Articles by Emma Ann Hughes
Direct Line’s ex-CEO James speaks out about facing flack
Direct Line’s former CEO Penny James has challenged the ‘flack’ the press directs at female industry leaders.
Q&A: Richard Clarkson, WTW
Richard Clarkson, global market leader, global specialty for insurance consulting and technology at WTW, explains how the business is working to help global specialty carriers reduce costs across underwriting, trading, and technical actuarial processes.
Scanning the horizon for connected and complex risks
Post Podcast: How insurers are scanning the horizon, spotting risks, and pricing services and products appropriately in an increasingly complex, interconnected world is the topic of the latest Insurance Post Podcast.
Big Interview: Cécile Fresneau, QBE
Cécile Fresneau, managing director of the insurance division of QBE’s European Operations, reveals her growth plans, hopes for generative artificial intelligence and her efforts to boost the number of female senior underwriters.
60 Seconds With... HF’s Jennette Newman
Jennette Newman, partner and head of London markets at HF, would love to be ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ after learning lots from trial and error.
Understanding flood resilience – one garden and brick at a time
Editor’s View: Emma Ann Hughes considers ways the insurance industry can help make the world more resilient to climate change by being more innovative in how it inspires adapting homes and gardens.
Q&A: Liz Hopper, Harry Hall
Liz Hopper, managing director of equestrian specialist Harry Hall, shares how she plans to attract 10,000 more horse owners and how she switched the 130-year-old riding attire business to a membership model offering insurance.
Why social housing providers need to update their cover
Post Podcast: Why social housing providers should be prompted to update their insurance coverage and give accurate rebuild costs by conducting reinstatement cost assessments is the topic of the latest Insurance Post Podcast.
Q&A: Marc Lewis, Ecclesiastical
Marc Lewis, underwriting director for the UK for Ecclesiastical, reveals how the insurer is embracing artificial intelligence plus its plans to grow the casualty business.
How Labour could reduce the cost of motor insurance
Analysis: Emma Ann Hughes examines efforts by the industry to push down motor insurance premiums and whether politicians could force providers to take more extreme action.
What is going on with electric vehicle insurance?
Post Podcast: What pushed up the price of electric vehicle insurance plus the steps providers are taking to ensure premiums are affordable is the topic of the latest Insurance Post Podcast.
60 Seconds With… Woodgate & Clark’s Richard Fleming
Richard Fleming, delegated claims administrator and technical claims controller at Woodgate & Clark, would like to travel the world like Tintin and won’t down pints of Guinness again just to get a hat.
FCA clarifies approach to non-disclosure agreements
The Financial Conduct Authority has insisted non-disclosure agreements should not prevent whistleblowers working in insurance from sharing the discrimination or harassment they face with the watchdog.
Insurers face margin crush unless premiums are hiked
Data analysis: A sustainable margin recovery looks increasingly challenging for insurers with premiums needing to increase in real terms to prevent any erosion after a tripling of costs to 10.9% of premiums last year from 3.5% in 2022.
Insurance’s wealthiest figures revealed
Douw Steyn, founder of BGL Group, the parent of Compare the Market, has climbed 23 places to make it to 58th position on this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.
Sobering reading for those with a Biba hangover
Editor’s View: If you are nursing a hangover after going to this year’s British Insurance Brokers’ Association conference then Emma Ann Hughes reckons you missed the point of attending the annual gathering in Manchester.
Q&A: Daniel Grimwood-Bird, McKenzie Intelligence Services
Daniel Grimwood-Bird, head of sales and marketing at McKenzie Intelligence Services, shares how the provider of geospatial data and analytics plans to insurance industry plans to make it big in the UK and US.
What it takes to be a Power List player in 2024
Insurance Post’s Power List reveals today’s leading lights in the industry, the demise of big name digital disruptors plus who has shaken up the market in the last 12 months.
Amanda Blanc, Aviva
Amanda Blanc, CEO of Aviva Group, influenced some of the biggest changes in corporate Britain in 2023, winning her the top spot in Insurance Post’s Power List for the second year in a row.
John Neal, Lloyd’s of London
The efforts of Lloyd’s chief executive John Neal to deliver profound change in the City’s insurance market through digitalisation are beginning to pay off with Aviva coming back into the fold in 2024.
Matt Brewis, FCA
Matt Brewis, the Financial Conduct Authority’s head of insurance, is a man on a mission in 2024, which is why he has climbed to third place on this year’s Insurance Post Power List.
David Howden, Howden Group
David Howden started his career as a broker at Alexander Howden in 1981 and today his name can be seen on most high streets up and down the land.
Ken Norgrove, RSA
If you think you’re busy, then you should read what Ken Norgrove, CEO of RSA UK & International, was up to in 2023.