“It was always part of our plan that we would look to service both the London market and the regional broker market within the UK,” said Tim James (pictured), CEO of specialty lines MGA Ensurance which recently opened its first office beyond London. This new Manchester office, which also welcomed two new construction underwriters last week, is part of Ensurance’s growth strategy, he said, and there were several reasons that the MGA decided to increase its profile outside of London.
“We already transact with a number of quality brokers in the regional areas of the UK,” he said, “but we wanted to increase that penetration.”
One motivation for this, James said, was the opportunity for access to a great broker base. There are some excellent brokers throughout the UK with quality people working for them, he said, and Ensurance wanted to be in the position of providing these brokers, and also their clients, with access to its product range.
Another consideration which should not be underestimated, James said, is that people do business with people, and local relationships are key. It is not possible to service everybody from one office, he said, and insurance remains dependent on strong partnerships.
“We can’t talk about insurance being a people industry and then ignore it,” he said, “especially within a specialist sector such as construction or terrorism, where there is very rarely one risk which is similar to another. We want to make sure that we can give brokers access to quality products, quality capacity and, ultimately, quality underwriting which will help them and their clients.”
Regional brokers require access to specialists and specialist underwriters, James said, and he outlined that, though there are a number of great insurers and MGAs already providing service and capability to the regional market, Ensurance feels it has something to offer in that space.
“We’ve listened to the regional brokers,” he said, “and we’ve listened to the London market brokers as well since before we launched and since we’ve started trading in 2017. And what comes back continually is the demand for specialist access to knowledge within a space which is continually evolving.”
Both London market and regional brokers, he said, are simply looking to provide their clients with the best advice possible and the best solutions for the risks that they have.
Ensurance is keen to continue its growth and to build on the foundations it has laid within the terrorism and construction specialisms, James said. He highlighted that the focus is going to be maintained on these twin portfolios which have grown exactly in the direction that the MGA wanted them to, and that new developments within these lines will be contemplated as Brexit brings both challenges and opportunities to these sectors.
Further exploration of the regional market will also continue throughout 2020, he said, and new lines will be considered if the timing and the opportunity to add genuine value is there. The essential factor for Ensurance as an MGA, he said, is adding value to capacity and adding value to the broker.
“If those opportunities come up then we’ll take them,” James said. “We’re open for business and we are looking at those opportunities.”
A central consideration when looking at new markets, new sectors or new lines of business comes down to whether the right people can be found for the role, he said, highlighting the strength of Ensurance’s recent hires.
“The acquisition of talent is key,” he said. “We are always looking to secure the talents of people who have a well-regarded reputation within their market and who also have the work ethic to help build something.”
When it comes to acquiring and retaining talent, he said, new hires must fit into the culture of the business and, for Ensurance, that culture is not one of resting on your laurels but of building on the foundations of what already exists to fulfil the company’s vision of what the MGA could be in the next three to five years.
