People in Insurance: Changing the Conversation

018: Future Opportunities - with Ashwin Mistry

On today's episode, we’re talking to Ashwin Mistry, the Executive Chairman of Brokerbility. Ashwin has over 40 years experience in the general insurance and broking market. Having started his career at 17 before becoming a director at Brett and Randall in 1983, Ashwin helped establish Brokerbility in 2006 and the business is now a major independent group in the UK.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• The current pandemic is a chance for the insurance industry to demonstrate its value.
• We’re currently in unchartered territory for the industry.
• There are many people, outside of the industry, that don’t appreciate the impact that forcing the insurers hand will have in the global economy.
• It’s important to understanding where insurers are coming from, understanding their models and relaying that to the end customer.
• Insurers should provide capacity and pay claims and brokers should be looking at product delivery and client experience.
• Every crisis creates opportunity and that will be evidenced by the outcome of the pandemic for new and existing businesses.
• The realm of corporates opportunity is dead – smaller ventures will now have greater opportunity to come through with innovation and ideas.

BEST MOMENTS:

‘’We're the only sector that knows when the customer is going to walk through the door, what they're going to buy, how they're going to pay, and whether they're a good customer or not – it’s called a renewal date.’’

‘’I think this is a global event of unprecedented proportion. The insurance industry had not predicted or underwritten for a pandemic… The more specific covers that happen applied like Wimbeldon, which has been raised as a good example here, where the customer wanted specific pandemic cover.’’

‘’We work in genuine partnership with three interest groups. One is the capacity providers, which is all the insurers you can name. The second is working from a broker perspective as to our legal and fiduciary responsibilities, but then also being fair to the customer.’’

‘’We do understand insurance position, and I think every year we go out of our way to explain to our clients what is going on globally, what is going on in terms of sector specifics like flooding was a big issue, theft of catalytic converters, employment liability… We've been very focused in keeping our customers engaged with what is going on and where their premium goes.’’

‘’I think you'll see new business models evolving as a result of this. I think there'll be a new generation of entrepreneurs in the insurance space that will provide some healthy solutions.’’

RESOURCES:

Brokerbility Website: https://brokerbility.co.uk/

 

ABOUT THE HOST

Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.

If you would like Sarah to help you develop an integrated marketing strategy, using state of the art concepts, then please book a free 20 min call via Calendly 

 

Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Ashwin began his career at Guardian Royal Exchange at 17 and became a director at Brett and Randall in 1983. Following Brett and Randall’s success, he helped establish Brokerbility in 2006. The broking group is now a major independent group in the UK, trading as Brokerbility Holdings Insurance Brokers Ltd (BHIB). Ashwin is a prominent member of the local community and is involved in a number of local initiatives. He was a member of the National Skills Task Force to look at the issue of skill shortages and skill needs for UK. In 2000, Ashwin was awarded an OBE for his contribution to Careers Education and in 2001, Ashwin became Chairman of Leicestershire Learning & Skill Council, a position he held for two terms.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashwin-mistry-obe/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

017: Driving Best Practice - with Melissa Collet

On today's episode, we’re chatting with Professional Standards Director of the Chartered Insurance Institute (Cii), Melissa Collett. Melissa has an extensive background in consumer insurance and legal issues. Melissa works incredibly hard to raise awareness of best practice and to drive ethical behaviour through engagement with the professional and external stakeholders.

• LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
  Making changes to the corporate chartered status has helped the broking community to focus their concertation on their customers.
• During the current pandemic, now may be a good time for firms, time efficiently and financially, to achieve chartered status.
• The highlight of the year for Cii was the launch of our Personal Lines Learning Pathways.
• People and employees on furlough can use this time as an opportunity to be learning, training and extending on their personal knowledge.
• Cii have introduced new e-learning modules on their e-learning platform, Broker Assess, that include materials around Coronavirus, how this impacts business interruption and also some modules around remote working.
• Cii have been working hard on their social media presence during this time to connect with our members and have done so by sending weekly magazines and sharing a wealth of materials online.
• Their new mentoring scheme, E-Connect is a complete online mentoring scheme that promises to give all of the benefits of a mentor relationship.

BEST MOMENTS:

‘’…What we landed on was that every year it's a complete application, a fresh, so that we can check all the details all over again to make sure that they meet our criteria for corporate chartered status. But when we look, when we were looking at this in the current crisis and with firms coming up for renewal, we felt this was probably an unnecessary administrative burden for them at this current moment in time.’’

‘’One of the highlights of this year so far before lockdown was the launch of our personal lines learning pathways. This will appeal to a lot of broking firms out there who deal with personal lines and it is free online courses for anyone and touching on personal lines. Soo this is something, again, is the perfect opportunity for people to dip into these learning materials, many of which are free, and then see if they want to take the journey forward.’’

‘’People may not realise, but people who are on furlough can actually still be learning during this time… They can actually use this opportunity for training.’’

‘’We have loads of opportunities for people on furlough. For instance, they can use our e-learning platform, Broker Assess. This is something that many brokers already use. We've introduced new materials and modules on about Coronavirus… how it impacts on business interruption and also just modules around remote working and how to do that effectively.’’

‘’…What I miss and what I think some members might miss is the networking that you can do at events and that we'll miss by going online, but we know we're finding ways of networking online now as well.’’

‘’For anybody listening, check your CII settings and check that you have opted in, because if you haven't, you're missing out on a wealth of interesting and informative information.’’

RESOURCES:

Cii Website: https://www.cii.co.uk/

Corporate chartered status renewal process made easier.
https://www.cii.co.uk/membership/join-us/chartered/corporate-chartered/chartered-content-hub/articles/helping-chartered-firms-with-renewal-during-the-coronavirus-crisis/91655
FAQs for learners how COVID-19 is affecting their exam dates, coursework submissions and study text renewals.
https://www.cii.co.uk/about-us/coronavirus-updates/           
Training opportunities during furlough through e-learning product, Broker Assess. New modules: Coronavirus Awareness and Remote Working.
https://brokerassess.cii.co.uk
Free Personal Lines Online Courses: https://www.cii.co.uk/learning/personal-lines/
Remote invigilation, meaning brokers can continue studying for, and sit their exams at home.
https://www.cii.co.uk/news-insight/media/press-releases/articles/cii-ensures-candidates-can-be-assessed-and-stay-covid-19-safe/92342
E-connect: our online mentoring scheme.
https://www.cii.co.uk/membership/benefits/connect/connect-e-mentoring/
Society of Insurance Broking – coronavirus hub page, wealth of CPD opportunities and good practice guides.
https://www.sib.org.uk/
Professional Focus conference series – all online.
https://www.ciiprofessionalfocus.co.uk/
Financial support for brokers who need financial assistance to study.
https://brokerassess.cii.co.uk/FindLearning#tab=Find_Learning&pageno=1&selectedcategory=97738f71-2e9c-4bda-aa97-abb201702ce2

ABOUT THE HOST

Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.

If you would like Sarah to help you develop an integrated marketing strategy, using state of the art concepts, then please book a free 20 min call via Calendly 

 

Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

 

ABOUT THE GUEST
Melissa Collett is the Professional Standards Director at Chartered Insurance Institute (Cii) and comes from an extensive background in consumer insurance and legal issues. She spent over a decade of her career at the Financial Ombudsman service, held directorship at Fairer Finance and also sits as a tribunal judge. Melissa is also a qualified solicitor, having specialised in insurance law.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissacollett/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

016: Compliance and the FCA - with Roland Romata

On today's episode, we’re talking to Roland Romata of RR Compliance Associates and partner to Boston Tullis. Roland has over 10 years’ experience working in compliance, initially in the SRA field before moving to FCA regulated sectors. Roland’s focus and passion is in designing and developing bespoke compliance practices for firms using automated technology and IT solutions to drive resource requirements for efficient compliance practices.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• The FCA have made a number of changes to their rules which should be checked and implemented to firms in the industry if they haven’t done so already.
• Some firms may find it difficult to implement the FCA’s new support packages and measures depending on the line of product the brokers offer to the customers – it’s important to access your customers profiles and be mindful who the support packages relate to.
• Firms need to be mindful of the financial implication of the new support packages and measures as well as the affordability. It doesn’t pose to be a simple transition but one that firms should be considering across the sector.
• Being compliant with all of the rules that have been in place prior to the pandemic is as important as remaining compliant with the customer’s best interests. Brokers and firms in the industry should focus on accessing their risk.
• Firms really need to look at what type of data is being made available to individuals when they work from home from a Data Protection front.

BEST MOMENTS:

‘’…The FDA has made a good number of publications, created a dedicated webpage for businesses as well as consumers on their website, and firms are able to sign up to covid-19 related newsletters as well. We would encourage firms to do so if they haven't done it yet, as there are a lot of changes are happening and support being put forth by the FCA and they don't follow the normal consultation root of being a publication of feedback.’’

‘’…to give a practical consideration - individuals with car insurance, some people may pay additional premium because they use their car for work purposes. Now naturally, if individuals don't travel to have face to face meetings or to the office, then that may mean some reduction in their premium. The FCA would expect firms to have that flexibility in place now and offer the possibility to policyholders to reduce the premium by adjusting the risk that they present to the insurer currently.’’

‘’…What we have seen our end is an increased request from firms to do an informal review of their arrangements as it stands at the moment. What this typically includes is to look at the risk assessment as it is at the moment, make sure it includes everything, and then review some of the associated processes to make sure it has the right level of flexibility to remain compliant with the current decentralised workforce.’’

‘’It really is down to risk management, knowing what's happening within the business and having that management information coming to the board of directors or the individuals to satisfy themselves that yes, everything is happening the right way… so eliminating stress as much as possible is pretty much down to making sure everything is still working for the customer, we're doing the absolute best we can and if there is anything unusual in terms of what we do compared to what we used to, to have that thoroughly documented.’’

RESOURCES:

R&R Compliance Associates Website: https://www.rrcompliance.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.

If you would like Sarah to help you develop an integrated marketing strategy, using state of the art concepts, then please book a free 20 min call via Calendly 

 

Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Roland’s experience includes directorship of independent brokers, working for the financial ombudsman service and in the last few years, providing compliance consultancy to the insurance and financial services sector. RR Compliance Associates was funded to bring a dynamic and collaborative approach to compliance consultancy and the team represents over 30 years’ experience in an FCA regulated environment. Roland’s mission is to provide both the solutions and the know-how to compliance procedures using automated technology and IT solutions within the insurance and financial services industry.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roland-romata/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

015: Breaking Barriers to Growth - with Sam Lindley

On today's episode, we talk to business coaching expert Sam Lindley of Cloud9 Business Coaching. Sam’s experience is in SME businesses - coaching mindset and supporting business owners across a variety of industries. Sam works with individuals to overcome mindset problems and helps them to develop knowledge and skills required for successful entrepreneurship. Through Sam, we can learn how to break through barriers to growth and discover a community of supportive ideas about growing your business.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• 
  The effect of the pandemic initially slowed business owners down in their approach to growing their businesses. Now that we’re settling into this new way of working, businesses are starting to bounce back and continue as they were.
• It takes 21 days to form a new habit and the lockdown has helped business owners to focus working on their business rather than in it.
• Mindset and motivation are the key things that are holding people and business owners back so focusing on one thing to do every day helps you to be disciplined.
• Every day you should tackle one thing that makes you feel positive. Positivity breeds productivity which in turn, breeds a positive mindset.
• As a leader, socialising and being able to keep up your team’s morale is incredibly important. Putting some form of bonding activities in place, even in lockdown, can help with the motivation of your team.
• Use this period to identify where the gaps in your business are. Make that a focus so that your business comes out of this pandemic stronger than it was before.

BEST MOMENTS:

‘’We're far more used to and adapted now to this new working and we're ready [to buy]. We're ready to do business as usual. We're ready to crack on because we've realised this doesn't stop and if we do and we stop innovating and stop growing and developing, then we're not going to survive this pandemic and get through lockdown and come back into some sort of normality.’’

‘’There are things outside of our control, which again, is really hard for control freaks such as myself to deal with. So just taking one thing each day and being able to tick that off is a success. That one thing, for me, has to be something that's really going to move my business forward.’’

‘’…there's a massive amount of accountability, a huge amount of holding the mirror up for the right reasons and for genuine reasons. The support amongst the group [the mastermind] has just been incredible. Your support network is key to your own motivation, your own self-discipline, and it's certainly been a lifeline for me over the last six or seven weeks.’’

‘’The beauty of the mastermind is that you've got people, other business owners who may know something you don't know and they share those learnings with you. The amount of technology that I have learned in 12 months from my mastermind peers has just been absolutely incredible. I could honestly say that my business is probably 70% more efficient because of the new platforms that I've been learning through others in the group.’’

‘’Everybody is going to be looking at ways that this has improved the efficiency of their business and also in the way that we look after our planet. I know that’s made a huge impact on people who, for work, were driving for three hours, up and down the motorway to go to a meeting when it can be done from home very successfully.’’

‘’Every single person is dealing with this their own personal way and brings their own personal fears, or anxieties or problems, so that your brain may not be working at its usual hundred percent capacity.’’

RESOURCES:

Cloud9 Business Coaching Website: http://www.cloud9businesscoaching.co.uk/

10 Point Business Check: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/cloud9

ABOUT THE HOST

Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.

If you would like Sarah to help you develop an integrated marketing strategy, using state of the art concepts, then please book a free 20 min call via Calendly 

 

Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Sam begun her career as an associate MD for a mortgage packaging company and her role largely focused on motivating business owners of small to medium sized businesses. It was here she developed a real understanding and love of small businesses and their challenges, almost as if it was her destiny.... From here, she formed Cloud9 Business Coaching and now works closely with SME businesses to fill the gaps in their businesses, help them to successfully grow and holds them accountable. Her mastermind groups have been largely recognised as successful by those that join them and Sam is now renowned for her coaching strategies with a number of very happy clients.

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/samlindley

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

014: Capacity in the Market - with Clive Nathan

On today's episode, we talk to CEO of Global Risk Partners, Clive Nathan. Clive will be known to most people throughout the industry as he’s had a very distinguished career starting in 1987. Clive currently has responsibility for GRP’s Underwriting division and in this episode, will be talking to us about COVID-19, its effects on the MGA marketing and Clive’s positivity for the future of the industry and economy.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• The effect COVID-19 has on the industry will be dictated largely by what happens with insurers and insurers will have a massive part to play in how the industry progresses through these uncertain times.
• MGA sectors are seeing a reduced number of claims which is both interesting and surprising given the current industry circumstances.
• Encouraging the use of technology is important, particularly within accessing damage for claims to avoid further delays for our clients and their cash flows.
• As an industry, we should recognise that not all claims are going to be COVID-19 related.
• The insurance industry can become quite pinned on rates but at the moment, we need to be mindful of what our clients can afford whilst still wanting to make money for insurance.
• Amongst the current circumstances, there will be opportunity specifically in potential acquisitions.

BEST MOMENTS:

‘’…if these pay outs enter the billions and capacity hardens to unprecedented levels, it affects everybody so there is a balance here which I don’t think people outside of the insurance industry understands.’’

‘’…things like new business is going to slow down and I think that's been true for probably all brokers at the moment but on the reverse side, again retention has been better because I think people are concentrating on running their businesses, not necessarily on looking to get new quotes on their insurance.’’

‘’…we look at our insurer relationships and underwriting as GRP across the piece, but also recognising that as MGAs, we're running virtual insurance companies as well. So yes, we're pushing some degree of rate through, but we're also being quite mindful of the fact that now is not the time to be driving too much rate increase through where on those products, we can see that it's going to have a major impact on the insured.’’

‘’There are indications that we're going to start talking about easing the lockdown in the next couple of weeks. I think if that happens, because potentially this could have gone on for months and months, I think then you would have sustained damage to the economy.’’

‘’I think that if we can start to ease the lockdown sensibly over the next couple of months and businesses can get back up, then I think entrepreneurs will emerge.’’

‘’I don't think the opportunities will dry up. I think the demographics, the challenges of regulation, the challenges of technology that remain in the broking community mean that often people are looking for a home where they can retain their brand and they can get some support and help.’’

RESOURCES:

Global Risk Partners Website: https://www.grpgroup.co.uk/about-our-group/our-senior-team/clive-nathan-chief-executive-underwriting/

ABOUT THE HOST

Boston Tullis is a network of industry professionals working with Insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings. Boston Tullis helps with marketing, financial planning. panel development and more.

Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/

ABOUT THE GUEST

Clive begun his career in 1987 as a graduate entrant with Commercial Union, where he had a number of different roles. He joined AXA UK in 1999 as National Broker Director and was involved in the acquisition of GRE which resulted in him becoming Regional Director. Clive is now responsible for GRP’s Underwriting division. He joined GRP in April 2018 from Primary Group, where he fulfilled a variety of senior roles including Non-Executive Chairman of Rural Insurance and Executive Chairman of One Commercial.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clive-nathan-00943333/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

013: COVID 19 Claims - with Alan Chandler

Today’s episode is particularly topical and has proved to be of huge interest to the industry. Alan Chandler gives us the run down on the future state of the industry and whether it can survive COVID 19 claims. Alan’s background for the last eleven years has been in training the insurance industry, across all levels of CII qualifications. He has trained well over a thousand people to become ACII qualified including six individuals who have achieved the best ACII completion in the whole of the United Kingdom, he has also trained many national prize winners. Alans repertoire of knowledge is vast, and Boston Tullis are delighted to have teamed up with Alan to offer cutting edge, tailored training for firms to support their learning and growth.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Understand the backdrop to the UK insurance starting point for COVID 19 and why COVID 19 recession will hit harder and longer than the banking crisis.
• Understand the effect that COVID 19 may have on the insurance market and how that will play out across many markets, particularly high-risk niches. Understand why and which industries may struggle to get cover at all.
• Understand the importance of training in these uncertain times across the firm for all client facing staff.

BEST MOMENTS:

“…It could be around 5% of policy holders may well claim big losses due to COVID 19 and these costs could run into billions, hitting at a time when the industry was already in a distressed state.”

“…I think for brokers, a niche is absolutely the way forward and get yourself really well known in particular sector. But if you are given underwriting pen, make sure you use the pen properly”

“..then there's a realisation that as the virus hit the UK, business interruption policies may well be pulled in. As they look more closely at the wordings of their policies, there is a sudden realisation that actually there will be on for a lot more claims than they realised and some of those claims will be a lot larger than they realised.’’

‘’…the reality is that the insurance industry as a whole will take a hit and taking a hit will mean they will reduce the capacity on offer, that will in turn reduce the capacity on offer by the primary insurers in the UK.’’

‘’…there are going to be smaller companies that will really struggle unless they actually embrace a new way of thinking in terms of risk management that can actually demonstrate to an underwriter that they're above average risk.’’

RESOURCES:

Boston Tullis have teamed up with Alan Chandler are offer a part training webinar, tailored to your brokerage covering all you need to know about:

• Episode one - Bi and Covid-19
• Episode two - Coverage issues on all policies relating to Covid-19
• Episode three - The perfect storm why a very hard market is on the way and how to best prepare.

If interested please contact sarah.myerscough@bostontullis.co.uk to discuss.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.

If you would like Sarah to help you develop an integrated marketing strategy, using state of the art concepts, then please book a free 20 min call via Calendly 

 

Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Alan Chandler is the CEO of Alan Chandler training. Alan has presented across Europe on many technical subjects to companies such as Allianz, Zurich, Ayaan Marche and Willis. Having a strong operational management background within three major global companies, Alan has run underwriting, broking and claims functions before focusing on training insurance professionals for the last 11 years. He’s also been involved in setting up diploma and advanced diploma programs both in the UK and Ireland.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-chandler-a80a11182/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

012: Actuarial Modelling, Pricing and Reserving for Commercial and Niche markets - with David Hughes

On today's episode, we chat with Managing Director of Mulberry Risk, David Hughes. David has over 20 years’ experience working for various Lloyds syndicates such as AIG and Marsh. He talks with us about his expertise within actuarial modelling, pricing and reserving for commercial and niche markets. David has been busy putting together a unique offering for the MGA marketing in the form of Mulberry Risk – he explains more about this on this podcast.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Understanding and having the ability to support our client’s challenges is a fundamental part of your business.
• Securing capacity is a top challenge in the MGA market and we need to recognise this as an active market.
• The MGA market has been a hard market. Now is the time to create a corrective strategy and be clear on that particular strategy too.
• Having constructive feedback from your employees helps your business to grow, your employees to nourish and your clients retain in business.
• Your marketing strategy is what gets your brand out there. It’s about experimenting but also looking for concise results and using that to its advantage.

BEST MOMENTS:

‘’It's very easy to sit there and think ‘what value does the broker bring?’ but a broker’s job is incredibly difficult. They've got to satisfy their clients - and that's quite a vicious world.’’

‘’… So as an MGA, don't hide your results. you've grown your business and if your results aren't quite where they should be, then own those numbers.’’

‘’We constantly try to put ourselves in our client’s shoes… what are their challenges? what keeps them awake at night? how can we help support them around that? And I think, from a broker’s perspective and an MGA is to really put yourself in your client’s mind and say, what is it that they're challenged with and how are the services I'm offering helping? how can my services help them? And I think when you do that, it all of a sudden starts to change the relationship.’’

‘’but actually, when you understand that underwriting philosophy, that brokers strategy, it all fits. It all fits basically, that specificity that that idea of really being focused, and they're not trying to be the biggest MGA… they’re trying to be the best…’’

RESOURCES:

Mulberry Risk Website: https://www.mulberryrisk.com/the-team

ABOUT THE HOST

Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.

If you would like Sarah to help you develop an integrated marketing strategy, using state of the art concepts, then please book a free 20 min call via Calendly 

 

Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

 

ABOUT THE GUEST

David Hughes is the Managing Director of MGA focused firm, Mulberry Risk. A specialist agency providing technology, analytical/actuarial and capacity management services to the MGA and small insurer sector, David boasts of 20 year’s experience within the industry with a wealth of knowledge in helping his clients outperform incumbent insurers.

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/dapahughes

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

011: Risk Management and Value Adding - with Stuart Rootham

On today's episode, we chat with Aston Lark Group Managing Director, Stuart Rootham. Stuart discusses his 25 years’ experience within the insurance industry at senior management level and his advocacy of the client centric approach. Stuart also shares with us his thoughts on life in the industry during and after the covid-19 pandemic and how he thinks this will shape the insurance industry in the future.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• The most common areas that brokers look to add value is around risk management.
• Having a Business Continuity Plan ('BCP') is vital. A recovery plan should also be created as part of a BCP too.
• Communication is key. In tough times, keep your account executives talking to your clients – not just about their products but also about emerging risks.
• Cyber insurance is becoming increasingly popular – there are some exposures that many clients might not be covered for.
• Coronavirus is an opportunity to offer business support, rather than additional add-on products. Identifying issues for your clients is the key to ensuring best practice and customer service.
• Look for additional way to support your clients. Be proactive in offering temporary solutions to their problems, even if you aren’t sure of the definitive answers.

BEST MOMENTS:

‘’As a business, we are seeing more and more data related issues where it feels like your network is coming under attack. We're a reasonably sized business but it just feels it's more and more out there and we should be aware.’’

‘’Typically, I think the challenge of brokers is, can you make it into a profit stream? if you're going to invest heavily into people, this becomes really important.’’

‘’Whether it's talking about cyber, whether it's talking about risk management services - it should be the front-end part of what we're talking about. It’s about that evaluation and identification of risks and what they're doing to mitigate and how we can help them control them.’’

‘’Just because you haven't got those in-house services doesn't mean you can’t be a small broker and you can’t give your client really good advice on how they manage their health and safety exposures.’’

‘’Coronavirus is a huge unknown at the moment. I guess it's that ‘is there going to be an economic shock’? There will undoubtably be a ripple effect.’’

‘’Understanding what your clients issues are and being really sensitive to that as well be proactive about not going in with the mindset of ‘right, how can I protect my fee on that client?’.‘’

RESOURCES:

Aston Lark Website: https://www.astonlark.com/stuart-rootham

ABOUT THE HOST

Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.

If you would like Sarah to help you develop an integrated marketing strategy, using state of the art concepts, then please book a free 20 min call via Calendly 

 

Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Stuart Rootham is the Group Managing Director of insurance broker giant, Aston Lark. Stuart began his career within the insurance industry 25 years ago - the majority of his experience being at R K Harrison. Stuart is responsible for leading the group to ensure that they are providing a first-class broking service. Stuart is also the responsible head for the HR and Marketing as well as their operation in Ireland.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-rootham-acii-8b393410/?originalSubdomain=uk

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

010: The Challenges for Small Brokers - with Sara Fardon

On today's episode, Sara talks with us about her vast and varied experience in the insurance industry and how she believes the future of insurance will be shaped. Sara has been instrumental in the growth of Willis Tower Watson Network and will share with us with some advice and tips on the challenges that small brokers do and will continue to face along with why she believes it’s important to build strong relationships with likeminded industry professionals.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Building close relationships as a network both professionally and personally is an integral part of growing your business – not every network is focused on competing.
• Keeping up to date in adapting to the marketplace and adhering to the regulatory landscape within the relevant framework.
• Foreseeing the changes to ongoing regulation is an important part of business upkeep for insurance brokers over the coming years.
• Technology has massively changed the way in which insurance brokers do business, but the world is still both analogue and digital – success in the market is a blend of both.
• Creating an open culture on mental health has to happen in order for us to still maintain a healthy work/life balance within the industry.

BEST MOMENTS:

‘’Being able to network with likeminded individuals in the same industry completely outweighs that of thinking that they should be competing against each other in that particular market segment.’’

‘’Brokers are always facing challenges because the market changes all the time. The one thing brokers are good at is that they are entrepreneurial, and they will evolve, adapt and thrive.’’

‘’The insurer markets will continue to change because insurers want to make sure they’re as efficient as they possibly can be and will always focus where they get the best return.’’

‘’I call us the Digital Broker Network… we use digital tools for our members such as online portals and CRM systems, but we shouldn’t forget the old fashioned ‘picking up the phone and speaking to someone’ tool.’’

‘’There is much more activity across the board regarding diversity which is applaudable – nobody wants to feel like they’ve achieved something because they tick a box.’’

RESOURCES:

Willis Tower Watson Network Website: https://wtwnetworks.com/team/executive-team

ABOUT THE HOST

Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.

If you would like Sarah to help you develop an integrated marketing strategy, using state of the art concepts, then please book a free 20 min call via Calendly 

 

Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

ABOUT THE GUEST

Sara Fardon is the Managing Director of insurance broker network giant, Willis Tower Watson Network. Sara began her insurance industry career at Eagle Star and then moved to GA Bonus before moving to Willis. She’s been a part of Willis Tower Watson Network’s team since its inception in 1999 and became Managing Director of the firm in 2011 – and is now responsible for all aspects of the network business. She has recently celebrated her 20 year anniversary with the company.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-fardon-6767aa31/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

009: Blockchain & the Insurance Industry - with Ranvir Saggu

On today's episode, Ranvir talks about his 25 years of experience with the insurance industry. Ranvir has spent the last 4 years working to solve some of the insurance industry’s biggest challenges. You can expect to hear all about Ranvir’s success in providing a supply chain that operates much more efficiently through technology and which, in turn, will provide effective solutions to the industry and its future.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Understand the ways in which technology can enable better customer service for the end user.
• Think differently about the status quo of back end administration and look for ways to work more efficiently.
• Summarise how blockchain can support the user experience in the insurance industry. “Blockchain takes out all of the operational friction between client, broker and insurer. It minimises common mistakes made by users in the industry.”
• Create awareness around blockchain technology use in the future of the insurance industry.

BEST MOMENTS:

‘’The first broker to have used our product said it saves him 90% in back office cost savings. He has border, no cash reconciliation and he doesn't need to worry about his broker orders. He doesn't need to worry about its compliance with his TOBA. All those things are done for him automatically.”

‘’We don’t focus on how to save our customers money; we focus on providing our customers with the freedom to choose what they do with their additional profitability.’’

‘’...our system provides a lot of functionality. I've also worked in the insurance industry for a long time so I know that people will have legacy systems and different types of systems that they all need to be connected up to. It's up to the broker and the other system providers to say, well, actually, we can see how this infrastructure works and it isn't a threat.’’

‘’We've created the platform so that there is a front end product configurator, in which you can build your schemes or your products fairly quickly. It's a generic way of doing it, but it's fairly quick for us and the cost of that is fairly low.‘’

RESOURCES:

Blocksure Website: https://www.blocksure.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership.

If you would like Sarah to help you develop an integrated marketing strategy, using state of the art concepts, then please book a free 20 min call via Calendly 

 

Website: https://bostontullis.co.uk/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation

ABOUT THE GUEST

Ranvir Saggu is the CEO of Blocksure - an insurance solution company built entirely on blockchain capabilities. He has over 25 years’ experience in the industry and has driven growth and performance improvement across composite insurers, MGAs, brokers and claims TPAs. He is accomplished in change-management delivering large transformational programmes and building high-performance teams.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ranvir-saggu-a2604528/

Evaluation Link: https://s.bostontullis.co.uk/s/podcastevaluation