It's all about the long term

Being the largest in the market, you are always in the firing line. In general insurance, for example, many point to you as the culprit when expected rate increases across the sector are not implemented but, at the same time, others see any rate increases by your company as an opportunity to take business from you.

Throw in the biggest economic crisis in a generation, a depleted reserve release and a high commissions legacy, not to mention one of the largest corporate rebrands in history - which annoyed some brokers - and you begin to comprehend the scale of the challenges of working at the top at Aviva. Especially with a 200-year underwriting heritage to preserve.

There is a balance to strike when raising rates in a downturn and the feedback from brokers was that the insurer did not quite achieve it, which corporate sales director Janice Deakin acknowledges in the PB Interview (pp.32-5). By the same token, perhaps the competition missed an opportunity to follow with a concerted, cross-industry effort.

Aviva is now giving more ratings flexibility and is hoping that offerings such as Fast Trade (an electronic commercial broker platform that once again shows how imarket failed to inspire brokers) will recover some lost ground.

Despite large numbers of layoffs and increased staff workloads, the insurer is attempting to carve out a strategy that supports small and medium-sized independent regional broking for the long term. In the short term, the strategy appears to be paying off: Aviva cites better loss ratios with the likes of the 110 Club as proof. Ultimately, only time will tell. Today, the rate of change is relentless and an increase in competition makes the stakes higher than ever before. It has not been a question of follow the leader on rates but it will be interesting to see if others follow in the footsteps of the insurer's much-anticipated broker advertising campaign.