Insurance news

Across its commercial risk solutions segment, organic revenue growth increased by 9%, driven by growth across every major geography, reflecting strong retention and management of the renewal book portfolio, as highlighted by double-digit growth in the US, Asia, and Latin America. Aon noted that these results also reflect expansion in the more “discretionary” areas of the business, including a double-digit boost in transaction liability and increased project-related work.

“On average globally,” Aon said in its trading statement, “pricing was modestly positive, while exposures were flat, resulting in a modestly positive market impact.”

Its reinsurance solutions arms saw organic revenue growth of 6%, driven by growth in treaty, reflecting continued net new business generation globally, and double-digit growth in facultative placements. Aon highlighted that market impact was modestly positive on results in the first quarter. Its retirement solutions arm saw organic revenue growth of 5%, driven by growth across every major business, while its health solutions arm saw organic revenue growth of 4%.

Its data & analytic services segment saw an organic revenue decline of 2%, driven by a decrease in the travel and events practice globally. For the first three months of 2021, cash flows from operations increased 66% to $561 million, while free cash flow increased 91% to $532 million.

Commenting on its 4% increase in total operating expenses in Q1 2021, Aon attributed these as primarily due to: “a $73 million unfavourable impact from foreign currency translation, an increase in expense associated with 6% organic revenue growth, and a $17 million increase in transaction costs related to the pending combination with Willis Towers Watson”.

These operating expenses were partially offset by a $55 million decrease from accelerated repayment related to certain tradenames that were fully repaid in Q2 of 2020 and expense discipline, including lower travel and entertainment expense.

Commenting on the results, CEO of Aon Greg Case highlighted that Q1 2021 saw the brokerage’s colleagues deliver an “outstanding” operational performance, building on over a decade of progress on its key financial metrics, creating momentum for 2021, and demonstrating the power of ‘Aon United’.

“Today, clients are justifiably focused on the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said, “but they are also increasingly aware of other challenges like climate change, supply chain disruption, the future of work, and the growing health-wealth gap. Our strategy is built to bring the best innovation, insight, and solutions from across our firm, and our potential to address client need only increases with our pending combination with Willis Towers Watson.”

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Most recently Davies has thrown its weight behind its latest automated claims solution Kuarterback, named after the role of quarterbacks in American football in dictating the direction of play.

“The principle that we had was of building a solution that enables us to dictate the direction of claims, particularly personal injury claims when we started,” he said. “Realistically, if you take the volume claims space of motor and personal injury, it requires quite a streamlined approach. If you take 100 claims, then somewhere in the region of about 75% to 80% of them are fairly routine, fairly standardised, fairly repetitive and, ultimately, quite formulaic.”

With this in mind, he said, Davies’s team felt there was a lot that automation could do in this space and worked to build a solution that would safely and automatically identify claims that could be automated and then utilise Kuarterback and its pioneering AI technology to process them. The remaining 20% to 25% of claims which do require human input were then left to the claims handlers, who, on average, save 25 minutes per claim – time previously lost reviewing reports and inputting data. Rowe noted that client feedback of the Kuarterback system has been very positive, as it enables handlers to utilise their expertise and experience without being submerged by minutia.

Read more: What’s the key to a successful claims experience?

“We actually started development on this before the pandemic, so unwittingly we must have had some foresight,” he said, “and we started building it around the summer of 2019 with a view to launching in Q1 2020 which we did… And since March of last year, we’ve grown the capability, the number of insurers using it, the number of claims going through the system, and also the other functionality aspects and products we’ve added since then. So, while it was built and launched pre-pandemic, the majority of Kuarterback’s adoption has been during the crisis.”

Having spent many years working in the tech and insurance space, Rowe has a firm grasp on the shifts taking place within the wider tech environment and he believes that COVID has really focused everybody’s minds. Insurance companies, and companies more generally, are now questioning what innovations they can put in place that will create positive benefits for their clients while increasing their own efficiency.

Rowe believes that the key legacy of the COVID crisis will come from the sheer range of industries and sectors which proved they were capable of enormous amounts of change in tiny amounts of time. People are more comfortable with technology now, he said, and are aware that things can change faster than was ever anticipated. In the insurance industry, those big transformation projects that typically take years are likely to be put under the spotlight as people will remember the reaction times during the pandemic. It may be that such projects will come under renewed focus to keep up with the changing expectations of shareholders and consumers alike.

Read more: Davies reveals how COVID-19 has changed uptake and demand for virtual adjusting technology

“If you think about the technology that’s available in other sectors where deliveries are at your door within an hour or two of the press of a button, that’s where the expectation is and that’s where it should be,” he said. “The difference is that we need to harness this technology and bring it into the day-to-day experience of an insurance claim.

“And that’s where people will start to look at you differently and begin to raise their own expectations. What we’re seeing now is people wanting to go on to the next step, and almost volunteering ideas rather than just consuming the available technology. That’s a real positive for me, because that’s the feedback we want from our claims handlers and customers and that we will use to build great products.”

The focus for the team behind Kuarterback now is to make sure the system is ready for the incoming reforms associated with the official injury claims portal, he said, and making sure the same or even higher levels of automation are possible when the portal comes online at the end of May. After this, Davies has a roadmap of deliverables as it looks to expand and evolve the functionality of the system, firstly by moving into credit hire claims in the motor space.

When this is delivered accessibly and efficiently, Rowe said, the next step will be looking at higher value claims because the technology behind Kuarterback is innately adaptable and can be rolled out to the higher value claims space. The future is wide open as to where this functionality can go and, for Rowe and Davies, it’s exciting not just to be along for the ride but also in driving the agenda of automation within the industry.

Find out more about the broad range of services offered by Davies here.

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The motor finance and premium finance units are under the retail operations of Close Brothers.

Meanwhile, Close Brothers Premium Finance commercial lines sales director Elliott Hayes (pictured immediately above) and personal lines sales director Laura Sweetman (pictured below) will be in charge of managing relationships with broker partners.

“I am looking forward to working alongside Elliott and Laura to maintain our leadership in the premium finance sector,” commented Kemple.

“I am a firm believer in the principle of continuous improvement in the services we provide our broking partners, and my priority will be to review our current portfolio to ensure we are giving our brokers the tools they need to grow their businesses and meet their future business aims.”

Sweetman, who is “thrilled” by the opportunity to further develop the company’s partner relationships, has been with the business since 2002. Hayes joined in late 2001 and similarly looks forward to supporting partners through the current hard market.

“I am sorry to see Paul leave Close Brothers Premium Finance, and I wish him the very best for the future,” stated retail CEO Rebecca McNeil.

“We are lucky to have a strong pool of talent and experience within the premium finance business, and it’s great to announce that Elliott and Laura will assume these new senior roles, with oversight from Sean.”

She added: “My expectations are that our specialist focus on commercial lines (with Elliott) and personal lines (with Laura) will hugely benefit our 1,600 broking partners across the UK and Ireland as we emerge from the pandemic.”

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Coupland succeeds Edward Davis, who is retiring from the role after 27 years with the business. Davis’s retirement will take effect on April 30, after which Coupland will formally assume her responsibilities as general counsel on May 01, 2021. Davis has been appointed as a director of the AXA UK pension scheme.

Coupland previously served as a general secretary for AXA Partners – a role she held for five years. Prior to that, she was the general counsel for AXA UK & Ireland’s life and wealth businesses for eleven years, and also served as deputy head of legal.

“I’d like to thank Ed for his 27-year contribution to AXA, and everything he’s helped us achieve in that time. While I am incredibly sad to see Ed go, I’m thrilled to have Emily back in the UK &Ireland team – her knowledge of the business means she will be able to hit the ground running and add value from day one,” said AXA UK & Ireland CEO Claudio Genial.

“I’m delighted to be back with AXA UK & Ireland, taking on the exciting challenge of general counsel. I bring with me real passion for the business as well as an innovative outlook,” commented Coupland. “I see the general counsel team as a business enabler and partner, and I hope to further support and help drive AXA’s ongoing success.”

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate to lead such a fantastic team here for so many years, to work with so many great colleagues across the whole organisation and to be involved in such varied and challenging work throughout my time at AXA. It will certainly be a massive change to leave after such a happy time,” said Davis.

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London-based international Lloyd’s coverholder Shepherd Compello has promoted Steve Hart (pictured) to chief broking officer.

Hart, who came onboard the specialist insurance broker in 2017 as divisional director for property, will now be in charge of creating and implementing Shepherd Compello’s broking strategy spanning all lines of business. His remit will also include product diversification and attracting brokers as part of developing opportunities in new areas of profitable growth for Shepherd Compello.

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A new managing general agency (MGA) platform was recently launched in London in partnership with insurance service provider Xceedance.

The new business, called NuVenture International, was formed by former Aon Underwriting Managers executive Andy Colbran (pictured), who will lead the firm as its first chief executive officer.

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The competition watchdog’s review, under the informal merger review process guidelines, was commenced last October. It was also in late 2020 when other regulators like the European Commission (EC) and New Zealand’s Commerce Commission outlined their respective preliminary issues surrounding the mammoth union.

Earlier this month, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore ran a consultation as part of its own regulatory probe. The EC, meanwhile, has extended its decision deadline by 10 working days to July 27, 2021.

As the European Union’s executive arm, part of the commission’s remit is assessing mergers to prevent market concentrations that significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area. In 2019, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group had to offload its global aerospace practice so Marsh McLennan’s takeover could get the EC all-clear.

It’s been reported that certain businesses within Aon-WTW will also have to be sold in order to get the transaction across the finish line. 

In a recent interview with Insurance Business, Aon Australia chief executive James Baum stated: “Everybody understands that there’s a role for regulators all around the world to play, and that’s what everybody is working through at the moment.”

Both domiciled in Ireland and headquartered in the UK, Aon and WTW operate in more than 120 and 140 countries, respectively.

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Middleton was formerly CEO of employment benefits consultancy Portus, which was acquired by Aon in 2017. During his tenure at Portus, Middleton was part of the committees of both GRiD and AMII, and he had shown strong interest in developing AMII’s education and training offering to members.

“I was particularly proud that during my chairmanship we developed the GRiD training academy which is still going strong,” Middleton said at the online meeting. “I believe that strong industry bodies are vital for the future of our industry and think that we should look at how we develop and train the next generation of AMII membership.”

Since the acquisition of Portus, Middleton has held roles as executive director of Benefits Advisory Services (BAS) and as a consultant at CWB – both in the employment benefits space. He is also a trustee of charities Smile for Joel and Sporting Minds UK.

Middleton called for a more integrated approach in the PMI market in a post-pandemic environment.

“Mental health and wellbeing are top of most of our clients’ objectives,” he said. “I am currently a trustee of a mental health charity that supports athletes and I have been staggered by the amount of young people seeking help, particularly in the last 12 months.

“Yet as an industry in both healthcare and risk we are still very much working in silos and are still product driven. We really need to work more closely as physical, financial, mental, and social wellbeing cannot and should not be treated separately.”

The appointment comes at a time where the PMI industry has had to respond to the wide-ranging impact of a global pandemic and a new post-Brexit reality.

“Insurers have responded well, with a willingness to help and support intermediaries and the end customer, with telemedicine and additional support services. It is also commendable that PMI insurers made a pledge to not profit from the pandemic and some have already made appropriate premium refunds to clients in this respect,” Middleton said.

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“We develop evidence on five reasons for this large shift: better-than-expected WFH experiences, new investments in physical and human capital that enable WFH, greatly diminished stigma associated with WFH, lingering concerns about crowds and contagion risks, and a pandemic-driven surge in technological innovations that support WFH,” they said.

Another recent study, however, found that the WFH productivity boom of the pandemic also has a “human cost”. The downside? High productivity has left people feeling exhausted at the end of their workday.

Meanwhile, the social isolation remote workers feel has also affected how they collaborate and innovate with their teams and grow their personal and professional network. These, in effect, have been shown to undo any productivity gains that companies have seen in the past year.

Even top organisations have their own ideas of what the workforce of the future would look like and how post-COVID work trends would come to reshape their corporate culture. On one end of the spectrum, companies like Twitter and Facebook appear to be more open to the idea of remote work becoming a permanent option even after the global crisis wanes.

Somewhere in the middle, the likes of Google, Apple and Microsoft are leaning towards reopening offices soon and introducing hybrid work arrangements. On the far end, big banks such as Goldman Sachs plan to reverse course and “correct [the effects of WFH] as quickly as possible”.

“Over the past year, no area has undergone more rapid transformation than the way we work,” shared Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, whose own company is advocating for flexible or hybrid working.

“Employee expectations are changing, and we will need to define productivity much more broadly – inclusive of collaboration, learning and well-being, to drive career advancement for every worker, including frontline and knowledge workers, as well as for new graduates and those who are in the workforce today. All this needs to be done with flexibility in when, where, and how people work,” he said.

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ERS is expanding its commercial insurance capabilities with two senior appointments: Dr Federico Waisman, as head of underwriting management, and Ciaran Waters, senior underwriter for US catastrophe.

According to a statement by the specialist insurer, the hires are part of its strategy to scale existing and enter new segments including property, reinsurance, marine, professional lines and specialty.

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