The ‘Christmas of insurance’, aka the BIBA Conference 2021, might be over for another year but, similarly to the real thing, a general vibe of positivity and merriment still lingers in the air though the (virtual) exhibition stands have all been cleared away.
The first virtual BIBA Conference was my introduction to the industry event that I have heard so much about since I joined Insurance Business. And, while it was a shame to miss out on the inevitable high jinks that come with any in-person multi-day conference featuring insurance brokers and Manchester, BIBA’s online platform did an admirable job of creating an atmosphere of cohesion and community.
Between seminars on ‘the future of insurance broking’, to discussions on claims trends, to a cyber myth-busting session, there was no shortage of valuable industry insight during BIBA 2021, nor of things to do and people to speak with given the valuable networking sessions facilitated. During the conference, which stretched to three days after the BIBA team generously added an extra day for networking, a few key takeaways sprung to mind.
Seizing the opportunity to briefly utilise this column as a confessional, I must admit I have a long-standing aversion to the word ‘resilience’. This exists for a variety of reasons, not least of which because I feel that resilience is all too often used as a catch-all concept bandied about by people determined to conflate luck with skill.
But BIBA 2021 made some significant inroads towards taking away that notion as the event embraced the wider connotations of what resilience truly means. The conference showcased resilience on both a sector-wide and a societal level, and captured the essence of its message as an industry-wide call for betterment.
I’m happy to admit it - resilience is the theme that the insurance broking industry needed to hear this year and the message that brokers need to absorb as lockdown restrictions continue to ease and the future starts to look a little more like the past, and a little less like the present.
Among many other things, BIBA’s 2021 Conference served as a reminder of the talent to be found within the UK broking industry and the widespread recognition this deserves. The association’s ‘Young Broker of the Year’ award recognised the performance of younger brokers, with Sioma Insurance Consultants’ Alex Margolin taking the top slot, while runners-up Colette Crawford, of Marsh, and Ola Jacob Raji, of FloodFlash, were recognised for their commitment to the future professionalism of insurance broking.
A standout during the conference was the posthumous recognition of Keith Frampton’s dedication to ensuring the right insurance coverage for members of the Armed Forces. The warm tributes to his character and his work made Keith Frampton a testament of how passion for a role in financial services is not incongruent with making a difference to wider society.
A particular highlight for me came from the panel discussing the future of insurance broking, which saw broking CEOs highlight the changes they’ve seen over the last year, and discuss everything from the fairness of the current hard market to how being an insurance leader has evolved over the last year or so. It is through such seminars that everybody across the broking spectrum can discover new ways to take stock of the current lie of the land and make any changes necessary to survive and thrive going forward.
There’s not only one takeaway from BIBA’s 2021 Conference but if there was it would be this – relationships remain at the very heart of the insurance broking proposition and it’s a safe bet to guess they always will. I had the pleasure of holding discussions with insurance professionals from businesses including AXA Partners, RSA, Burns & Wilcox and Allianz in the run-up to BIBA and across the board, the message remained steadfast – broker relationships are now, and will remain, at the very core of their proposition.
That broking is a people business is a fact widely paid homage to across the insurance profession but BIBA’s annual conference brings it to light in a way that I don’t think anything else really can. Broking relationships are innately valued by insurers, and, post-COVID, brokers have the opportunity to make sure this is also true across the consumer strand of this tripartite relationship.
Brokers do not need to reinvent the wheel, they just need to make sure it keeps on turning.
