Podcast: Reid and Clegg present Double Indemnity, episode five – Howden’s Peter Blanc

Blanc, pictured centre, shares how he got into insurance in July 1988 and his joy at working with clients and insurers throughout his career.

Blanc led a management buy-out of the UK commercial division of Farr in 2000, which he then renamed FMW Risk Services. He grew it to around £25m GWP before selling to Oval in 2007, which in turn was snapped up by Gallagher in 2014.

A management buy-in at Aston Scott in 2015 was the start of the route to Howden for Blanc. The journey included a merger with Lark in 2017 and sale in 2022.

Marquee names

The past president of the Chartered Insurance Institute and current larger brokers’ advisory board member at Biba has built a stellar track record throughout this time, including delivering ‘marquee’ names in broker M&A.

If we can’t get customer service right, so that actually it is a pleasant experience, then shame on us

Peter Blanc, Howden

“Origination, execution, integration” are the three genuine factors he lists as being behind successful M&A: “They are all equally important.”

Hosts Reid and Clegg, pictured left and right respectively, interrogate Blanc on the differences in his now global role. In response, praising the importance of good leaders in each country, he says: “The one thing we live and breathe by is never thinking we know it all in London, and can just go off and buy stuff in Europe.”

Blanc’s mantra is to bring experience to deals in a drive to make “1 + 1 = 3”.

A people business

Along with confessing that he “hated” his first year after selling up to Oval, he also gives insight on taking people on the growth journey in the UK broker market and the need to make sure a firm remembers to keep decisions being made by “client-facing people”.

Broking, he argues, is a career open to all: “Broking is absolutely a people business – it always will be a people business, particularly in the commercial world.”

Watch the video now to see his analysis of why the next wave of consolidators have the opportunity to make their mark and if the “excitement over the MGA market” is justified.

Plus how he unpacks how insurance needs to “wake up” on service levels: “If we can’t get customer service right, so that actually it is a pleasant experience, then shame on us.”

The Double Indemnity series in full

• Episode one, Aon’s Jane Kielty
• Episode two, MGAA’s Mike Keating
• Episode three, SX3’s Adrian Gilbert
• Episode four, Intact’s Ken Norgrove

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