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FEATURES Acquisitional independent brokers are on the rise: but are they any different?
Writer: Rachel Gordon Contact details: rachelcgordon@hotmail.com
Deadline: 18 November, 2024 The recent publication of the Insurance Age Top100 Insurance Brokers proved there was a great disparity in how many markets the companies included use to place their business. Whilst some increased their insurer panels, others spoke about agency rationalisations and new placement strategies. What do brokers consider a manageable number of providers to use? Is it better to access the full market for clients or are there benefits from having deeper relationships with a core of selected insurers? Does size of brokerage dictate when the choice can be made? So, in this feature Insurance Age plans to speak to brokers both large and small to find out how they are mixing up the business they place with insurers, MGAs and others with delegated authority. It will ask whether the 80:20 rule still applies across the bulk of their book; and how the mix has changed with regards traditional markets, MGAs, London market and offshore insurers. The article will also explore how much autonomy brokers have in choosing the markets they place business with. Finally, it will ask brokers why they might have rationalised/expanded their agencies, how easy it is to get new agencies and what demands are placed on them in terms of placing a percentage of business with an insurer to maintain a strong relationship. Acquisitional independent brokers are on the rise: but are they any different?
Writer: Martin Friel Contact details: mjfriel1999@yahoo.com
Deadline: 19 November, 2024 Although the major consolidators have dominated a lot of the M&A activity of the last few years, brokers looking to sell are not limited to these when it comes to finding a new home for their business. Among those making deals recently are Think with a third deal in three years with Bromwich Insurance Bureau, Prosura a second with Donald Schofield, Jukes Insurance Brokers buying SO Insurance Services and FR Ball Insurance acquiring Howells Insurance. Caledon Group, created in 2023 by a Plum Underwriting-linked trio, has also entered the fray with ambitions to develop business in the UK. It started with buying Voyager Insurance Services this July. https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/insight/7955373/think-strikes-third-buy-in-three-years-with-bromwich-insurance-bureau-deal https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/insight/7955508/prosura-strikes-second-deal-in-yorkshire-adding-donald-schofield https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/insight/7955113/jukes-strengthens-presence-in-the-midlands-with-latest-buy https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/broker/7955036/welsh-broker-strikes-another-deal https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/insight/7955199/voyager-insurance-services-sold-to-caledon-group Indeed the UK broking market has seen a growing number of smaller independent brokers making acquisitions. Many courting targets local to themselves with the message that they offer something different. This might be that they won’t bend a seller’s business out of shape with cost rationalisation, rearrange agencies and have IT foisted on staff. Or that it won’t be swallowed up into a large whole and become unrecognisable from the entity that interested the buyer in the first place. The independent buyers might even be pushing the sales pitch that they will let a broker keep its culture and remain relatively the same – while operating in what might be described as a “parentship” of a like-mind broker. While still aiding on insurer service and taking away the likes of recruitment, IT investment and regulatory burden pressures. But how true is this? Do they really offer something different; and do sellers ultimately care? Does having a principal or principals that has/have worked for a larger broker, or who have sold up before make selling to a smaller broker more palatable? Does being part of a network help, and if so how? When do smaller independent brokers feel organic growth is no longer enough and need to look to acquisitions? And when do independent’s start looking national? Bradford-based TL Dallas remains a fourth-generation family firm, owned by its management and staff, for instance acquired Marsh Commercial’s business in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland this year. https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/insight/7955019/tl-dallas-grows-scottish-presence-buying-marsh-commercials-highlands-and-islands-business Regional review: Leeds
Writer: Rosie Simms Contact Details: rosie.simms@infopro-digital.com
Deadline: 20 November, 2024 Very much the largest insurance centre between Manchester and Glasgow, Leeds has seen a significant amount of attention of late, with insurers making office improvements and moves to give their trading efforts in the city more focus. In August Markel doubled the size of its Leeds branch by moving to the new City Square House, 34 years after its first office opened in the city. https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/insurer/7955337/markel-doubles-floor-space-with-leeds-office-move A month later QBE opened a new office in Leeds making a £3.6m investment in the city for its second largest European site. The office houses more than 450 employees with headcount having grown by 40% since 2022. https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/insight/7955458/qbe-opens-benchmark-leeds-office-with-more-broker-contact-promise And in October RSA director of broker markets Steve Scott revealed a refurbishment program is underway in its Leeds Bond Court office, adding: “I think it will be that we’ll be about double the size with a broker touchdown area. A really nice environment for people to come back and to work in.” https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/insight/7955533/rsa-and-nig-to-offer-single-product-set-in-h1-next-year On top of this The Financial Conduct Authority has announced plans to base a further 100 of its workforce in Leeds on top of the 240 staff it currently employs in the city. https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/insight/7955262/fca-to-boost-headcount-in-leeds-by-100 Given its strong insurer presence, it is no surprise that Leeds and the surrounding area has proven a major hub for brokers. One of the biggest independent names in the area Romero sold to AssuredPartners late last year but the is also home to one of the most active consolidators at present in JMG Group. https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/broker/7954016/assuredpartners-seals-biggest-deal-yet-with-romero-buy https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/insight/7955544/interview-jmgs-nick-houghton-painting-the-broking-picture Other deals in and around the city have seen MIS Motorsport’s commercial business in the UK and Ireland acquired by Kingfisher Insurance Services, Jensten buy White Rose Insurance Solutions in Skipton and Bradford-based TL Dallas continue to make waves buying Marsh Commercial’s business in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland recently. https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/broker/7955512/kingfisher-creates-new-motorsports-arm-following-broker-buy https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/broker/7953880/jensten-swoops-for-white-rose https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/insight/7955019/tl-dallas-grows-scottish-presence-buying-marsh-commercials-highlands-and-islands-business But a look at the Insurance Age M&A map reveals less activity here than in other major insurance centres such as Manchester and Birmingham. Meanwhile, local MGA BSpoke Group completed the acquisition of the personal lines business of the Police and Forces Mutual businesses, Police Mutual Healthcare and Police Mutual General Insurance, from Royal London, in a move the firm described as a “game changer”. https://www.insuranceage.co.uk/personal/7954567/bspoke-completes-game-changer-of-a-deal Against this backdrop Insurance Age plans to take a deep dive into the local insurance market and find out how it is bearing up to wider socio-economic trends. Among the areas that will be covered are insurer-broker relations in the city, not least the importance of local trading; and levels of service. The article will also look at recruitment and training; as well as client retention on established business and how Leeds is changing in terms of the make-up of the firms in the local economy – and the impact that has on the products and services that brokers offer. Is it all about the city or do brokers reach out to serve clients across Yorkshire, the North-East and the UK? Finally, it will look at the levels of local competition including broker consolidation, start-ups, office openings/expansions and the broader insurance eco-system in Leeds and surrounding area. The piece will highlight any notable trends, both recent and longer term, and get a sense of how optimistic or otherwise the local players are about growth and profitability in the area. Insurance Age Review of the Year 2024
Writer: Jonathan Swift Contact Details: Jonathan.swift@infopro-digital.com
Deadline: 3 December, 2024 Please answer as many of the questions below as you feel comfortable with and email your responses to Jonathan.swift@infopro-digital.com by the 3rd December. Please provide a colour photo of the person responding to the questions. - What has been your insurance/broking related highlight of 2024?
- What has been your biggest insurance/broker related disappointment of 2024?
- What was the M&A deal or personnel hire that raised your eyebrows the most in 2024 and why?
- What insurance/broking buzzword or phrase do you never want to hear again in 2025?
- If you go back in time and prevent one thing happening in 2024, what would it be and why?
- If you had 15 minutes alone with the Financial Conduct Authority would you tell them to start, stop and continue doing?
- The summer of 2024 was all about Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, if you could sum up 2024 as an ‘era of …’ would it be?
- Make one bold prediction for the insurance market in 2025, that you think MIGHT happen.
- The Oasis brothers Noel and Liam buried the hatchet to tour again in 2025; which insurance reunion would you most like to see next year?
- In 2024 brokers turned up on the reality TV shows Traitors and Love Island; given a choice, which reality TV show would you be best suited to appear on in 2025 and why?
- With Allianz taking over naming rights of Twickenham, what stadium or venue would you like to have your name on and why?
- Roll on to December 2025, what might have happened over the previous 12 months to have made it a ‘good year’ for you?
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