SME
Video: high expectations at Broker Expo 2011
Insurance Age interviewed attendees on their expectations for the day at its flagship Broker Expo 2011 event where brokers go to do business.
Profits and growth at Ageas
Ageas Insurance has revealed a 16.8% rise in gross written premiums to £822.5m and an improved combined operating ratio of 99.8% for the first nine months of 2011, compared to 104.9% in the same period last year.
Stackhouse Poland buys Croydon-based broker
Stackhouse Poland has acquired Sutton Meears & Co for an undisclosed sum.
‘Strategic’ decision delays aggregator offering
The launch of a new aggregator due to hit the market early in 2012 has been delayed as part of a ‘strategic decision’.
In conversation with RSA: distinguishing from rivals in SME commercial
The SME commercial market remains one of the most highly competitive in the UK insurance space.
Allianz promotes its own to build executive team
Allianz Commercial has announced two executive appointments from within the company.
Power hour: what SMEs want
The SME space is much fought over, but what is it that this disparate group of businesses want from insurers and brokers, and what do brokers need from insurers in order to deliver now and in the future? Caitlin Morrison finds out
Zurich creates new underwriting role for SME
Zurich’s UK General Insurance business has appointed Russell Corbould-Warren to the newly created role of head of SME underwriting.
NIG hires from rivals to grow London SME book
NIG has made two senior appointments to its London office in a bid to secure a greater share of the London SME market.
Brokers split on SME business cover after riots
A survey by NIG has claimed that business confidence has fallen significantly among SMEs in the wake of the recent riots.
PMI Health Group hires new director from Jelf
PMI Health Group has hired a new account director to drive the company’s corporate market growth in the south of England.
Confidence among SMEs slumps
The Federation of Small Businesses’ (FSB) Voice of Small Business Index has revealed that confidence among SMEs slumped by 9.6 points from a positive 0.3 to -9.3 in the third quarter of 2011.
UK Broker Conference 2011: Hilton upbeat on UK prospects, especially for SMEs
Anthony Hilton, financial editor of the London Evening Standard, told delegates at the inaugural UK Broker Conference that recessions were much worse in the 1970s and that he believed the UK’s economy would improve in 2012.
Banking changes may hinder lending to SMEs
The implementation of the Basel 3 regulatory framework will dramatically hinder retail bank lending to SMEs, according to the European Savings Banks Group (ESBG).
Smaller brokers may get locked out of SME sector by aggregators
SME aggregator market dominated by two large players may mean brokers get left behind
Sizing up the market
If the accepted wisdom were to be believed, these days, commercial clients simply buy on price and everything that a broker brings to the table, such as risk management and market knowledge, is immaterial. But two recent, separate, surveys of SMEs and…
Towergate and Confused.com in SME tie-up
Towergate Insurance has announced that it is to become the sole provider of business insurance for price comparison site Confused.com.
Lorica hires for growth
Lorica Insurance Brokers has announced a number of new hires across its UK branch network.
Insurance Age blog: Some economics of commercial market hardening
Now, as you may have guessed from my previous ramblings I’m no economist. And even I realise that reading too much into two sets of data this month could be dangerous but they really have got me thinking about the old chestnut that is commercial market…
Insurance Age blog: Why can't banks leave insurance to the experts?
Personally I am quite grateful to banks and the practice of conditional lending. If banks hadn't been doing this and luring small commercial clients away from brokers then I wouldn't have written a story late last year exposing the whole grubby little…
Banks' "immoral" conditional lending still alive and well
Banks are still abusing their position by placing undue pressure on SMEs to use their preferred intermediaries, according to the broking community.
Blanc sets record GWP target
Amanda Blanc has vowed to surpass Axa Commercial's gross written premium (GWP)record by writing £1.2bn worth of business by 2015.
PMI industry must change tack to avoid further consolidation, says Pruhealth
Pruhealth has slammed the unsustainable economics of the SME private medical insurance (PMI) market.
Brokers will see more of new RSA chief
Adrian Brown has predicted that brokers will see more of Andy Haste’s successor than they see of the current chief executive.