As a former rugby player, SLE Worldwide managing director Brad French has seen how the world of sport analysis has been transformed by the growth of digital data tracking technologies. For the insurance industry veteran, an ability to provide current, relevant and tangible data is one of the things that helps to separate his underwriting agency from the rest.
“There’s more technology than ever used these days to track and analyse data, but it’s no good if it’s outdated,” French said to Insurance Business. “Unless it’s effectively real-time data, insurance data becomes old the moment you look at it. This is why we’ve invested in insurtech solutions that allow us to provide clients with things like injury statistics in real time and, overall, improve the accuracy of their risk selection.”
French entered the insurance industry back in 1993, working in a sports-related capacity at Rollings Hudig Hall – which would become Aon. He quickly worked his way up the ladder and was running SLE, which was owned by Aon at the time, by 1996. He eventually purchased SLE outright in 2008, and has continued to operate in the sport, leisure and entertainment insurance sectors ever since.
In French’s view, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a variety of impacts on these industries, and SLE Worldwide’s clients, in Australia.
“Restrictions around COVID-19 certainly reduced the number of games and overall participation rates in a number of winter sports here, but I’ve worked with health departments and other organisations to help demonstrate the benefits, and relative lack of risk, involved with getting kids back out there playing,” he remarked.
“Sports seems to be on the recovery but for the entertainment industry, it’s been a really difficult time for many. Some of the artists, from what I’ve witnessed, are getting by with online concerts and that sort of thing, but for those who work behind the scenes, they’ve often found it impossible to get JobKeeper since they might be sole traders and don’t necessarily qualify.”
During this tumultuous time, SLE Worldwide has doubled down on its commitment to cultivating in-depth client relationships – a rarity for a managing general underwriter, according to French.
“We don’t just interact with our clients through brokers, but instead go to that extra length and get to know them personally,” he said. “It’s a hardening market and so we want to be there to explain to our clients what they can expect from movements in the market.”
“Insurance is a people-based industry, after all,” French added.
