Insurance news

After a long time spent “flying under the radar,” AmTrust International is ready to find its voice in the insurance marketplace. Speaking with Insurance Business, CUO Bruce Whitmee (pictured) shared why the time is right for the company market P&C insurer to boost its profile and market its potent blend of financial strength and strategic agility.

“AmTrust Financial wrote over $8 billion worth of GWP across the group in 2022, and about $1+ billion of that is outside North America,” he said. “In that international part of our business, we write a sub-90 combined ratio and we occupy some fairly niche lines of business.”

Touching on the reach of AmTrust International, a subsidiary of AmTrust Financial, Whitmee highlighted that the business specialises in professional indemnity (PI), legal expenses, mortgage & credit, property and warranty. Warranty is a business line embedded in the very DNA of AmTrust Financial, he said, while AmTrust International underwrites significant warranty business in the UK, Europe and around the world (including Asia and South America).

Getting back in the conversation

He revealed that the “natural uplift” AmTrust International’s business has seen over the last 12-18 months has served as the starting gun to get back into the conversation of the marketplace.

“We’ve started to see a lot more activity and a lot more opportunities coming through,” he said. “Obviously that differs from business line to business line because we’re quite diverse in our appetite within those niches. So, different areas of the market are moving at a different pace and a lot of what happens next depends on wider market trends.

“Take the PI space, for example – there’s been a significant hardening of rates over the past three or four years and we’re nimble and entrepreneurial enough as an organisation to spot those natural changes in the cycle of the market and jump in where we see an opportunity. And we have the [expertise and reach] to expand quite quickly because we have headroom in our capital.”

Whitmee noted that there’s no shortage of appetite for growth within AmTrust International and that the business has significant ambitions for the years ahead. The foundations have been laid by the restructuring undertaken by the company in recent years. AmTrust Financial went through a period of consolidation from 2018 until the end of COVID. Going private in 2018, he said, was a strategic move that allowed the business to step back and reassess which lines of business it wanted to operate in.

“Pre-2018, AmTrust Financial went through a very acquisitive period, and, over time, I think we allowed ourselves to get stretched slightly thin across multiple lines of business. Since 2018, we have focused on what we know and love, and what we’re good at – and to really invest in finding the right people to drive those lines of business.”

At the core of AmTrust International’s strategy in recent years have been two key components – getting the right people in the right roles and being very selective about the clients it wants to work with going forward. He said that working with trustworthy partners who bring a good understanding of the market and distribution, reliable data, and knowledge of compliance requirements is critical, as it is at the heart of building a secure and sustainable business and partnership.

“We’re now back on the front foot,” Whitmee said. “We’re looking for new MGA partners. In most of our lines of business, even though we have a wholly owned MGA that is a key distribution partner for us in that line, we don’t work with them on an exclusive basis. We do work with other clients and MGAs in those spaces and our objective is to work with more. As a great example, in PI, we have Collegiate, but we also work with a number of other partners.”

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA)’s recent conference represented a great opportunity for AmTrust to go out to the market and relay its message among its broking and MGA partners. To be able to speak with them face-to-face about the business’s plans for the year ahead and what it will mean for them was a very special experience, Whitmee said, and it was great to see how well that message was received.

“We’re continuing a big push on getting out and meeting our brokers,” he said. “Most of them are aware of AmTrust in its various guises but haven’t been able to see the full picture before now. I think they do see us as a credible, robust, well-capitalised market that is interested in writing business that fits within our niches and, most importantly, looking for more niches that match the characteristics of the business we love to write and segments we prefer to operate in.”

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Forecast to exceed $70 billion in premium by 2030, the risks and opportunities presented by the embedded insurance market are provoking active debate across the insurance industry. For some, the sector is rife with opportunities for profitability and differentiation while for others, concerns around data misuse and regulation call to mind the spectre of the PPI scandal.

For Luigi Alicante (pictured), co-founder of the Open & Embedded Insurance Observatory, navigating the challenges and taking advantage of the opportunities presented by embedded insurance is a matter of keeping up to date with the key trends shaping and reshaping the market. Unpicking his decision to join the insurance industry two years ago after 10 years as a university researcher, he highlighted his interest in how insurance responds to innovation.

Innovation in insurance

“After I was introduced to the sector in a role as senior product owner with the digital platform builder Mia Platform, I was curious to know more about innovation in the insurance space and the most important trends and new technologies in the market,” he said. “And from looking at those trends, I think that most insurance companies today are quite old companies with good margins, who don’t yet feel the incredible winds of change that have arrived.”

Change doesn’t tend to happen quickly in insurance, he said, but he can see how factors including the COVID-19 crisis and the rate of natural catastrophes are putting pressure on insurer margins. This isn’t happening in isolation but rather in tandem with the expansion of the insurtech sector which has seen tech entrepreneurs create their own insurance businesses rather than taking on the challenge of trying to sell their technology solutions to traditional market players.

“The third important trend that I’m seeing is that companies like Tesla, Amazon and Google are trying to understand how they can exploit this market,” he said. “Tesla’s decision to sell embedded insurance and Amazon’s entrance into the UK business insurance market are just the beginning of the new wave of changes coming for the insurance industry.”

What’s moving the dial on innovation in insurance?

Each of these factors individually is creating increased pressure on insurance companies, he said, and the combination of all three at once is forcing insurers to move the dial faster when it comes to their own digital transformation. Alicante believes these three trends will define the direction of travel of the insurance industry over the next five years.

“What I’m seeing in my role is the importance of the right technologies in that transformation,” he said. “And the right technologies are the ones that understand and support the future strategies of insurance companies. Take embedded insurance, for example. Embedded insurance is a matter of strategy and a matter of integration with different companies. Insurance carriers, insurtechs and distributors have to work together in order to create an offering in this space.

“What is important to understand is the role the right technology and APIs have in creating these integrations. A survey carried out by the Observatory reveals that today, an integration between an insurance company and a distributor takes on average between nine to 12 months. When you see that, you understand that embedded insurance cannot happen without the right APIs. These APIs are the key to integrating faster.”

The acceleration towards innovative insurance solutions

Some insurance companies are already making rapid inroads into this space, he said, and in the future, that will have to be the direction that the whole market takes. Underpinning this is that in Europe, EIOPA is now looking to define the open API standard. Once that definition is established and when it becomes mandatory for insurers to expose their APIs, he is confident that the sector will see a strong acceleration from insurers towards more innovative insurance solutions, including embedded insurance.

Fundamentally, Alicante said, this development is still at the embryonic stage and insurers today should be looking to keep abreast of all the changes and evolutions occurring across the market. His key advice for insurers looking to proactively engage with greater innovation and to invoke meaningful technological change across their organisations is simple – surround yourselves with the right people.

“I think the insurtech space is characterised by amazing people who have brilliant brains and the most fantastic technologies,” he said. “But moreover, they’re enthusiastic people that want to grow their companies and develop their ideas. So, my message to the insurance companies is this – please trust these people.

“Create an ecosystem where you can focus on your core business and on creating new products for your customers that satisfy your customer needs. But at the same time, invest in these insurtech startups of which there are so many and which are doing so many interesting things all around the world. These entrepreneurs have the energy to help take insurance companies through the digital transformation journeys that they have to make. My suggestion is to invest in these entrepreneurs and undertake those journeys together.”

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Since he first stepped into his role as executive director of QBE UK’s insurance business, the message relayed to Chris Wallace (pictured left) from the firm’s broking partners has been clear – “just get the basics right.” And it’s an entreaty that has been asked and answered, as revealed by the broker feedback the insurer has received since it announced its revamped strategy some 12 months ago.

“When I came back to the UK, a lot of the feedback we got was around the need for greater visibility and engagement,” he said. “We’re a well-equipped business with strong performance and great technical capabilities but there has been the need to get a sharper edge around visibility and engagement in the market.

“From meetings with our brokers in the last three to four months, the feedback we’ve got is that we are significantly stronger. In many broker feedback sessions, we’re now getting placed in their top three in terms of how we engage with the market and our visibility. And a key theme behind a lot of the things we’ve done lately has been to get a much stronger, closer alignment with our brokers.”

Something that has become very evident to Wallace and his team is the direct correlation between open dialogue with broker partners and strong performance. The insurer wrote more new business last year than ever before, he said, which goes to show that when you bring together visibility, engagement, and connectivity with brokers, it has an organic and positive impact on performance.

What brokers want

Director of UK regions for QBE Andy Fitzgerald (pictured right) underscored the value UK brokers are placing on consistency of approach. QBE’s stated ambition is to give the same level of service and outcome to brokers, whether they’re based in Glasgow, Bristol, London or beyond, he said, and to be predictable in the best way possible, by providing a safe pair of hands to brokers and their clients.

“You’ll get the same answer from us wherever you’re based and there’s no variance,” he said. “So, people want to come to us because they know we can find the solutions they’re looking for and that we’ll respond on time. Regional empowerment is a key theme for us because we recognise how our brokers value that. It’s not 100% consistent for us across the piece yet, there are areas where can do better but we’re coming out in the top one or two based on the feedback that we’re getting.”

Given the context of the current market dynamics, Wallace noted that there’s a great deal of emphasis on reliability, credit certainty and managing unpredictability. What underpins all of that, however, is a relentless focus on service. The market is seeing different fluctuations in service levels, he said, which presents a challenge to brokers but also an opportunity for QBE UK to showcase its value proposition.

“One thing that’s been really important to us is that when we’re developing a growth initiative or a new strategy to support our brokers and clients, we’re making sure the delivery is consistent,” he said. “So, part of the work that Andy is doing in setting up our new regional structure and having a head of trading in each office is very much about providing a ‘top of the triangle’, a point person for each local regional market that brokers and clients can interact with.

“Making sure they have somebody reliable, who’s front-office, who can drive that theme of service, support and consistency is critical. And it does come back to consistency because one of the challenges that brokers put to us 12-18 months ago was that they saw different levels of service depending on their geographical footprint. So, it’s great to see the work Andy’s done embedding those new regional structures being reflected in the feedback from our brokers.”

What’s the mood in the insurance market?

Fitzgerald noted that there seems to be a sense that the market is moving towards greater stability in terms of its pricing and how it’s looking to engage with clients. Inflation is still a bit of a worry, he said, particularly in the context of how it’s going to impact some of the cat losses from last year – and the knock-on effect of that on reinsurance pricing. Some of that hasn’t washed its way through yet, so there is some trepidation as to what’s going to happen with rates.

“I think most people are confident that there is some increased consistency,” he said. “There are pricing increases flowing through but they’re not spiking and they’re not dropping. I think those are easier conversations to be having with clients – that yes, there are some inflationary increases flowing through but everybody can understand that, but you’re not seeing any spiking adjustments because of massive losses. So, the mood on the ground is generally quite positive.”

M&A activity continues to be an area sparking interest and conversation, and Fitzgerald noted that there is still a lot of acquisitive activity taking place. Every broker you speak with is talking to other brokers to see what’s available to buy, he said, and he believes that consolidation theme will continue to feature strongly going forward as broking groups become larger still – and he’s looking forward to seeing how they leverage their bolstered size.

“From what I’m seeing in the market, brokers are still progressively requesting greater reliability and looking to make sure that the carriers are at the front of driving greater support around service and delivery in this ever-changing market,” Wallace said. “I think there is an air of frustration from the brokers who are still finding inconsistency in the market whether that’s around service, pricing, or geographic coverage.”

The work QBE UK has done in patching that gap has been exceptionally well-timed, he said, and it’s given the business a strong foundation for growth and from which to adapt to the changes – and the progressive nature of broker expectations – in 2024 and beyond.

Covéa Insurance Plc, the UK underwriting business of leading French mutual insurance group Covéa, has appointed Georges de Macedo as its new CEO, while Chris Moat will take over as chairman of the board of directors.

Macedo takes over with immediate effect from Adrian Furness, who has decided to step back after nearly 30 years as chief executive.

Having held senior positions within international groups and with more than 15 years of experience in the insurance industry, Macedo is “well placed” to lead Covéa in the UK, according to a Covéa press release.

“Adrian has been with Covea since 1995,” the release said. “We would like to thank him for his continued commitment and contribution to the business over this time.”

“I am delighted to take the lead of Covéa activities in the UK and honoured by the trust the Board of Directors has placed in me,” Macedo said.

“The executive committee and I are determined to accelerate the transformation of Covéa Insurance and to seize new opportunities in both personal and commercial insurance markets.

“The DNA of Covéa Insurance is to serve our clients and I firmly believe that we are well-positioned to meet the demands of all stakeholders, thanks to our high-quality service and extensive talent pool. In addition, the company benefits from the financial strength of the Covéa Group.”

Meanwhile, Thierry Francq will hand over the chairmanship of the board to Moat, as of 1 July, subject to PRA approval.

Moats has been running as an independent non-executive director for Covéa since March 2021. Francq remains a member of the board of directors.

“On behalf of the board, I warmly thank Adrian for his commitment and dedication to Covéa,” said Francq. “We wish him all the very best for the future. The board of directors and our shareholders are confident that Georges has all the qualities necessary to guide the company going forward and build on its strengths. We wish him every success.”

 “I congratulate Georges in his new role as CEO. Against a challenging macroeconomic environment, the company is focused on delivering an ambitious transformation agenda,” said Moat.

“I look forward to taking up the position of chair from Thierry, and to working with the new executive team and my board colleagues in the delivery and development of this agenda, which will build on the company’s strengths.”

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Cyber insurance provider Coalition has announced the launch of the Coalition Exploit Scoring System (Coalition ESS), a vulnerability scoring system aimed at helping risk managers mitigate potential cyber threats.

“In cybersecurity, timing is everything,” said Tiago Henriques, head of security research at Coalition. “Thousands of new vulnerabilities are published monthly, and it’s nearly impossible for IT and security teams to quickly understand and address them all. Defenders need a more efficient way to sift through the noise and prioritise which vulnerabilities to remediate. With Coalition ESS, they have an early source of truth to evaluate which risks to prioritise mitigating before an incident occurs.”

Coalition ESS utilises artificial intelligence and large language modelling to analyse the descriptions provided within newly released common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) and compares them to previously published vulnerabilities to predict the likelihood of exploitability.

According to Henriques, this results in two probability scores: the Exploit Availability Probability, which represents the likelihood of publicly available exploit code, and the Exploit Usage Probability, which indicates the likelihood of threat actors employing an exploit to execute an attack.

These scores provide security managers and IT professionals with a prioritisation list that outlines the vulnerabilities posing the greatest threats, thereby saving time and resources in the decision-making process, Coalition said.

Unlike scores derived from the Common Vulnerability Scoring System, Coalition ESS scores are responsive to changes in available exploit information. The scores are made available within one week of the initial vulnerability announcement, whereas other systems can take up to a month to score a vulnerability, Coalition said.

“We created Coalition ESS to prioritise our own vulnerability management efforts as we are often the first line of defence for hundreds of thousands of assets of our customers at scale,” Henriques said. “We use ESS to evaluate and notify our policyholders about which vulnerabilities have the highest potential to negatively affect them and, today, are releasing it to the broader community.”

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The Insurance Charities – the only charity in the UK and Ireland dedicated to supporting professionals in the insurance industry – has issued an appeal for the profession to unite and lend its support to its upcoming annual campaign.

The weeklong campaign will encourage the insurance community to raise awareness about the practical and financial support available to insurance colleagues facing challenges. In a Press release, the organisation revealed it awarded over £1.3 million to support current and former insurance people in the last year alone.

Touching on the work of the charity, which has served the insurance community for over 120 years now, chairman Joshua Brekenfeld (pictured) said: “We can transform insurance people’s lives for the better by providing a lifeline to support them and their families with whatever difficulties they may be facing. Without people coming together to raise awareness, we couldn’t reach as many insurance colleagues as we do.”

The charity is encouraging insurance professionals to spread the word using the free resources it has created to support the campaign. To do this effectively, it hopes people will talk to their colleagues and professional networks – particularly those with HR, wellbeing, and line management responsibility.

Honorary president of The Insurance Charities Adrienne O’Sullivan said: “Too often we hear from people who have faced an unexpected life event, but at the time, were unaware of the support we can provide. We want to prevent this situation, which is why this campaign is so important.”

In addition, this year, the charity is offering a special online ‘Dementia Friends’ session through its partners at Alzheimer’s Society.

How to get involved with the campaign?

Those looking to find out more about how to support the campaign will finding additional resources available on the charity’s campaign page. Those in the industry needing financial or practical support can visit: www.theinsurancecharities.org.uk.

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At the heart of London-based MGA Aurora’s ambitions to “shake up” the commercial insurance market is a central vision – that of utilising algorithmic underwriting to provide speed, education and personalisation to brokers and customers, while optimising portfolio performance for insurers.

It’s a point of pride that Aurora has already managed to design and deliver that proposition, according to CTO and co-founder Bijal Patel (pictured left) who noted that the specialist health product live on its platform is algorithmically underwritten. Already several new products are lined up for launch over the coming months, she said, which will extend the complexity and capabilities of Aurora’s algorithmic framework.

What is algorithmic underwriting?

But what is algorithmic underwriting? Going back to basics, Patel outlined that algorithmic underwriting is the automation of the manual day-to-day tasks that an underwriter would undertake to underwrite individual cases. Essentially, she said, it’s the automation of the risk assessment, underwriting and pricing processes using technology and granular data.

“This means that manual tasks that traditional underwriters would do at the individual case level are automated, meaning that they can focus their time on portfolio management and value adding tasks and are not involved at the individual case level,” she said. “Portfolios are managed by a real time monitoring of the portfolio, and analysis and calibration of these algorithmic models using machine learning and statistical techniques.

“This provides three key benefits in turn to the insurer. It reduces the expenses of writing the business because you need less underwriters, it ensures the consistent application of underwriting rules, and it improves the accuracy and granularity of pricing and underwriting for insurers.”

She highlighted that this also provides three key benefits to the other side of the insurance value chain – customers and brokers. It enables them to get personalised cover, more education about their risk profiles due to the level of data available and increased speed of access due to the real-time coverage made possible by algorithmic underwriting.

Why is the time right for algorithmic underwriting?

“So why now?” Patel asked. “Because more data is available than ever before. And technological advances in the market mean that the technology can be applied in new ways to streamline what underwriters do and the data that we’re able to access in real time.”

Contextualising what this means for the insurance market, Dorota Blaszczuk, head of algorithmic underwriting at Aurora, emphasised how through algorithmic underwriting, her team is able to better analyse trends and correlations in risk and better optimise its models over time. This allows for fast decision-making, she said, as well the quicker deployment of any decision made.

“This is all with the aim of being able to optimise portfolio performance,” she said. “The automation of manual tasks also enables consistency in decision-making and increases the speed of the quotation, as well as our ability to analyse a large amount of data very quickly. Overall, algorithmic underwriting is not just about automation but also about streamlining the already existing underwriting appetite and risk decision engine.

“So, while we are very excited about extending our framework of machine learning and more advanced algorithms, we are also always focused on getting the foundations right as well.”

Catering to the SME market

The key differentiator to bear in mind about Aurora’s algorithmic capabilities, Patel said, is that it caters for the small and medium space, not just the micro or traditional e-trading space. As a result, its algorithms need to cater for a much wider range of complexity. Examining how algorithmic underwriting is opening up greater opportunities for customers in the SME space, Blaszczuk noted SME’s requirement of having broad yet tailor-made coverage.

“When we look at the statistics,” she said, “80% of the companies that suffer a disruption in operations close within 18 months. That’s basically because they’re not able to absorb the losses, as opposed to larger corporates which are able to keep much more risk on their balance sheets rather than insuring it externally.

“Even though there has been huge progress in the SME sector, at the larger end of SME, companies are still underserved. Again, looking at the statistics, 80% are still underinsured, and half of them say that their premium is too expensive. At Aurora, we’re trying to target and solve those problems.”

That mission starts with understanding why this coverage gap has emerged, she said, and a key driver that has emerged is the lack of a proven track record from these businesses. However, algorithmic underwriting uses a much wider range of data points, and is able to better evaluate the risks, allowing better prices for standard coverage from insurers.

Another problem is a lack of data, legacy tech and a lack of automated processes. This means that obtaining tailor-made, price-appropriate coverage is not just hard for SMEs, she said, but also very time consuming. Essentially, there’s a lack of appropriate products and coverage in the marketplace for these businesses at this time, which is where algorithmic underwriting can step up by allowing faster innovation and the faster deployment of new products.

“At Aurora, we have built an algorithmic underwriting framework, and we prioritise data enrichment, and we are automating the underwriting processes,” she said. “So, we are able to faster scale product development and innovation.

“I think it’s also worth noting that this brings benefits to the other side of the market. When we think about brokers, algorithmic underwriting reduces administrative burdens and allows more risks to be written. For insurers, this reduces expenses, and allows them to deploy more capacity. But the goal of this is making insurance for SMEs more affordable and more accessible.”

How is the insurance market responding to algorithmic underwriting?

The insurance market generally has reacted with excitement to the opportunities presented by algorithmic underwriting, Patel said, but it has resonated especially strongly with Aurora’s broking network. On average, it takes about three weeks – and can sometimes take a couple of months – for brokers to get quotations from a range of insurers, she said, but now they can receive quotes in real time, as well as being able to tailor and flex cover to the customer.

“We’ve had a lot of traction with brokers but with our customer base as well, because customers in this market are looking for more digital solutions,” she said. “They want the same from buying insurance as they’re getting from other financial services but what they lack is the education. So, we’re prioritising our ability to use the wide range of data we have on customers’ risk profiles to educate the consumer and allow them to understand their risk profile and, in turn, how to mitigate that risk using insurance.”

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That incredible feats require significant inspiration is a notion ably borne out by the story behind Johnny McCord and Joe Walker’s decision to undertake the formidable challenge that was Loadsure’s four-day, 330-mile charity cycle from London to Paris in aid of Heartburn Cancer UK.

Now back on solid ground in the UK, Loadsure CEO and founder McCord (pictured right) touched on the motivation behind the fundraiser, sharing that when he was 19, he lost his father to oesophageal cancer. His father was only 47, he said, and his deterioration was very rapid. With the right treatment and an early diagnosis, his death would have been entirely preventable.

“This year marks 21 years since my father passed away and 20 years since my mother set up the Heartburn Cancer UK charity,” he said. “I wanted to mark the occasion in a way that might help others to avoid such a loss.”

The work of Heartburn Cancer UK

In its own words, Heartburn Cancer UK – which was established by Mimi McCord – exists “to raise awareness of the dangers of persistent heartburn [because] earlier diagnosis of a more serious problem helps save lives.”

So few people understand that heartburn and other similar conditions can be early symptoms of diseases like oesophageal cancer, McCord said, and Heartburn Cancer UK was founded to try and share this message. The charity’s work centres on four key pillars:

              • Education – campaigning for changes in public and social policy, and seeking out collaboration with medical professionals

              • Research – working with experts in oesophageal cancer to reduce the number of cases of this disease and improve rates of early diagnosis

              • Awareness – building a network to facilitate the promotion of their message, about the importance of early detection and which symptoms to look out for

              • Support – being there for people living with these conditions all over the UK, as well as their loved ones

“I’m passionate about supporting this mission as much as I can,” he said, “to help my mother and the charity in their efforts, and do my part in preventing other families from experiencing loss caused by preventable, treatable cancer.”

How the Loadsure charity cycle came about

As to how the decision to choose cycling as his fundraising activity – and the mammoth distance between London and Paris as his chosen route – came about, McCord said he’s always enjoyed a challenge. And having run two marathons for charity previously, and with this year being another significant anniversary, the London to Paris stretch felt like the right choice.

“In a lot of ways, taking on an endurance test like this is a solid analogy for what it’s like to be founder and CEO of a fast-paced insurtech,” he said. “There were unforeseen obstacles – like extreme weather, problems with our kit, and unexpected detours. It was a tough challenge that demanded mental and physical resilience, but our patience, perseverance and belief in the common goal kept us going and made the adventure truly enjoyable.”

For Walker (pictured left), EVP marketing at Loadsure, joining McCord on the journey was a natural step as they had both discovered the joys of cycling” during the COVID-19 lockdowns and regularly headed out to the hills for “exercise, headspace and for fun”. When McCord casually mentioned the idea during a catch-up at work, it snowballed from there.

“I enjoy training for a challenge, setting incremental goals and building a training program to hit them,” he said. “London to Paris is a famous challenge that felt like enough of a stretch without taking too much time away from our families and our work.”

Standout moments from the fundraising cycle

The charity cycle was no mean feat, noted McCord and the first day – from London to Dover – was extremely undulating. Navigating the busy roads of London was a challenge in itself, he said, but once they got out into the Kent countryside, the duo found some arduous climbs, albeit rewarded by some wonderful descents.

“Days two and three – from Dunkirk to Soissons – were long days in the saddle in some extreme heat, but the scenery of the French countryside was a fantastic distraction,” said Walker. “We had a few mechanical issues, but a little ‘field engineering’ kept us going. One particular challenge was being sure to take on enough food and water. I never want to see another carb gel again!”

Day four – which took him and Walker into Paris – was a major highlight, McCord said and: “Seeing the Tour Eiffel come into view, reflecting on the training journey, the adventure and everything it meant to me was an emotional moment.”

McCord noted that what became clear to him on completing a feat that took such physical and mental strength, was the realisation that anything is possible with the right mindset. Looking back to the beginning of his training, he said, he could not have imagined completing such a challenge, but the incremental gains made over a progressive training schedule made the challenge achievable.

“Resilience is a crucial virtue for something like this – the ability to grit your teeth and knuckle down can get us through a lot,” added Walker.

Examining the alignment between insurance and charity

There are some clear parallels between what the insurance sector sets out to achieve and what charity can do for individuals and societies. Because fundamentally, McCord said, insurance is about managing risk and about protecting businesses or individuals from loss. He highlighted that when he started Loadsure, it was because he fell in love with the freight community and wanted to offer better protection to it.

In the same way, charity is about giving help to those in need, he said. And ideally, it’s also protecting them from further need and, even better, preventing that need from occurring in the first place.

“I believe in helping people,” Walker said. “If I am able to make somebody else’s life a little easier with a charitable act or donation, I consider the effort or money well-spent. A friend of ours quoted Anne Frank with their online donation – ‘no-one has ever become poor by giving’, a beautiful sentiment.”

Encouraging other insurance professionals to get involved in charity and community initiatives, McCord entreated them to consider why they chose this industry – to help insureds.

“If you can, and I do appreciate that finding time and motivation in our busy lives is a challenge itself, it’s incredibly rewarding to help the communities that we serve,” he said. “I found a physical challenge is a great way to motivate myself to get fitter and healthier physically and mentally -and the whole endeavour creates a positive energy.”

For Walker, the message is simpler still: “Everybody wins!”

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“A managed risk is a reduced risk,” according to Gary Head (pictured), director of schemes & delegated authorities at AXA UK. It’s a particularly relevant takeaway given that being the schemes provider brokers and their insured’s need in today’s market goes beyond just the protection of assets and livelihoods offered by insurance products. It’s also about ensuring customers have ready access to the support, expertise and assistance they need to truly manage their risks.

What’s happening in the delegated authority space?

Offering his insights into what’s happening across the delegated authority (DA) space in 2023, Head noted that, at a high level, more customers are choosing to place their insurance with schemes providers – which is leading to overall growth in the marketplace. With more customers choosing to buy through a scheme or DA, he said, the onus is on schemes providers to deliver the products customers need and want, and to ensure these are fit for purpose.

“Crucially that means that these products deliver expected outcomes when it matters, at the time of claim,” he said. “Today, the schemes market is finding innovative ways to target specific segments that perhaps aren’t catered for by the more mainstream product lines and which have a nuance or a specialty element to them which makes them more niche. Schemes can be set up to make sure those nuances are recognised and that the product delivers in the unfortunate circumstance that a claim might happen.”

What’s driving increased interest in the schemes market?

Examining what’s driving the uptick in the schemes market, Head pointed to how the power of great service is coming into its own. From conversations with the DA partners AXA works alongside, he said, he knows how highly they prize responsiveness, whether that’s around risk referrals, customer requests and queries, or claims.

“If we’re giving back quick service to our DA partners, they, in turn, can give quick service to their customers and their brokers,” he said. “And I think that’s probably the driving factor behind customer choice because, in this day and age, you can use your phone to order things with three taps of a screen. So, providing that service and speed of response to consumer needs is really at the forefront of what we’re trying to do.”

The opportunities for brokers in the DA market

Assessing some of the opportunities that current market conditions are presenting to brokers operating in the schemes market, Head highlighted that they tend to fall into two categories. On the one side, he said, there are the brokers placing business through schemes, who should be carefully evaluating the responsiveness, service and customer care that having the right DA partners brings to their own value propositions.

On the other side, there are those brokers who are able to demonstrate expertise or specialism within a certain customer segment who might consider setting up a DA themselves. That could be with the aim of offering products directly to customers and/or through other brokers. For those considering the latter opportunity, he said, the key thing to bear in mind is the difference between acting as a broker and as a schemes provider.

“Going back to basics,” he said, “the broker is acting as the agent of the customer and so has to cover the whole market, provide advice and try to ensure the insured gets the best product at the best price. Whereas the DA partner is very much the agent of the insurer, acting as a mini insurer providing terms and quotes into the marketplace… That’s a crucial distinction because everybody should be looking to make sure that customers understand what they’re buying.

“We at AXA look very closely at management information each month with our DA partners to make sure that our customers do absolutely understand what they’re buying, and to make sure they’re not putting forward claims that aren’t covered under the core cover. That’s something we track very closely to make sure the understanding is there to guarantee those expected outcomes for customers.”

The challenges facing brokers in the schemes market

For brokers who have thoroughly researched the market, there is a wealth of opportunity to be found in the DA space, but Head cautioned those looking to access these opportunities of the need to ensure they’re working with the right partners. One of the challenges facing brokers today, he said, is finding partners with a long-term orientated view and ambition, as the DA business requires a long-term approach.

“We are going to get years when catastrophe has happened and years when there are large losses,” he said. “And we’re prepared for that within our business plans and our models. I think the thing to be avoided is people coming into the marketplace and then exiting when conditions get tough because this leaves customers and brokers in a difficult position.

“We have seen some exits this year so I would advise [potential DA partners] to really understand the context of the market and how it works, and to work with those who have long-term commitments to being in this for the long run – which we certainly are.”

On that note, Head advised DA partners to look to the pedigree and history of those they are considering entering into the schemes business with. Those with a strong history tend to be able to bring better data, more insights and a stronger capability to work through tough market conditions and steer their partners through the marketplace sustainably and profitably.

“Because at the end of the day, that’s what customers need most of all,” he said. “They need to know they’ve got support and clarity around their insurance spend, and most critically, that when they have business-threatening losses or issues, they have strong financial support behind them to put them back on their feet as quickly as possible.”

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