Q&A
Meet the MGA: Optio Underwriting
With an aim to be the most admired global specialty MGA, Optio Underwriting group CEO Deepak Soni outlines how it attracts top talent, plans to mix organic growth with M&A and discusses the importance of having a PE backer that understands the subtle…
Meet the MGA: Aspect
Following its recent brand refresh Oli Williamson, co-founder and chief underwriter, explains how Aspect is seeking to expand its core mid-corporate market offering into new areas such as terrorism and cyber – with an eye very much on how it can leverage…
Meet the MGA: Elmlake Underwriting
A seasoned professional indemnity underwriter, Darren Galloway, managing director of new MGA Elmlake Underwriting, explains how it plans to fuse both traditional and modern approaches to offer a one-stop shop for brokers and their clients.
Q&A: Christy Chisholm, group sales and marketing director at Clear Group
With 100 days in the role after joining Clear Group from Premium Credit, group sales and marketing director Christy Chisholm reflects on the initial challenges, successes and her work with the British Insurance Brokers’ Association promoting insurance as…
Meet the MGA: Carrow Insurance
Looking to mend the disconnect between MGAs and carriers to get back to the ‘win-win situation’ where consistency and partnerships are a focus, Carrow Insurance will only write in product areas it has deep-seated expertise, CEO Ronan Conboy tells…
Q&A with Andrea Wells of Premium Credit
Andrea Wells was recently recruited from Broker Insights by Premium Credit for its newly created role of head of regions and networks. In a Q&A with Insurance Age she shares her insurance market experience and plans for growing the business with brokers.
Review of the Year 2024: Woodgate and Clark’s Simon Jones
Simon Jones, client services director at Woodgate & Clark, explains why digital transformation is no longer a differentiator, circularity in property repairs is key to sustainable claims handling and a lack of air travel means Race Across the World is…
Review of the Year 2024: OneAdvent’s Tim Quayle
Tim Quayle, CEO of OneAdvent, raises his eyebrows over the BMS/DR&P deal; would stress the importance of proportionality to the FCA; and believes 2024 will go down as the Era of Stability.
Review of the Year 2024: VIPR Solutions’ Paul Templar
Paul Templar, co-founder and CEO at VIPR Solutions, would like to see the term ‘seamless integration’ consigned to 2024; predicts straight-through processing will become standard practice; and fancies his chances in the Dragons’ Den.
Review of the Year 2024: Flood Re’s Stuart Logue
Stuart Logue, interim CEO at Flood Re, reflects on its first Parliamentary drop-in sesson and the Flood Resilient Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show as well as sharing a prediction about Build Back Better.
Review of the Year 2024: Axa UK’s Paul Tombs and Matt Field
The Axa UK duo of Paul Tombs and Matt Field reflect on award wins; the fall-out of the Markerstudy-Atlanta deal and the success of its partnership with Liverpool FC.
Review of the Year 2024: Acrisure UK’s Mark McIlquham
Mark McIlquham, CEO of Acrisure UK, expresses disappointment at high-quality independent intermediaries selling to consolidators; still thinks a big insurer might snap up a broker; and reckons his children would take delight in watching him take part in…
Review of the Year 2024: SSP’s Martyn Mathews
Martyn Mathews, MD of SSP Broker reflects on disappointing vote-winning rhetoric, renaming the NEC the Mathews Arena, and asks whether the FCA might roll back a little on some of the principles of Consumer Duty and Fair Value
Meet the MGA feature: Arc Legal
Arc Legal CEO Lee Taylor outlines the value in having a supportive parent of the scale of AmTrust; and why it makes sense to keep an eye on legislation and social changes in order to innovate and develop new products.
Review of the Year 2024: Commercial Express’s Duncan Pritchard
Duncan Pritchard, managing director of Commercial Express would like to leave the term underinsurance behind in 2024, reflects on the amount of time he spent trying to get Oasis tickets, and why it would make perfect sense to appear on TV’s Survivor.
Review of the Year 2024: Markerstudy’s Gary Humphreys
Gary Humphreys, group chief underwriting officer at Markerstudy, hails the completion of the Atlanta deal, dreams of having the MGA’s brand adorn the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and mulls sitting on the sofa and doing Channel 4’s Gogglebox.
Review of the Year 2024: Ageas’ Middle, Linklater, Clarke and Beckett
The senior Ageas team wish the term ghost broking is never uttered again, hope for a sustainable ecosystem for the repair and re-use of electric vehicle batteries, and consider what an insurance brokers showstopper might look like on Great British Bake…
Review of the Year 2024: Pen Underwriting’s Nick Wright
Nick Wright, chief development officer at Pen Underwriting, questions the market’s short memory with regards boom-and-bust; is interested in the future of PIB and pan-European consolidation; and offers a pitch to take part in Bear Grylls’s The Island.
Review of the Year 2024: Allianz Commercial’s Nick Hobbs
Allianz Commercial chief distribution officer Nick Hobbs is intrigued by Aviva’s Probitas deal, bemoans the continued presence of underinsurance and hopes that the term ‘insurer service’ is consigned to the clickbait dustbin.
Review of the Year 2024: Collegiate’s Richard Turnbull
Collegiate managing director Richard Turnbull expresses disappointment with the return of the ‘pay-to-play’ model in broking, surprise at Aon’s acquisition of Griffith & Armour and considers whether 2024 was the ‘era of repeating past mistakes’.
Review of the year 2024: Brown & Brown’s Sime
Chris Sime, group markets director at Brown & Brown Europe, predicts a UK consolidator could get taken out by a US broker, wonders why buyers continue to pay multiples on unrealistic Ebitda projections and mulls what a Blanc/Winslow reunion might look…
Review of the Year 2024: Hedron Network’s Duncan Pagan
Duncan Pagan, consultancy services director at Hedron, reflects on frown-inducing M&A; weighs up the tangible benefits-to-burden ratio when it comes to regulation; and would love to see the Hedron brand atop the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.
Review of the Year 2024: iprism’s Ian Lloyd
Ian Lloyd, CEO of iprism, reflects on integrating the MGA’s first acquisition, the over-use of the term AI and how he might shake the curse of ‘dad dancing’ by appearing on Strictly Come Dancing.
Polaris at 30 – Jackie Childs
In the concluding instalment of Polaris at 30, senior business analyst at the insurance industry-owned organisation Jackie Childs rounds up the progress on digital trading moving from monthly personal lines updates sent out on floppy discs to the new era…