Articles by Insurance Age staff
Review of the Year 2023: CGI and Acrisure’s Andy Fairchild
CGI brand ambassador and Acrisure networks chairman and retail broking adviser Andy Fairchild celebrates one of life’s nice guys getting to lead the way, and a rebranding handled sensitively with real clarity and purpose.
Review of the Year 2023: Aurora’s Carla Havemann
Carla Havemann, head of partnership strategy and engagement at Aurora, suspects AI will not revolutionise the market in the short term and hopes she is never subjected to an insurance-related remake of Barbie.
Review of the Year 2023: Investec Premium Finance’s Osian Rees
Osian Rees, head of Investec Premium Finance, reflects on why affordability and access to insurance cover could be vote-winners at the next election, and why brokers must ensure their supplementary costs align with fair value principles.
Review of the Year 2023: Macbeth’s Paul Macbeth
Macbeth Insurance Brokers CEO Paul Macbeth hails its success at the Hedron Networks awards and admits to being surprised – as much as you can be these days – by Romero’s acquisition.
UK brokers given unique access to Swiss market with new agreement
The Government has signed a joint financial services agreement with the Swiss authorities that will allow UK insurance brokers to continue to trade in Switzerland without the need to establish a base there.
Arch to sell MGA platform Castel to Ryan Speciality
Ryan Specialty has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Castel Underwriting Agencies from Arch Financial Holdings (UK) and minority shareholders.
Analysis: Aon’s £10.6bn NFP takeover not enough for it to replace Marsh as largest global broker
Aon’s £10.6bn acquisition of NFP earlier this week will not be enough to help it supplant Marsh McLennan as the world’s largest broker, according to a report.
Review of the Year 2023: Broker Insights’ Fraser Edmond
Broker Insights CEO Fraser Edmond predicts more insurer M&A for 2024 and suggests those who use AI better will win out in the future.
Review of the Year 2023: Polo Managing Agency’s Paul Andrews
Paul Andrews, CEO of PoloWorks and Polo Managing Agency, wonders what happened to Arch’s auction for Castel and predicts an FCA crackdown on the ‘last bastion of poor outcomes’ to protect vulnerable groups.
Review of the Year 2023: Technology experts
Manoj Pant from Pega, Bradley O’Connor from Miller, and Tom Lawrie-Fussey from LexisNexis Risk Solutions offer perspectives on the year and predictions for 2024 from a technology expert perspective.
Review of the Year 2023: ThingCo’s Jonathon Valentine
Jonathon Valentine, CIO at ThingCo, looks forward to proving the telematics naysayers wrong and reflects on how much insurers have to fear from AI in such a heavily regulated market.
Aon to buy NFP from Ardonagh investors MDP and HPS for £10.6bn
Aon has agreed to acquire rival US broking firm NFP for a total consideration estimated to be $13.4bn (£10.6bn).
Review of the Year 2023: Spring Insure’s Paula McManus
Paula McManus, senior PI underwriter at Spring Insure, shares her thoughts on continuing major market withdrawals and recalls Socrates when advising the political parties on how to win her vote at the 2024 General Election.
Freemantle to succeed Perry as FSB Insurance Services MD
FSB Insurance Service has announced that with effect from 1 January 2024, its sales director Katie Freemantle will take over the role of managing director.
Review of the Year 2023: Arc Legal Group’s Peter Harvey
Peter Harvey, deputy CEO of Arc Legal Group muses on a 20th anniversary celebration and reliving his school days by becoming an Olympian long jumper.
Review of the Year 2023: Ageas’s Middle, Beckett, Clarke and Linklater
The Ageas UK management team ponder the plethora of personal lines exits and why a reduction in IPT could be a 2024 election vote winner.
Review of the Year 2023: Direct Commercial’s Adam Marsh
Adam Marsh, head of agency and development at Direct Commercial reflects on asking ChatGPT why commercial motor insurance should use AI and why good service is frequently over-promised and under-delivered.
Review of the Year 2023: Clear Group’s Neil Bunce
Neil Bunce, regional managing director at Clear Group, reflects on why penetration – not AI – is his buzzword of the year, and predicts Aviva might make a major UK acquisition in 2024.
Gallagher’s Michael Rea given expanded UK CEO role
Gallagher has promoted Michael Rea to CEO of UK broking and underwriting, subject to regulatory approval.
Ardonagh notches up seventh broker buy of 2023
Ardonagh Advisory has announced plans to acquire Westfield Brokers, its seventh broking buy of 2023.
Review of the Year 2023: Zurich’s David Nichols
David Nichols, Zurich Insurance UK head of retail reflects on the hype over the ‘war for talent’ and how RSA’s acquisition of NIG is symptomatic of the drive towards e-trading and serving brokers better.
Biba reveals 2024 theme for first conference under new CEO Trudgill
‘What’s next?’ has been announced as the theme of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association conference in 2024.
Review of the Year 2023: Academy Insurance’s Gilles Normand
Academy CEO Gilles Normand explains the problem with election manifestos and why AI poses little threat to the insurance sector as it has yet to get to grips with previous so-called game changers, such as digitisation.
GIC buys out Cinven’s shareholding in Miller
Cinven, the international private equity firm, has reached an agreement for GIC to acquire its shares in insurance broker Miller.