testament to the inclusive, rewarding and collaborative culture at AXA, where employees are encouraged to bring their full selves to work every day.”

Exploring what it means to build a culture that allows people to be authentic to themselves, Ashdown noted that it starts with the realisation that insurance businesses rely on the talent, courage and resilience of their people to succeed. Thus, AXA strives to provide a workplace culture that is always open, supportive, challenging and empowering.

“We respect and value the individual differences of our people because it’s these differences that make us stronger,” she said. “A diverse workforce helps us more effectively meet diverse market and customer needs, and helps us attract the most talented people, fosters internal morale and employee engagement and enhances employee wellbeing. This is why diversity and inclusion are key priorities at AXA.”

Read more: AXA’s Zoe Ashdown on reducing the gender pay gap

The group’s brand promise is ‘Know You Can’, and Ashdown said this embodies empowerment and self-belief. This is a mindset not a strapline, she said, and it is this mindset that helps people develop the confidence to progress both professionally and personally. To allow this development to occur, the right tone must be set at the very top of an organisation’s structure and, particularly when it comes to D&I, that means being accountable and having diversity at a senior level.

There is little doubt that the COVID crisis has increased many people’s focus on health and wellbeing and Ashdown noted that this, in turn, has accentuated their desire to find a good balance in their lives. At AXA, she said, employee wellbeing has long been an important focus and, during the pandemic, it really ramped up its activity in this area.

“In line with the virtual workplace our employees have been experiencing,” she said, “we focused on using technology to treat employees like consumers, giving them access to services when, where and how they needed them. But our proposition isn’t just technology-led and we’ve tried to find variety both in solution and delivery methods to engage as wide an audience as possible.”

These include a focus on wellbeing, she said, through a variety of programmes including a virtual GP service for employees and their immediate family, Cycle2Work, gym discounts, free online fitness classes and more. Mental wellbeing is not being left of the equation, however, with provisions made via a mental wellbeing app, an employee assistance programme and access to mental health seminars.

The insurer has moved beyond just the realm of the physical and mental, she said, by providing tools to support its people’s financial wellbeing and social wellbeing. The former includes tools such as Nudge, a financial wellbeing app to help employees manage their finances better and the latter includes services virtual volunteering opportunities via the AXA Hearts in Action programme and community programmes.

Read more: Assessing the long-term impact of coronavirus on insurance working practices

As a business, AXA has made a commitment that it will not go back to pre-pandemic ways of working. This is a real chance to take something positive out of what has been an incredibly challenging time, she said, and to reimagine the way we work. 

The insurer is rolling out its ‘Smart Working’ strategy – a hybrid way of working which provides increased flexibility by combining remote work and office presence. Ashdown said the business is convinced that its new smart way of working will build organisational resilience and help it attract and keep the best talent.   

What smart working means, she said, is that organisations can attract a more diverse pool of talent, increase the geographical reach of many of its roles and encourage talent to join and to stay given the increased level of balance and choice they enjoy. This will help staff to get the best out of their working day while still ensuring AXA delivers great service to our customers.

“The pandemic has been a huge and transformative moment for working practices,” Ashdown said. “As a result, organisations that don’t transform, adapt or reflect what employees want and expect from the workplace today may struggle to attract the best talent going forward. This is why we have developed a Smart Working strategy, which will enable employees to be much more location agnostic and to be in the right place to do their job and serve their customers.

“This is a new approach and we intend to test and learn as we go along. But we believe that by providing this enhanced level of flexibility we can take a new step in our overall ambition to become one of the most inspiring companies to work for.”

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Beazley found that homogenised policies and reliable claims service are no longer enough to satisfy customers; businesses expect insurers to demonstrate a solid understanding of their operations and the risks they face, and to add value through risk management tools, insights, services and flexible coverage.

Forty-eight per cent (48%) of those surveyed said their trust in insurance has increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, only 54% believed that insurance was meeting their businesses’ challenges very well.

Among the reports key findings:

• A quarter of business leaders struggle to understand what coverage they need
• 19% find it hard to get insurance tailored to their sector or specialist business
• 44% don’t think their insurers understand their business

The top three demands businesses have of their insurance partners are:

• A deep understanding of risk by sector and size
• Specialist risk advisory services as part of the policy
• Comprehensive, straightforward cover

The top five buying factors for insurance are:

• A policy designed for the customer’s specific type of business
• A long-term insurer partnership
• The cost of insurance
• Fast, responsive claims service
• Ease of understanding cover

“While it is encouraging that trust in insurance has increased since the start of the pandemic, it is a concern that only about half of our survey’s respondents feel that the insurance industry is meeting their needs very well,” said Lou Ann Layton, Beazley’s head of broker relations and marketing. “Our report highlights that it is time for a service rethink. No longer can the industry take a one-size-fits-all approach; instead, clients want a more nuanced, tailored and responsive service.

“To deliver what they want till require us to strengthen our relationships and improve communication with clients. Only by listening to them and demonstrating our expertise and insight into how they can better manage their specific, sector-based risks can we build our reputation as trusted risk partners delivering a valued service.”

“This report provides detailed insights into how our industry can work with and better support clients at a time of significant change,” said Bethany Greenwood, head of cyber and executive risk and interim co-chief underwriting officer at Beazley. “Digital technology is more and more entrenched in insurance operations and distribution, unleashing huge potential for service improvement and efficiency. As insurance providers, how we harness claims and risk insight data will be critical in improving the services and solutions we develop for clients.

“There will always be a place for cost-effective standard coverage,” Greenwood said. “However, where our industry will add value in the future will be through a service based on a combination of technological and human factors.”

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Browne Jacobson is urging insurance companies to take a comprehensive approach to assessing the concerns outlined in the UK law firm’s Reflections Caught: Culture, Conduct, and COVID 2020-2021 report.

The 24-page document, which is available on Browne Jacobson’s website, is based on two surveys commissioned by the firm between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021.

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In addition, it was a double celebration for the publication as Mia Wallace, Senior UK News Editor – Insurance, received a highly commended award in the category of Reinsurance, Insurance & Risk Profile Interview of the Year.

“While special praise should be reserved for Mia Wallace, as our lead UK journalist securing so many brilliant interviews and building relationships in the market, as well as Terry Gangcuangco, who has been breaking news and doing such a wonderful job of finding stories no-one else can for several years in the region, the entire IB team plays its part,” said Paul Lucas, managing editor of Insurance Business.

“As the industry’s truly global publication we’re able to regularly source stories from our other markets from the likes of Ryan Smith, Ksenia Stepanova, Gabriel Olano, Lyle Adriano, Chris Davies, Mallory Hendry, Duffie Osental, Maria Hoyle, Pete Miller and Roxanne Libatique, as well as utilising the brilliant international interviews and editorials from the outstanding Bethan Moorcraft. We have also recently welcomed two new hires too – Surina Nath and Daniel Wood – who I am sure will be fantastic additions.

“There are also a host of people ‘behind the scenes’ who have helped us achieve market-leading status since our inception in the market a mere five years ago – from our SEO and commercial teams, through to events, marketing, research/intelligence and our newsletter co-ordinators. It’s a massive team effort across the board, so many, many thanks to everyone involved, as well as to our clients and sponsors who have helped us grow so rapidly, our brilliant industry columnists and contributors, and to all the media teams and PR representatives across the sector who have supported us with such grace and kindness.”

Remember you can sign up for Insurance Business’s morning briefing and daily newsletter, for free, here.

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The Swiss Re Institute economists expect global insurance premiums to follow that strong economic growth, increasing by approximately 3.3% in 2021 to a total of US$6.9 trillion. In the same year, they predict key market insurance premium to grow by 6.3% in China, 1.7% in the US, 2.8% in Western Europe, and 5.6% for emerging markets. For 2022, the report forecasts 3.9% insurance premium growth.

“We expect the insurance industry to earn a record US$7 trillion in premium by the end of next year,” said Jerome Haegeli, group chief economist at Swiss Re Institute. “The best preparation for the next economic shock is having economic buffers in place. However, fiscal and monetary buffers are being depleted, which means the private insurance sector is increasingly important. Narrowing protection gaps needs to become an economic policy goal.”

Swiss Re’s annual insurance premium report examined how factors such as inflation and digitalisation are influencing insurance industry development.

The report noted that positive development in consumer awareness is a key opportunity for insurers as it has been “cemented by the COVID-19 pandemic.” It also highlighted how global health and protection-type insurance premiums increased by 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively, in 2020, as the pandemic increased awareness of the value of health and protection-type production.

”The economic upswing expected in 2021 and 2022 is on track to materialise, and this is a key factor for insurance premium growth across the globe. The main market to watch is China, where both economic and premium growth continue at a strong pace,” Haegeli said.

“Consumer awareness is clearly an important growth driver, and this has been driven by the pandemic. Whether it is private medical insurance or supply chain interruption for businesses, people have become much more aware of what insurance is and how it can help them to emerge resilient from such a crisis.” 

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The foundation has also launched various local fundraising campaigns in collaboration with the local business units and employees of Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) globally – inviting contributions from the community, including Zurich’s suppliers, distributors, customers, and the public.

“There is a global movement to ensure everyone has a chance to be protected from COVID-19, and we applaud everyone who has been supporting it through our own initiative or others. Every commitment counts to provide equitable access to vaccination,” said Gregory Renand, the head of the Z Zurich Foundation.

UNICEF and its partners have been working on a vaccination procurement and supply program to vaccinate frontline healthcare and social workers, as well as high-risk and vulnerable people worldwide.

Through the COVAX Facility – along with GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, WHO, and CEPI – UNICEF is leveraging its unique experience as the largest single vaccine buyer in the world by working with manufacturers and partners on the procurement and supply of COVID-19 vaccines.

“As citizens in wealthy countries begin to return and resume their lives in a post-vaccination world, for low-income countries, the future is still uncertain with the vaccine rollout slow and uneven,” said Carla Haddad Mardini, the director of private sector fundraising and partnerships at UNICEF.

“UNICEF welcomes this expanded commitment from the Z Zurich Foundation to continue raising valuable resources and help us in our mission to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to where they are needed most.”

UNICEF is also working with WHO, PAHO, GAVI, and other partners regionally and globally to support countries in preparing for their COVID-19 vaccine rollout – including assessing capacity and helping countries to strengthen their cold storage capabilities and supply chains to ensure the countries have adequate infrastructure to transport and store the vaccines.

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In 2021, the country with the highest overall resilience score of 100 was Denmark. Broken down into the three core resilience factors, Denmark scored 85.2 for economic risk, 94.5 for risk quality, and 91.4 for supply chain. The remaining countries ranking from 2 to 10 for business resilience were: Norway, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Austria, United States Zone 3 (Central US), and the United Kingdom. 

Read next: FM Global releases interactive earthquake risk map

What does business resilience really mean? To Eric Jones, vice president and global manager of business risk consulting at FM Global, it can be broken down into: 1) What is the risk that something bad could happen to disrupt a business? 2) If something bad does happen, would the surrounding environment enable a business to recover quickly and effectively? FM Global’s Resilience Index does “a great job,” according to Jones, of looking at resiliency in a holistic fashion.

“The Resilience Index is a great conversation starter; it’s a way to get organisations thinking about risk differently,” said Jones. “The fact is, when it comes to making major business decisions, very often resilience and property-related risks can be a blind spot – they’re not always considered. The Index is a great way to help shine a light on that, to get people thinking about risks that are associated with where you’re doing business in the world, or where you plan to do business. And it’s not just your own internal facilities and people and where they’re located, but it’s also wherever you might have business dependencies in the world, especially within supply chain, logistical concerns, and even your customers.”

Read more: FM Global welcomes senior broker relations manager for EMEA

Jones gave the example of a business looking to expand into Asia and considering key suppliers in Taiwan and Singapore. In FM Global’s 2021 Resilience Index, Taiwan ranks 70th overall, while Singapore ranks 12th for business resilience. He commented: “That doesn’t mean that you’re not going to do business in Taiwan, but the fact that there’s a higher level of risk there – that needs to be factored into the overall decision process. You need to go in with your eyes wide open […] and dig a little bit deeper to really understand that risk better.” 

Quantifying risk is fundamental to all facets of risk management. Having an understanding of the potential financial implications of risk resiliency helps businesses strategize and decide where to focus their resources and how to allocate capital for risk improvement. The Index enables organisations to kickstart those discussions and points insureds towards areas where they need to drill in further. 

“Whether you’re a broker, a consultant, an insurer, a risk manager, or an executive, I would just encourage everyone to look at the data in the Resilience Index, and as you do, think about: What does it mean to you and your organisation or your clients?” said Jones. “The application of all this can be different, depending on what your role is, but ultimately, it tries to get to the question of: How is your business or your client’s business impacted based on operating in different parts of the world? Where do you need to dig deeper? Who do you need to show this to?

“Start having those conversations, because the reality is, risks are different all around the world. And time and resources are always limited, no matter what function you’re talking about, so the Index is a great way to help you prioritise and think about: Where do we really need to focus from a risk standpoint? And it helps you understand where businesses need to drill in deeper and kickstart that risk evaluation process, and ultimately, hopefully help organisations become more resilient in the process.”

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The EU’s antitrust regulators have today approved Aon’s US$30 billion bid for Willis Towers Watson (WTW), subject to certain conditions. The seal of approval hinges upon full compliance with a “substantial” set of commitments offered by Aon, which include the divestment of central parts of WTW’s business to the international brokerage company Arthur J. Gallagher (Gallagher).

The European Commission noted that these commitments will “strengthen Gallagher in its capabilities in reinsurance and commercial risk brokerage” as well as improving its footprint in the European Economic Area (EEA). This, the regulator said, will make Gallagher a credible rival to the combined Aon-WTW entity post-transaction.

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Virtual meetings enabled businesses to continue throughout the lockdown, and now that we are in sight of a return to more normalised working, there is every chance that Zoom and Teams will remain as much a part of business life as the traditional office commute, maybe more so.

Find out more: Learn all about Close Brothers Premium Finance here.

Broking finance directors have found that they are making big savings on their travel and entertainment budgets because so many client meetings are now taking place on computer screens. 

Supporters of virtuality also point out that account executives can meet many more clients each day without leaving their home office. Added to that, account executives have replaced the daily grind of commuting with a home office or desk, reducing their miles and helping the planet too.

Virtual business has proved itself useful for keeping costs down, and keeping up with clients, but it has also added to the challenges brokers have faced this year, sometimes in an unforeseen manner.

For example, brokers seeking to place more complex risks have sometimes found it harder to get cover, and those writing specialist lines like professional indemnity, leisure and hospitality, or larger commercial risks, have found it especially tough. Risk placement has become a big issue for brokers this year.

It is partly down to the fact that the pandemic has encouraged insurers to continue to tighten their risk appetite, something that was already happening before 2020, and partly because underwriters have become more risk averse because they have had to weigh up their decisions and make judgements largely on their own.

The pandemic has caused all of us to focus more of our attention on minimising risk, and underwriters are no different. Working alone, without the benefit of being able to speak quickly to senior colleagues, makes turning business down the easier option. 

As a result, risk-averse behaviour in underwriting has impacted two broader market issues; a harder market and lack of underwriting capacity. These were both cited as concerns by brokers when Close Brothers surveyed them at the beginning of 2021.

In our survey, 63% of personal and commercial lines brokers said the hardening market and lack of underwriting capacity (59%) were significant challenges to growth.

Some business lines (such as construction, or PI) were already putting rate through prior to COVID-19, while parts of the market experienced a capacity squeeze before 2020 after several non-rated, off shore insurers stopped trading.

At the present time, we don’t have the data to know how these factors have affected growth plans among our broking partners, despite there being a good deal of optimism at the start of 2020 while the UK was in virtual lockdown.    

In January 2021, 45% of brokers said they expected their business to grow between five- and 20% during this year (a further 15% forecast 20%+ growth). Only 21% said their businesses would tread water or contract.

The two areas brokers said would power their growth were adding new clients to their books, and rising premiums.

Commercial premiums have, of course, continued to rise this year as a result of the harder market, while personal lines home and motor premiums have been static or even falling, as the market readies itself for the impact of the new FCA pricing regime from 2022.

Hard markets increase churn, because commercial clients are more likely to shop around if their existing provider quotes a significant increase in premiums. Some construction risks, for example, have seen premiums increase by 100% or more. 

In a previous commentary on dealing with the impact of a hard market, we advised brokers to communicate the issues early and openly to their clients, and to work with them to balance the price and level of cover, including offering finance to spread the cost of their insurance premium.

Brokers with trusted relationships who have managed client expectations will ensure the client knows they’re getting the best deal.

Of course, brokers are natural optimists, and there are plenty of signs that broking continues to hold up well even during these unprecedented circumstances.

It will, however, be interesting to see whether that optimism about growth is justified when new performance data becomes available at the start of 2022.

Learn more about Close Brothers Premium Finance here.

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The partnership first came about as the Carpenters team was increasingly being approached by businesses who wanted to work with a credible partner on claims services, from first notification of loss to liability decision making, he said. As that B2B demand grew, the firm thought about the proposition from an MGA perspective, given the size of that market and the demand for its services.

“Our experience through having 10 years of handling TPA services for businesses as large as Aviva meant that we were perfectly placed in terms of our experience and our agility to look after new-to-market insurers,” he said. “Interest really helps, if you get people asking if you do something, then that’s a really good sign.

“And what’s buoyed me and the team is that our success was initially just from word of mouth. I think there’s more we can do in this marketplace. And the MGAA, from our perspective, is a great cohort and we know we can really add value to their customers. There are so many great businesses that are part of that membership community.”

Smith noted that now is the perfect time to be working alongside the MGA community as they possess the agility and flexibility increasingly being demanded from insurance services. There is a demand for change from consumers, he said, and that change has to come fast.

“Some MGAs that are new to the market are new to the market for a reason,” he said, “which is that the services and the scope of services that they are offering the insurance market may have never been offered before. So it’s a very exciting time. And MGAs [have] a lot of creativity, a lot of innovation and a lot of entrepreneurial spirit which gives them a real ‘walk through walls’ mentality. As a partner, that means we walk through those walls at the same time, if that’s what they need us to do.”

Read more: ABI welcomes Carpenters Group as associate member

And, as a supplier partner, Carpenters now has the opportunity to give MGAA members access to its end-to-end claims service offering.

The claims environment is changing rapidly – claims frequency is changing based on people’s driving habits and behaviours. For instance, for dozens of years, the busiest day for claims was always a Monday but now that’s shifting because remote working and homeschooling have changed the usual pressures of a Monday morning commute. Strong, accessible partnerships which share data and expertise are the key to keeping pace with all the innumerate alterations happening across this space.

“So, we can talk to MGAA members about the data that we’ve got within our business and as a TPA,” he said. “Across the bigger expanse of Carpenters Group, we dealt with 415,000 FNoL notifications last year. So, from a player’s perspective, we’ve got a great horizon view, because of the data that we have and because of the broad range of services we offer across the market. And that’s what makes us unique in this space.”

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