RSA : Everything you need to know

RSA: Everything you need to know

Corporate headquarters: Headquarters: 20 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 3AU, United Kingdom
Founded: 1710
Employees: 13,500+
Countries of operation: UK, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Spain, United Arab Emirates
Gross written premiums: £4.294 billion
Net written premiums: £3.293 billion
Net premiums earned: £3.207 billion
Specialties: Personal and commercial insurance
Key people: Mark Hodges (chairman), Ken Norgrove (CEO, RSA UK & International), Charlotte Jones (chief financial officer), Alastair Barbour (independent non-executive director), Claire Bousfield (independent non-executive director), Sally Bridgeland (independent non-executive director), Charles Brindamour (non-executive director), Claude Dussault (non-executive director), Rob Leary (non-executive director), Andy Parsons (independent non-executive director)

With over 300 years of experience, RSA is one of the world’s leading multinational insurance groups and it now serves nine million customers in over 100 countries, with net written premiums of £3.3 billion in 2021. RSA aims to provide peace of mind to both businesses and individuals and prides itself on consistently anticipating and exceeding customer expectations.

RSA was first formed as Sun Insurance in 1706, with the first Sun Fire Office established in 1710. Founder, Charles Povey was inspired by witnessing the devastation caused by the Great Fire of London to create an insurance company that is now an internationally recognised FTSE 100 business.

In 1959, the Sun Insurance Office merged with the Alliance Assurance Company, and in 1996 the resulting company merged with Royal Insurance Holdings to become the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group. In 2008, this business became the RSA Insurance Group. In 2021, RSA lost its ‘Plc’ status after being acquired by Intact Financial Corporation (IFC).

The products of RSA
RSA offers personal, commercial and specialty insurance products and services through a broad distribution network. Products are offered both directly to customers and also via brokers and affinity partners.

Key products offered by RSA include marine insurance, renewable energy insurance, construction, engineering & rail insurance, SME; food & beverage insurance and SME: retail insurance.

The vision and strategy of RSA
RSA emphasises being a customer-centric, agile business that focuses on operational and performance improvement across its entire business model. The three core markets of RSA are the UK and Ireland, the Scandinavian market and Canada, and the company is committed to concentrating on regional insurance markets where it is strongest and sustaining its financial growth.

The key value proposition of RSA can be discerned from a variety of factors central to the success of its strategic development. These include:

A balanced portfolio – RSA balances personal and business customers across locations, product lines and distribution channels
Ambition – RSA aims to be best-in-class and has a recruitment strategy in line with this intention to ensure continuous improvement in all markets
Brand equity – 300 years in the market has allowed RSA to develop and capitalise on extensive brand recognition and trust

Diversity and inclusion at RSA
At RSA there is a strong recognition of the role of diversity and inclusion policies in enabling colleagues to feel comfortable, encouraged and best placed to develop, both professionally and personally. RSA believes that when employees feel valued for their unique potential, they are more capable of understanding the needs of the customer.

RSA has launched several initiatives in this area to promote inclusive behaviours. Hidden Stories was a campaign launched in 2018 which featured employees discussing the personal challenges they had faced to illustrate the importance of creating an open and communicative environment.

Employees at RSA who wish to become more involved in building diversity and inclusion are encouraged to join employee resource groups – RSA Balance and RSA Building Pride. RSA was also proud to be one of the first UK insurers to sign up to the Women in Finance Charter.

Corporate responsibility at RSA
When RSA was first established by Povey, it was driven by the entrepreneur’s sense of social responsibility in the face of disaster, and the company has maintained this strong sense of responsibility throughout its strategic growth.

Key highlights from RSA’s CSR journey have included:

The launch of a global road safety hub with Brake in 2014, and the sponsoring of Road Safety Week in an attempt to reduce accidents
Partnering with the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust and Enabling Enterprise in 2015 to support disadvantaged young people in building employability skills
The introduction of a group-wide supplier code of conduct in 2016
The establishment of a group-wide diversity and inclusion council and the commitment to the Women in Finance Charter in 2017
In 2018 RSA’s partnership with the School for Social Entrepreneurs celebrated supporting its 180th entrepreneur
In 2020, RSA invested £13 million in communities worldwide, including a £10.9 million contribution to the Association of British Insurers’ (ABI) COVID-19 Support Fund
Established a Community Grant Scheme to give emergency cash grants to small, local charities nominated by RSA UK colleagues
Supported Food Banks Canada with a CA$100,000 donation and enabled an additional 25,200
meals to be delivered to people in need through its #RSACares challenge
Supported over 600 charities whose services have been under increased strain because of the pandemic, including those tackling food poverty, homelessness, education, mental health, and isolation
Partnered with community charities to create virtual volunteering opportunities so our employees could continue to contribute their skills and time