When insurance professionals discuss how they came to join the sector, commonly used adjectives include “fell”, or “stumbled”, or the occasional “tumbled”, but the new UK CEO of CPP Group has something new to add to the lexicon. Carl Carter (pictured), who took up his new role in late April, is proud to admit he was “willingly dragged” into the profession, something he will always be grateful for as his career to date has been distinguished by variety and opportunity.
Read more: CPP Group welcomes new UK CEO
A chartered marketer by trade, who ran his own agency during university, Carter outlined how he was out prospecting one day when he was “hijacked” into the world of insurance and told, “this is for you.” That turned out to be the truth, he said, and what he loves the most about working in insurance is the chance to truly deliver on a promise, and to build integrity and trust into every professional relationship.
“I’m one of those people who’s addicted to my role in insurance,” he said. “My appointment as the UK CEO of CPP Group has just been the most fantastic experience. I’ve known for a little while, and we’ve been going through the due process, but I am very excited to be joining this great company, and to be part of such an innovative and dynamic group. I really feel this is the way forward for me as I’ve got everything in my kit bag from tech, insurance systems, claims and underwriting. So, yeah, just let me loose.”
His new role comes at an exciting juncture both in his career and for CPP UK as the business works to cement the service side, tech side and insurance side of its offering into one vertically integrated proposition. This will offer the group’s customers and brand partners across the board a solid, consistent proposition and, even though his feet have only just touched the ground of his new role, Carter already has substantial plans regarding how to unfold this.
“We’ve got our sleeves rolled to take on some really big brand opportunities,” he said, “and we’ve got some great household names in the pipeline that we’ll be making announcements on in the coming weeks. I love the fact that we work in multi-channel distribution, and with some really big broker networks and I feel there’s so much opportunity out there for the broker distribution channel.”
CPP UK works with some top consumer and finance brands, Carter noted, so for him, the important thing is to make sure that there is a constant evaluation of where the group can add value, differentiation and innovation. Whether it’s a home insurance brand, a motor insurance brand, a niche broker or a large affinity group, the team has the functionality to tailor a customer-centric proposition to them, he said, and he relishes having full control of both quality and service at each level of the business.
“Profitable partnerships” is the name of the game for CPP UK going forward, he said, and innovation is the way to play that game effectively. Carter and his team are looking to the market to determine what’s available, what could be improved on and where CPP UK’s core values and differentiators can be deployed to formulate well-rounded propositions founded on the demands of the wider marketplace.
He highlighted the example of the group’s Acturis-platformed cyber proposition for SMEs, which has been a major winner for the business, enjoying strong take up across the industry. Some broker networks, running in the multiple hundreds of members, are looking to roll this product out, he said, and it is rewarding to see broker networks now coming to the business for solutions. These groups have realised that they need to add value, to make ancillary revenue and to do something a little bit different to remain competitive, and he’s proud that CPP UK is their first port of call.
Looking forward, Carter highlighted that the group has more offerings coming down the road, which will roll out over the next few months, across the personal market, as well as the embedded parametric markets. He’s feeling positive, he said, having already enjoyed real success with CPP UK’s brand partners since he joined, and with the team already getting bespoke inquiries from a variety of businesses and networks looking for expertise on how to add value at a time when the market demands it.
Rolling out further products will be a key flagship goal for him, Carter said, as well as announcing some of the group’s new and exciting broker network partners out there and making its product range available to hundreds of these brokers at the touch of a button.
“We’re building on incredibly firm foundations and the fact that we’re now moving out of lockdown is very exciting for us, our business partners, and the consumers out there,” he said. “With our very technically-led innovative product approach backed by excellent customer service, I think we have a very bright future and we’re already making great inroads. So I’m delighted and honoured to be leading CPP in the UK and, based on the wins we’ve already had in the first few months, the sky’s the limit for us.”
