Opinion
JLT's Hamish Roberts on the tender trap
The vast majority of broker appointments are made as a result of an expensive tender process. Hamish Roberts, JLT’s head of business development, suggests a cheaper method that remains procurement-friendly.
C-Suite: Towergate's Paul Dilley on surviving or thriving
Anyone who’s followed the fortunes of Towergate will know that it has had something of a mountain to climb in the last couple of years – but Paul Dilley believes the full year results show it's made significant progress and now has the summit firmly in…
Zurich’s Guy Miller on why recovery is an opportunity for reform
A synchronised global recovery is an opportunity for reform, not for complacency, argues Guy Miller, chief market strategist and head of macroeconomics, Zurich.
Trade voice: MGAA on empowering Millennials
Over the past few months, the board of the Managing General Agents' Association has set a new five-year strategy, Peter Staddon, its managing director, questions what the world will look like then.
LV's Steve Treloar on learning from the independent broker
For years, there has been talk in the industry about the future role of brokers in the sector, Steve Treloar, managing director of general insurance at LV explores the issus.
Allianz's Neil Clutterbuck on transforming motor insurance in the cloud
Harnessing the power of cloud computing can offer many business benefits in terms of data storage and processing, accessibility and cost. But with potential risks alongside the benefits, the opportunities it offers the insurance industry are still up for…
Covéa's James Reader on insurance's ‘two lengths of the pool’
Spending some time with sport psychologist Simon Hartley reminded James Reader, CEO of Covéa Insurance, it can be all too easy to lose focus on what we’re really here to do
C-Suite Broker: Junction's Ali Crossley on personalisation in insurance marketing
Marketing is constantly evolving, with an ever-changing array of channels through which to promote products – but at the heart of it is always the customer. How can we best meet their needs, asks Ali Crossley, customer and development director for…
C Suite: A Plan's Carl Shuker on advised and non-advised sales
The internet is, of course, most of the time, a force for good, but is it driving down the quality of what we as an industry offer our clients? Carl Shuker, CEO of A-Plan Insurance, investigates.
Trade voice: CILA'S Malcolm Hyde on business ethics
Business ethics has become increasingly important in recent years for many reasons, including increased stakeholder scrutiny. This is not surprising in the light of financial institutions’ scandals, the MPs’ expenses scandal and perhaps the influence of…
Chubb's Jeremy Miles on the battle between algorithms and service
Last month, The Economist magazine featured a provocative article on disruption of the insurance sector that examined how businesses are using technology to re-engineer the underwriting model.
Vietnam's growing flood threat
A rapidly rising population in the areas most exposed to flood could make losses in Vietnam an imminent problem for the industry.
This Month in Post: Rates, start-ups and fraud
Spring is in the air and it's a time well-known for cleaning out the old and starting anew. As I continue to unpack boxes and work out where to put all of the fairly useless things I have collected over the decades, the industry has been taking its own…
How connectivity can improve our health
By 2020 it is estimated there could be 30 billion connected devices worldwide – more than four devices for every person alive.
Editor's comment: Feeling lucky?
My Irish grandmother always said bad things come in threes. In the last 18 months the insurance industry has faced bad returns on investments, several increases to insurance premium tax and now the huge change to the Ogden discount rate, so the sector…
Swinton's Richard Beaven on sharing data to combat fraud
Fraud is a perennial problem for the insurance industry. Figures from the Association of British Insurers last year have revealed that insurers detected more than 130,000 fraudulent claims in 2015, a 6% increase on the previous year.
Trade voice: Navigating the new legal landscape
The legal landscape around the insurance industry and the claims sector is approaching a period of unprecedented change.
WTW's Alastair Swift on why adapting is key to success
The broker landscape continues to evolve at an increasing rate and the industry is under constant pressure to adapt rapidly in order to keep up.
Markel's Moi on the dangers of 'miscellaneous' Asian professionals
What do wedding planners, property managers, and skin beauticians all have in common? They are considered as 'miscellaneous professionals' in the eyes of the insurance industry.
Lloyds Bank's Bill Cooper on M&A in a challenging market
The government's recent decision to lower the discount rate from 2.5% to -0.75% took the market by surprise and generated many column inches of newsprint in the mainstream press.
Axa's Brendan McCafferty on the consequences of the discount rate
There must be a better time to start your role as the CEO of an insurance company. A few weeks into the job, I arrived at work on a Monday morning knowing a decision had just been made that would simultaneously hike premiums for millions of motorists and…
ABI's James Dalton on sorting out the discount rate mess
I am living the discount rate at the moment. I have lost count of the number of meetings I have attended, legal opinions I have read and conversations with insurance company CEOs I have had on this complex issue.
Charles Manchester on brokers using unrated insurers
Brokers are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, so they don't really come into contact with the Prudential Regulation Authority, which is primarily concerned with the soundness of insurers, ensuring protection for policyholders.
Legal Update: Robotic surgery - cutting through the insurance implications
With advances in robotics and artificial intelligence taking hold of the medical industry, do the benefits of robot-assisted surgery outweigh the risks - especially for insurers?