Playing rough

With insurers bolstering profitability through substantial reserve releases that have, in turn, caught the eyes of investors, brokers may be waiting in vain for the return of a hard market, writes Edward Murray

Forget the bespoke suits and tailored public images of the insurance industry's corporate leaders. Instead, picture a gaggle of girls dressed to the nines, light bouncing off their white stilettos from the overhead glitter ball while dancing around their handbags.

Whether this image is humorous, fanciful or downright frightening, it is how one broker said we should think of insurance leaders in their efforts to rid us of the soft market.

Martyn Holman, head of UK broking at Brightside, is not