Welcome to the final episode of this series of the BIBA Pod, in which we are very pleased to be speaking with Leon Carford, Head of Risk and Compliance at Atlanta Group! In conversation with Sarah Myerscough, he explains why risk and compliance need not be considered a hindrance to doing good business, and how a reframing of the way in which we understand them can bolster better decision-making. For Leon, we should always be asking ourselves how we can get the most out of our risk and compliance function, be it internal or external. He argues that it should not be cornered as a box-ticking exercise, and should inform everything a business does. This is particularly key with regard to consumer duty, which for Leon has neatly synthesised the core objective of delivering a good outcome for customers at the heart of everything we do. Risk and compliance is not a separate function in and of itself, and can help to drive innovation. Similarly, in discussing his involvement with iCAN and raising diversity and inclusion awareness, Leon suggests that there is a business case for implementing this often-siloed topic at the strategic business level.

Quotes of the Episode

“I don't see risk and compliance as a sort of business prevention function, I think it's a real key part of being a good commercial business. In a competitive environment, you want to equip yourself with the best tools that you can to give yourself an advantage. Risk and compliance is really something that you should have in your toolkit. You should be sharpening the tools that you've got there… Risk isn't really about risk registers, or heat maps. It's about actually supporting the business to make really good and strong informed decisions. I think if we reframe risk slightly, it gives it that that real sense of importance and really helps to show why it’s important.”

“It's really, really important that brokers involve risk and compliance early in projects. I can be working with finance, and then an hour later, I'm with ops. That holistic view really helps to support a project, so you're not just thinking in that vertical of ‘what's this product trying to deliver?’, but ‘what's the knock-on effects on a in a wider sense?’”

Key Takeaways

Risk and compliance are key tools in your armoury for ensuring you are driving your business forward

As risk is ultimately about managing uncertainties, it can and should inform everything a business does at a strategic level

Risk should not be seen as a separate policing function, but an integral part of a business’ strategic decision-making

There is a direct positive bottom line profit impact if you have a diverse business

About the Guest

Based in Manchester, Leon Carford has worked in insurance for around ten years. He initially worked in various internal audit teams before joining the Ardonagh Group. He now works as Head of Risk and Compliance at the Atlanta Group, a subsidiary of Ardonagh Retail.

Leon’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leon-carford/

About the Host

Sarah Myerscough is the Chief Ideas Officer at Macaii, formerly Boston Tullis. She hosts/co-hosts several podcasts and is known for her knack in connecting with people. Sarah excels in bringing out the best for video, podcast, and live events, helping clients showcase the human side of their business.

Sarah is passionate about the evolving dynamics of the insurance industry and enjoys conversing with innovators, trailblazers, and long-term advocates of change.

Resources

BIBA Conference 2024: https://thebibaconference.org.uk

The high-net-worth insurance market is facing turbulent times, with the multiple strains of the COVID aftermath, ongoing global conflicts and fluctuating exchange rates causing property values to oscillate significantly.

In this episode, Sarah discusses these issues with iprism Underwriting’s Aaron Woodhams. He suggests that brokers should recommend that their high net-worth clients increase the valuations of their property from every 3-5 years to once every 1-3 to avoid any underinsurance-related losses. Furthermore, he explains how iprism Underwriting remains committed to maintaining consistent policy pricing despite this current economic turbulence, and how they aim to collaborate with brokers in this process. iprism will have a big presence at BIBA Conference this year at stand C64. If you specialise in high-net-worth insurance or have any queries, the iprism team would love to chat with you!

Quotes of the Episode

“Getting valuations is so vital, and they're not too expensive. You can start with a straightforward desktop valuation really from £150, up to £1000 for a surveyor coming in and doing a full valuation. So, the prices can vary from a desktop to a full site visit, but I think it'd be the best bit of money you've ever spent. Brokers advising their clients [should] really stress that: the importance of claims inflation. We’ve had COVID, we’ve had the wars going on, we’ve got exchange rates going all over the place (a lot of these things are imported), and the cost factors are just going through the roof. So, the only thing I can suggest is to keep those valuations coming in.”

“Realistically, it'd be very hard for an insurer to decline a claim if [their property had been valued within] one to three years. Morally, the policyholder has done the right thing. If I hadn’t had anything valued for 10 years, you could argue that there could be problems. If, morally, the policyholder is doing the right thing. It'd be very hard for an insurer to decline a claim.”

Key Takeaways

Brokers should conduct a full fact-find for their high-net-worth policyholders to ensure valuations are always kept up to date

With indexation at an all-time high of 18%, brokers should recommend that their high-net-worth clients have their property valued every 1-3 years to avoid losses via underinsurance in the event of a claim

Between 70-85% of properties are likely underinsured

iprism Underwriting evolves with changing exposures to provide suitable policies and coverage for brokers to support their policyholders

About the Guest

Aaron Woodhams is the Chief Underwriting Officer of iprism Underwriting. Having previously held senior roles at Arch Insurance, Axiom and Allianz, in this position Aaron oversees the day-to-day management of underwriting across all lines of the business, and collaborates with its insurer partners.

Aaron’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-woodhams-dip-cii-9b22a2109/

About the Host

Sarah Myerscough is the Chief Ideas Officer at Macaii, formerly Boston Tullis. She hosts/co-hosts several podcasts and is known for her knack in connecting with people. Sarah excels in bringing out the best for video, podcast, and live events, helping clients showcase the human side of their business.

Sarah is passionate about the evolving dynamics of the insurance industry and enjoys conversing with innovators, trailblazers, and long-term advocates of change.

Resources

BIBA Conference 2024: https://thebibaconference.org.uk

iprism Underwriting: https://www.iprism.co.uk/

Innovation across any industry inevitably has consequences for the way in which it must be insured. We live in times of great change and uncertainty, with many of our major industries currently being revolutionised either due to changing working habits, climate regulatory pressures or new emergent technologies such as AI. In this episode, Sarah speaks with QBE Insurance’s David Jones about how innovation across an array of industries is creating emerging risks, and how as brokers we can equip our clients against them. For example, the motor and construction industries are both undergoing seismic shifts as they respond to the demands of sustainability and government climate pledges. However, the emergence of lithium-ion batteries and new materials such as cross laminated timber pose significant risks which must be accounted for by brokers and insurers. David asserts that it is crucial for brokers to maintain both a macro and micro perspective on how innovation across different industries may be inadvertently creating new risks for their clients.

Quotes of the Episode

“We've got to cast our eye much further into the future. With AI, the challenge there is really difficult to understand and capture. I think we're just trying to work out what it means to us now, as an industry. It has benefits in terms of how we operate, how we process information, how we research and how we transact insurance policies. Those are very near-term benefits. But the future it holds is all around data usage, trends-spotting, and hopefully being a really early warning system to some of the changing risks that we see. So, I think it can probably help us in terms of looking forwards.”

“The advice we'd have for brokers and it’s something QBE aspire to as well, is just getting really close to the frontline, understanding what's impacting our customers, where they're seeing innovation, how they're managing their risk… Just being really close and proximate to the changing risks that are in the short-term, looking after how they approach their business, I think it's really, really important. Also, there's that point that innovation is not just for big companies, it sounds like Gen AI and all of this is really big multinational, global concerns. It's not; all companies are innovating; all companies are impacted by this change. So, recognise, it's on the macro, but also on the more local scale.”

Key Takeaways

The insurance industry typically responds to innovation through the rear-view mirror, but we now find ourselves in a very rapidly shifting landscape of change and must account for newly emergent risks

Most non-climate related claims are related to human error in one form or another, which may be affected by blurring of our work and home lives through flexible working

65% of the jobs our children will do don’t yet exist today

When we identify a change in any industry, we must ask ourselves ‘What does it mean for our clients?’

About the Guest

David Jones is the Director of Underwriting for Property and Packaged Business at QBE Insurance. In this role, he looks after QBE’s first party lines and commercial package insurance across the UK. He has over 20 years of underwriting experience across various specialisms and risks.

David’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-jones-5b126863/

About the Host

Sarah Myerscough is the Chief Ideas Officer at Macaii, formerly Boston Tullis. She hosts/co-hosts several podcasts and is known for her knack in connecting with people. Sarah excels in bringing out the best for video, podcast, and live events, helping clients showcase the human side of their business.

Sarah is passionate about the evolving dynamics of the insurance industry and enjoys conversing with innovators, trailblazers, and long-term advocates of change.

Resources

BIBA Conference 2024: https://thebibaconference.org.uk

QBE: https://www.qbe.com/

QBE – The Unpredictability Index: https://qbeeurope.com/news-and-events/reports/the-unpredictability-index/