Personal
Market moves: A good month for the management
It’s well into the new year but the insurance industry is certainly still ringing the changes. As usual, there were moves between rival companies, with Willis losing a COO to Aon, and Lifestyle Services dipping into Ace for a new CEO.
Editor’s letter - January 2012
“The number of executives… that were dispatched in the last few of months of 2011 is staggering”
Market moves: restructures and resignations
The blood is well and truly covering the floor this month with three high profile departures and the sacking of an entire board. But there was better news for one of their peers who has found his way back into the market in double quick time. What has…
A fresh start
The New Year is a great time to set some personal resolutions and a perfect opportunity to set some SMART objectives for your business, writes Deborah Windermere
Products: industry refocuses on online product offerings
Both ends of the broker product flow have seen a refocusing on websites to grow business in the new year. Connoisseur Underwriting, an MGA focused on antique and fine art dealers, auctioneers and collectors, has revamped its website with online product…
Broking success: driving growth
Gardners has used acquisitions and specialism in insurance for taxi drivers to drive growth, managing director Paul Goldsmith explains to Emmanuel Kenning
A year to remember
Tony Cornell looks forward to the year ahead and predicts what 2012 holds in store for brokers
HNW players jockey for position
High net worth was the big growth area last year, and the new players will be looking to establish themselves
Blood on the boardroom floor
What role did regulation play in the sacking of the entire Swinton executive board?
Products roundup: new year, new technology
The new year has blasted off with insurance once again looking to the technological future. Chubb has unveiled a cyber security insurance product for companies in Europe to cover financial losses in the event of a data breach.
Market moves: Dave new world
For the first time in a long time Scotland had a relatively quiet month, although Glasgow welcomed a new Mitsui Sumitomo branch. The insurer also made a senior appointment in Manchester, which was quite a hub of activity in November, with Arista and MMA…
Reportage: And a happy new year?
A tough 2011 looks likely to be followed by another 12 months to forget, but there are some things to look forward to, writes Caitlin Morrison
Insurers return to the regions
Moving underwriters to regional offices is just one way insurers have tried to get closer to brokers in 2011
November is the cruellest month
Fears of spiralling market conditions sparked as spate of unfortunate events hit brokers
Products: Biba switches its high net worth scheme provider
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (Biba) has replaced Sterling with Aqua as the provider of its high net worth (HNW) scheme for members from 1 February 2012.
Product roundup: ‘Tis the season to tackle cyber crime
While it may seem incongruous to raise such matters in the season of goodwill, this month’s products and schemes pages are dominated by cyber crime, fraud, litigation and a change at Biba’s oldest scheme as the association dispensed with Sterling’s…
Winners and losers
If the ban on referral fees goes ahead next year, the repercussions could be felt throughout the industry, explains Tony Cornell
Profile: Making the grade
Moving Groupama away from its grey man reputation to become a niche specialist was a risk, UK CEO François-Xavier Boisseau tells Emmanuel Kenning, but one worth taking
Personal lines growth drives up NWP at RSA
RSA has reported UK personal lines Q3 net written premiums were up 13% to £1 036m, with commercial lines up just 2% to £1 282m. Overall the UK was up 7% to £2 318m.
Sentiment Survey Autumn 2011
The latest Sentiment Survey indicates that dual pricing is still a concern for brokers and commercial is lagging behind personal lines in terms of rising premiums
How to… ensure scheme claims run smoothly
Members of a scheme often communicate with each other and share their experiences on all manner of subjects – including insurance. And so the well-worn saying that a claims service is the “shop window” for the insurance industry has never been truer than…
High end competition
High net worth specialist SmithGreenfield is developing routes to market and ways of differentiating itself in a competitive sector where high levels of service are expected, managing director Steve Smith tells Martin Friel
Market moves: welcome home
October saw a lot of business development action with insurers chasing brokers and brokers chasing clients in the static UK economy. While there were numerous appointments across the board, as seems to have been the case throughout 2012, Scotland and the…