The vast majority of underwriting agencies see improvements in broker loyalty as a key metric to grow their businesses and brokers have been urged to back agencies and grow together.
The Underwriting Agencies Australia/New Zealand CEO Survey 2016 found that 87% of respondents ranked improving performance and loyalty of brokers as the most important aspect of their business with 62.2% seeing broker loyalty and performance as their biggest challenge.
When compared with last year, 10% more respondents believe that improving performance and loyalty of brokers is the most important aspect of their business.
Lyndon Turner, chairman of UAC and CEO of
NM Insurance, said that brokers will be key for growth for underwriting agencies and urged brokers to work alongside firms for mutual benefit.
“The majority of the UAC membership has broker partners as their core distribution platform so brokers are critical to underwriting agencies,” Turner told
Insurance Business.
“The development of opportunities comes from creating value to the broker, making decisions and helping their clients.
“Talk with us, let us know more about you, learn about us, and let’s grow together. Relationships and trust are at the cornerstone of the insurance market, let’s work together to and grow together.”
With underwriting agencies facing more pressure from both new entrants and incumbents,
Gary Marshall, chief executive of
Pen Underwriting, said that underwriting agencies “need to focus more on the development of suburban and rural brokers” as these relationships will be key for future growth.
The use of technology and digital by underwriting issues was highlighted as a hot topic in the latest report and Peter Dovhun, managing director of
Gratex, told
Insurance Business that while technology is important for the industry the survey highlights that the human touch is still sought after.
“Our survey highlighted that insurance remains a ‘people business’ with technology playing an essential, supporting role,” Dovhun said.
“Technology and software play a significant role in enabling the key people to do their ‘back office’ job quicker and more efficiently as well as providing them with an instant insight into how their business is performing. This gives them more time for face to face meetings and discussions with their customers.”
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