PB Week: A party at Somerset House

Somerset House party

This week I enjoyed a fantastic party at Somerset House with Groupama and senior brokers such as Alex Alway, Paul Moors and Lyndon Wood, and, of course, Groupama’s very own ‘Minister of Fun’ Paul Picknett. CEO Francois Xavier-Boisseau appeared in a particularly good mood, probably following some of the mishaps at his rivals. A magician was on hand to steal everything in Alway’s coat; great entertainment, especially for a Thursday evening after you have sent the magazine to the printers. Look out for the December edition of PB which should be hitting your desks soon complete with a Worldwide Broker Network Roundtable supplement and AM Best ratings guide.

On Tuesday I met up with Paul Dickson of Dickson Insurance Brokers who has recently sold out to Giles. He appeared in a good mood and ready for the challenge of being part of a consolidator, although it will be hard to tease that independent spirit out of him.

Yesterday, I met the senior managers at Lloyds TSB Financial Institutions Bill Cooper and Seb Kafetz who are at the heart of many of the profession’s consolidators. They were busy integrating HBOS into the team, and bullish about the prospects for next year, and hinted that there was still potential for some significant consolidation in the broking market, despite the economic climate. These are Peter Cullum’s bankers so watch this space!

In the news

Aon dominated the news by completing the acquisition of Benfield. Unfortunately up to 700 jobs are on the line, predominantly non-client facing roles , although it has not emerged which jobs are set to be made redundant. The restructure is expected to save around $35m in 2009, $85m in 2010 and $120m in 2011.

Stop press

The Bank of England has just cut interest rates to 2% from 3%. This is the lowest interest rate for over 50 years.

Comment

If you would like to comment on this blog, please write below or e-mail pbeditorial@incisivemedia.com

Sign up to PB Week email alert