Insurance news

The British government’s draft Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill is now available for pre-legislative scrutiny, and terrorism reinsurer Pool Re has been quick to react.

To be known as Martyn’s Law (previously Protect Duty), the proposed legislation aims to improve public safety and national security by protecting public premises and events against the treat of terrorism. The goal is to require those responsible for certain premises and events to implement appropriate and proportionate mitigation measures.

‘Crucial step’ against terrorism

Welcoming the development, Pool Re chief executive Tom Clementi said in an emailed release: “The government’s announcement that it has published its draft Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill is a crucial step in enhancing the protection of the UK’s publicly accessible locations from terrorist attacks.

“Pool Re will support the government and insurance industry with the implementation of Martyn’s Law, by providing information and education regarding what businesses and organisations need to do to prepare for its introduction.”

It was noted that the legislation may apply to more than 300,000 premises across the UK. Qualifying premises will be divided into two tiers, standard and enhanced, and will have their corresponding requirements under Martyn’s Law.

Figen Murray OBE – mother of Martyn Hett, who was among those killed in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017 – also called the progress an important step forward to a safer country.

“Martyn’s Law will end the ridiculous situation where venues have legal obligations for how many toilets they have but no obligation to keep their customers protected,” stated Murray. “Of course Martyn’s Law won’t stop all terror attacks, but it will make crowded places better protected and prepared, and make the terrorists’ job that bit harder.”

Meanwhile, Pool Re will be offering advice to brokers and insurers on the legislative requirements where appropriate. Resources will be available at poolre.co.uk/martyns-law/.

Ahead of formal introduction to Parliament, the draft bill will be scrutinised by the Home Affairs Select Committee.

What do you think about this terrorism story? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Aon Plc has released its earnings report for the three months ended March 31, and the results show the insurance broking giant posting growth all-round.

As indicated above, all segments – commercial risk solutions, reinsurance solutions, health solutions, and wealth solutions – contributed improved revenues.

Lifting the lid on the higher figures, Aon said: “Total revenue increased US$201 million, or 5%, to US$3,871 million, compared to the prior year period, with organic revenue growth of 7%, driven by ongoing strong retention, net new business generation, and management of the renewal book portfolio, and a 1% favourable impact from fiduciary investment income, partially offset by a 3% unfavourable impact from foreign currency translation.”

In terms of the commercial risk segment, the company had this to say: “Growth in retail brokerage was highlighted by double-digit growth in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa), Latin America, and the Pacific driven by continued strength in core P&C (property and casualty). The US grew modestly after growing double-digits in the prior year period and reflecting the impact of the external M&A (mergers and acquisitions) and IPO (initial public offering) markets on M&A services.”

Meanwhile, the rise in operating income was attributed to organic revenue growth and increased fiduciary investment income.

“In the first quarter, our team built momentum for 2023 by delivering strong operational performance, highlighted by 7% organic revenue growth and 70 basis points of adjusted operating margin improvement,” noted Aon chief executive Greg Case. “As we move past the pandemic, our clients are telling us there are two primary areas where they are urgently looking for competitive advantage: risk and people.

“As these results demonstrate, our Aon United strategy has established the firm as uniquely capable of helping clients go on offense and make better decisions that mitigate risk to their business and maximise the impact of their people.”

What do you think about this story? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Bank of England is warning insurers to exercise caution as they look to take on more business from pension schemes seeking to offload risk.

Charlotte Gerken, executive director for insurance supervision at the bank, cautioned that insurers need to be mindful of the risks associated with bulk purchase annuities, especially as deals become larger and more complex.

Gerken also noted that rising interest rates have improved funding levels of pension schemes, making them cheaper to offload to an insurer, but warned insurers against stretching their capabilities in the short term.

According to Gerken, UK life insurers could take on more than £500bn ($623.70bn) of pension liabilities over the next decade. She said that “the decisions that insurers make now will have long-term consequences for the performance and development of the broader economy”.

Gerken also noted that the sector will need to hedge its pension risks with an interest rate, cross-currency, and inflation swaps, increasing the sector’s links to the wider financial system.

She urged insurers to understand the liquidity risks they face as they take on vast sums of assets and liabilities. The Bank of England had to buy UK government bonds last September after liability-driven investment funds used by pension schemes struggled to find enough liquidity to pay collateral on skyrocketing gilt yields.

“This is a big structural change in the control of long-term investments in the UK, and the decisions that insurers make now will have long-term consequences for the performance and development of the broader economy,” Gerken said in a speech. “Insurers, therefore, need to understand, as they take on these vast sums of assets and liabilities, how they may become greater sources or amplifiers of liquidity risk.”

In your quest for the right insurance job, you may already have your priorities set. You may be determined in landing a role that perfectly fits your talents and skills and offers a great benefits and compensation package. You may also be searching for one that paves the way for your professional growth, while allowing you to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Insurance Business can help make the process a lot less daunting. To guide you in your search, we will list the top websites where you can find the best insurance jobs in the UK. But because there isn’t a clear-cut number one option among these featured sites, we decided to arrange them alphabetically. In these channels, you can access high-quality listings that match every stage of an insurance career, from entry-level roles to executive positions. Read on and jump-start your search for your dream insurance job.

1. Adzuna

Adzuna primarily functions as a search engine for job advertisements, using AI to match the most qualified candidates to various roles. The website was launched in the UK in 2011, and has offices in London, Sydney, and Indianapolis. It operates in more than a dozen countries and attracts more than 10 million unique visitors each month.

One of Adzuna’s most popular features is the ValueMyCV tool, which gives users a free estimate of your potential salary –handy data to have, especially during contract negotiations. You can also use this tool to check your CV for typos and formatting errors and get recommendations for your future career path.

Additionally, Adzuna allows you to access industry-related data to give you a broader view of the insurance sector and the different opportunities available. The website’s job board currently has more than 117,000 postings for insurance jobs.   

2. CityJobs

CityJobs.com is operated by Totaljobs, which owns another website in our list. CityJobs is one of the UK’s largest recruitment platform catering to the financial services sector, including insurance. Its job board lists more than 700 postings for insurance jobs. You can sort through these roles by location, salary, date posted, and type of job and company, which are standard filters among the featured websites.  

The website provides an average annual salary for each industry, along with an FAQ section, which breaks down data for job postings.

3. Hays Recruitment

Hays specialises in talent acquisition and workforce advisory services, which touch on areas such as learning and development, career transition, and brand positioning. The company aims to help “candidates find their next roles” and employers “reshape their workforces and deal with talent shortages.”

There are over 1,100 insurance jobs posted on Hay’s job board. You can use the various filter options to narrow your search. The website also has a section on career advice, where you can find tips on various topics, including:

• CV and cover letter writing
• Interview preparation
• Job hunting
• Salary negotiation

You can also subscribe to job alerts, so you can be notified of any new listings as soon as they are posted.

4. Idex Consulting

Idex is a business growth consultancy and specialist recruitment firm for the insurance, financial services, and legal industries. The company’s job board is not as extensive as those from the other websites in the list, with just over 200 listings for insurance jobs. But this also means you can spend less time browsing through options, which you can trim down further by title, location, and contract type.

5. Indeed UK

UK’s version of Indeed has all the features of the global website. What attracts most users to the job search engine is its simplistic design and user-friendly interface. The website registers around 300 million unique users from different parts of the world each month.

Because Indeed essentially functions as a search engine aggregator, it also has among the highest number of postings for insurance jobs in our list. At last count, there are almost 13,200 insurance roles that you can choose from. You can choose among the different filters to sort through jobs.

Indeed likewise allows you to upload your CV to its database for potential employers to access. Another prominent feature is the section that lets employees rate their jobs, which can offer useful insights into a company’s culture and what it is like to work there. 

6. Insurance Jobs UK

InsuranceJobs.com is one of the few websites in the UK dedicated exclusively to insurance jobs. Just like in the US version, it allows you to search for job openings right from the homepage. You can filter down your choice by the following:

• Employment type
• Company
• Region
• Business line
• Contract type
• Salary

InsuranceJobs.com currently has around 450 postings. You can also access sections for career advice and uploading and updating your resume and keep abreast of the latest industry developments with its insurance news section.  

7. IPS

IPS is a global recruitment specialist for the insurance, financial services, and legal sectors. Apart from the UK, the firm operates across Europe, Asia, and the US. The company’s insurance job board allows you to filter postings by function, sector, minimum salary, and job type. You can also download its latest insurance industry salary guide by completing an online form.

8. Monster UK

Monster is recognised as a pioneer in the field of online recruitment and employment, being the first to launch a resume database that can be accessed through usernames and passwords. It is also the first to roll out a job-search agent, which has become an industry standard, and create a category for executive positions.

Monster provides an extensive list of insurance jobs in the UK. You can narrow these down by location and company. You can also subscribe to job alerts to receive an email notification every time a new posting is added. Another popular feature of the website is its salary tool, which gives you a ballpark estimation that you can use during salary negotiations. The website also has a separate section dedicated to career advice.

9. Reed

Established in 1995, Reed is the UK’s first online recruitment site and has since grown to become among the nation’s largest career marketplaces, featuring job listings from more than 30,000 recruiters from over 40 industries annually. 

You can upload your CV to the website’s jobseekers’ profile, which it then accesses to match you with the role that you are most qualified for. Reed’s general insurance job board features more than 3,100 postings. You can search for roles by location, sector, and company. The website also offers career advice and a mobile app where you can apply for insurance jobs.

10. Totaljobs

Totaljobs is one of the country’s most popular job boards, attracting about 20 million unique visitors and receiving more than five million applications from jobseekers each month. It operates several brands, consisting of a combination of general and specialist job boards. These websites provide employers access to more than 20 million searchable candidate profiles. The brands are:

• Totaljobs
• CareerStructure
• CityJobs
• eMedCareers
• Jobsite
• Just Engineers
• RetailChoice

Totaljobs’ job board has around 770 listings of insurance jobs. Using the One-Click Apply feature, you can upload your CV and cover letter to apply for jobs, as the name suggests, in a single click.

Totaljobs also has a section for career advice, which features insightful articles and expert interviews about job hunting. You can access a range of courses for career development through the website as well.

Among the biggest factors that make a career in insurance exciting and rewarding are the opportunities that open for you to make a positive impact on other people’s lives. Being an insurance professional, you primarily serve as an expert resource person that can guide clients in finding the right policies that give them the best financial protection. But this is just one of the many benefits of pursuing an insurance career. Here are some other advantages of taking insurance jobs:

• Relevance: The UK’s insurance industry is among the most influential and essential parts of the nation’s economy, employing more than 300,000 people and contributing about £12 billion in taxes. The sector also holds over £1.7 trillion of invested assets. London, which is home to the world’s largest insurance marketplace, is likewise considered the “heart of international insurance and reinsurance.”
• Diverse opportunities: Besides conventional roles such as insurance underwriter, adjuster, and insurance broker, insurance offers a variety of career opportunities in different fields, including actuary, marketing, legal, IT, data analytics, investigation, and customer service. One important thing to remember is that your role at the start of your career doesn’t have to define the rest of it.
• Strong earning potential: The insurance sector offers a good salary with a high potential for growth. We will discuss the highest-paying insurance jobs in the UK later.
• Social value: As an insurance professional, you are often presented with the opportunity to help individuals, families, and communities overcome challenges to change their lives for the better.
• Continuing education: With the constantly evolving nature of the industry, insurance professionals are encouraged to pursue educational opportunities to sharpen their knowledge and skills. This includes the globally recognised Chartered Insurance Institute’s Advanced Diploma in Insurance (ACII).
• Chance to work with the biggest names: By pursuing a career in insurance, you can have the opportunity to work with some of the country’s largest insurance companies. 

Another advantage of taking up a career in insurance is that it brings strong earning potential. Starting salaries on graduate schemes can be worth up to £21,000 annually, with an opportunity to double that once you have completed your professional qualifications. Those at the top of the insurance profession can even earn a six-figure salary.

The table below ranks the highest-paying insurance jobs in the UK, according to data gathered by this website. 

If you wish to find insurance companies in the UK that offer the best insurance jobs, we suggest that you check out our Best in Insurance Special Reports page to find dependable and trusted market leaders.

The insurers featured on this page are nominated by their peers and vetted by our team of experts as respected leaders in the industry. By choosing to be a part of these providers, you can be sure that you will be joining organisations recognised for having positive workplace cultures, being committed to diversity and inclusion, and giving opportunities for employees to thrive and blossom in their insurance careers.

Have you used any of the websites above in your search for insurance jobs? How was the experience? Share your story in the comments section below.

Munich Re has reported roughly $1.43 billion in net profit for the first quarter of 2023, despite “higher than expected” losses from natural catastrophes in its property-casualty operation.

The German reinsurance giant achieved a combined ratio for the quarter of about 86.5%, slightly worse than its 86% forecast for the full year.

Within life and health reinsurance, Munich Re posted a technical result of about $330 million for the quarter, putting it on track to meet its full-year target of $1.1 billion.

For ERGO, the result was about $220 million, well over a quarter of the company’s full-year forecast of $770 million.

Munich Re expects net profit of about $4.4 billion for the 2023 financial year.

It said it is reporting financial reports for the first time in accordance with the new IFRS 9 and IFRS 17 standards.

“In contrast to the standards applied through 2022, IAS 39 and IFRS 4, Munich Re expects higher results in life and health reinsurance owing to the earlier recognition of earnings in the profits,” the group said in a news release.

“In property-casualty (re)insurance, effects from the accretion of interest and from discounting currently result in a positive contribution to profits. These changes in methodology are reflected in the expectation of a net result of about €4 billion (US$4.4 billion).”

What are your thoughts on Munich Re’s first quarter performance? Sound off in the comments below.

It’s the turn of insurance broking giant WTW to outline how it fared in the first quarter of 2023.

Here are WTW’s consolidated results in the period:

According to WTW, its health, wealth & career segment contributed US$1.29 billion in revenue, while US$904 million came from the risk & broking segment. Both figures were higher compared to their 2022 counterparts.

Commenting on the numbers, chief executive Carl Hess said: “The first quarter was a solid start to the year for WTW. Our investments in talent and technology, along with the momentum in our business, helped us achieve excellent revenue increases on both a reported and an organic basis.

“Our top-line revenue growth, together with our expense discipline, the successful execution of our transformation efforts, and initiatives to simplify our company drove operating margin expansion over the prior year. We are proving ourselves to be resilient in a complex risk and economic environment.”

Based on current and anticipated market conditions, WTW is expecting to deliver mid-single digit organic revenue growth for the full year.  

A newly branded insurance group, which includes what used to be known as UK General Insurance, has been introduced in the UK.

Led by group chief executive Tim Smyth and chair Lord Marland, the Bspoke Group consists of the following businesses:

• Bspoke Underwriting (formerly UK General Insurance)
• Bspoke Lifestyle (formerly Binnacle Insurance Services)
• Bspoke Commercial (formerly One Commercial)
• Provego
• One Commercial Specialty

“We have been working hard since the acquisition to get the group in the best possible position for substantial and profitable growth,” said Smyth in an emailed release. “The group currently underwrites more than £100 million GWP (gross written premium) with plans to grow both organically and through an acquisition strategy fully supported by our shareholders.

“In the last five months of trading since the business was acquired, our commercial insurance businesses have grown organically by 10% and the pace of this growth is accelerating. The profitability of the schemes business has improved significantly compared with the prior year, with a number of new accounts onboarded and operational efficiencies delivered.

“We have great support from both our investors and our major capacity providers while we complete the transformation of the business to create a secure, stable platform for taking advantage of the many opportunities in the UK insurance market.”

The CEO will be supported by Ryan Gill and Craig Hunter as executive group board members. Previously group chief financial officer and having been instrumental in the management buyout, Gill will become chief commercial officer of Bspoke Group. Hunter, meanwhile, will serve as chief operating officer and continue to drive the group’s operational transformation.

According to Bspoke Group, its goal is 100% growth in the next three years.

“We have been quietly building a pipeline of opportunities; the MGA sector is attractive to acquirers like us who have supportive investors and A-rated capacity,” shared Smyth, whose camp also includes Bspoke Sports & Leisure and Bspoke Private Clients and will be targeting those areas. “We are also interested in talking to underwriting teams seeking a great platform from which to grow and build their own value.”

“The Bspoke Group of companies has a very exciting future,” added Lord Marland. “Our supportive investors have fully bought into our ambitious plans, and I am confident that we will provide them with excellent returns.” 

What do you think about this story? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), “abhorrent” allegations against which include two rape claims, has lost another member – this time it’s the turn of the Association of Medical Insurers and Intermediaries (amii) to cut ties with the scandal-hit organisation.

“We are deeply concerned about the allegations made about the CBI and have therefore decided to terminate our membership with immediate effect,” said amii executive chair Dave Middleton (pictured) in a statement sent to Insurance Business.

“In light of this, amii cannot continue to support the CBI, and we have notified the organisation of our immediate termination accordingly.”

President’s open letter

On Monday, CBI president Brian McBride addressed members in an open letter.

“I wanted to talk to each of you directly and openly about the crisis that has engulfed the CBI,” wrote McBride. “About how this organisation, for almost 60 years an active and proud champion of British industry, let down its own people, and deservedly lost your trust in consequence. And about what steps we are taking to give you reason to consider trusting us again.

“Whether that is possible, I simply don’t know. That is, of course, for each of you to decide. Whichever decision you each make, I believe that it is still necessary and valuable to share directly with you, our members, and to industry as a whole, all that we have learned about what went wrong in our organisation, and what we could have better done to prevent these terrible incidents from ever having taken place.”

The findings, according to the CBI, are based both on its own analysis and on the independent investigations conducted by law firm Fox Williams on the allegations raised by The Guardian.

Citing a collective sense of shame among the CBI board and leadership, McBride acknowledged the organisation’s shortcomings.

“In retrospect, we now know that we were complacent,” said the president, who described the allegations as abhorrent. “And we made mistakes in how we organised the business that led to terrible consequences… We didn’t put in place sufficient preventative measures to protect our people from those seeking to cause harm, and we didn’t react properly when issues arose as a result.

“We failed to filter out culturally toxic people during the hiring process. We failed to conduct proper cultural onboarding of staff. Some of our managers were promoted too quickly without the necessary prior and ongoing training to protect our cultural values, and to properly react when those values were violated. In assessing performance, we paid more attention to competence than to behaviour.

“Our HR function was not represented at board level, which reduced escalation paths to senior levels of the company when these were most needed. And we tried to find resolution in sexual harassment cases when we should have removed those offenders from our business. In retrospect, this last point was our most grievous error, which led to a reluctance among women to formalise complaints.”

McBride conceded that the above pushed victims of harassment or violence to believe that their only option was to take their experiences to a newspaper. The president also admitted having communicated poorly and ineffectively with members amid the scandal.

“In doing so, commentators concluded that the organisation was cold-hearted and toxic, and that serious allegations of rape had been covered up, when in fact they were never made known to the senior leadership or to the board of the CBI until revealed by The Guardian,” continued McBride. “I will tell you that every member of the CBI’s leadership team is devastated and appalled by the substance of these allegations.

“Our collective failure to completely protect vulnerable employees, to ensure that the alleged incidents could never happen in the first place, and to put in place proper mechanisms to rapidly escalate incidents of this nature to the level of senior leadership, these failings most of all drive the shame…”

The CBI, which has suspended all policy and membership activity until an extraordinary general meeting in June, will now operate a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment and bullying behaviour as part of its response. The process of hiring a CBI chief people officer is also underway.

“I hope that we can effectively serve alongside you once more in future, albeit as a changed, and much improved CBI,” stated McBride. “Whether or not that is possible, I hope that what I have shared with you is useful in the work you do to build great cultures in your own organisations.”

What do you think of this ongoing story? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Ardonagh Advisory Holdings, the SME broking platform of The Ardonagh Group, is acquiring a majority shareholding in broker Stanhope Cooper and managing general agent Renovation Underwriting.

Subject to regulatory approval, Stanhope Cooper will join the broking platform. Founded in 2006 in Petersfield, Stanhope Cooper is a high net worth (HNW) broker led by managing director William Cooper.

“This latest addition to the Advisory portfolio demonstrates our commitment to furthering the depth and breadth of our client proposition,” said Advisory Insurance Brokers chief executive Richard Tuplin (pictured). “By investing in these high-pedigree businesses, we are supporting our strategy to continue expansion into HNW private clients as well as large corporate and commercial clients.

“Stanhope Cooper is a highly entrepreneurial company, which has achieved an impressive level of organic growth, and we are excited to start work with the team to support their ambitions.”

For William Cooper, coming under the Ardonagh Advisory umbrella is “the right opportunity at the right time”.

“We sought an investor so that we could achieve even greater heights by diversifying our business to provide something truly unique and improve our offer to clients,” revealed the managing director. “Joining a business that shares our ambition and vision will make for a highly beneficial collaboration, and we look forward to working more closely with the Ardonagh team.”

MGA boost

Renovation Underwriting, meanwhile, will become part of Ardonagh Advisory’s UK commercial MGA which is led by Jaime Swindle. Headed by managing director Doug Brown, Renovation Underwriting provides insurance for private client contract works and high-value projects.

“We’ve always been driven to offer a market-leading proposition in our niche area of contract works insurance, and to do what we do better than anyone else,” declared Brown.

“Our new backing from The Ardonagh Group enables us to move forward with the same vision, but with a bigger platform and greater resources to propel our ambitious plans – all of which will still be led and delivered by our specialist, committed team.”

UK commercial MGA CEO Jaime Swindle, who will be joined by Brown in the division’s executive committee, also had nothing but nice words for the new arrival.

“The team at Renovation Underwriting has a wealth of experience and strong carrier relationships that complement our existing insurer partnerships and product strategy,” noted Swindle.

“As the commercial MGA continues to focus on offering specialist products to market, this business, along with Doug Brown’s market-leading expertise, will help to further enhance our proposition and the group as a whole.”

Financial terms of the double swoop were not disclosed.

What do you think of this acquisition story? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

David Croom-Johnson (pictured), who retired in the middle of 2022 after serving as chief executive of AEGIS London, has emerged at the board of Munich Re Syndicate.

In a LinkedIn job update that now has more than 230 reactions, Croom-Johnson said: “I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as non-executive board member at Munich Re Syndicate Limited.”

In January 2022, the then soon-to-be-exiting boss stated: “It has been an honour and a privilege to lead AEGIS London over the past seven years and now seems the natural time to step aside.

“I will be leaving the syndicate as a top quartile performer in the excellent hands of a high-quality management team led by Alex with whom I have worked for many years and who has been a major contributor to our success to date.” 

Meanwhile Munich Re Syndicate, also known as Syndicate 457 at Lloyd’s, came to life in 1977 when approximately 400 Lloyd’s syndicates existed. Currently, there are less than 100 in the market. The syndicate was acquired by Munich Re Group in 1997.

What do you think about David Croom-Johnson’s new role? Share your thoughts in the comments below.