As a long-standing advocate for the role insurance brokers play in facilitating consumer choice, Martyn Mathews’ (pictured) new role as managing director of SSP Broker seems tailor-made for him. It’s a newly created position, which has been developed in line with SSP Worldwide’s growth ambition, which is now moving into full throttle after a period of “change and evolution” that saw the formation of three distinct business units, including SSP Broker.
Mathews will support the needs of the UK broker market – but what will that support look like?
Mathews highlighted that after seven “fantastic” years with LexisNexis Risk Solutions, the opportunity to join SSP Broker at such a kick-off point was too good to pass up. The business is perfectly primed for growth, he said, and the move allows him to continue to support UK brokers.
“I love working in the broker market,” he said. “I understand the challenges the market faces, particularly around regulation and technology. So my mission is to always help those organisations achieve their business goals, whatever those business goals are – whether it’s to grow, to acquire or be acquired.”
He identified three core areas where brokers currently need focused support and first up on the agenda is regulation. There has been a lot of focus on brokers and whether or not they’re offering value to customers lately, he said, and a lot of discussions about what fair value actually looks like. SSP Broker has a key role to play in offering best-of-breed technology that brokers can use to tailor bespoke pricing for their customers while ensuring they adhere to fair value rules.
“The second focus is around growing at scale,” he said. “Our brokers talk to us about how it can be difficult in the current regulatory landscape to keep finding ways to offer the best price to the customer in a way that’s also profitable for the broker and the insurer. That comes back to the intelligent use of data, technology and services to tailor pricing to the specific needs of the customer.
“We play a leading role in creating that ecosystem which brokers can utilize to make sure they get access to the best data and services. Then the third piece brokers are talking to us about is what the long-term future holds for them as individual businesses. That’s particularly relevant to smaller and high-street brokerages who want help in reaching the scale they want to reach if they’re looking to potentially sell their business at some point in the future.”
In the Press release accompanying Mathews’ appointment announcement, CEO of SPP Worldwide Colin Greenhill pinpointed the crucial role he will play in the “new phase in SSP’s history in the market”. Addressing what that looks like, Mathews shared that, for him, a great first year would see the market develop newfound trust and enthusiasm for the SSP brand and the services it can offer to support their growth objectives and ambitions.
“If we’re actively addressing market needs and helping brokers get the most out of us as an ecosystem, and we can feel that reflected when we speak to the market, I’ll consider that a great success,” he said. “We’re looking to have a much greater presence at industry events and to really propel the business back to where it was a number of years ago when it was recognized as being at the forefront of the software houses ecosystem.
“That’s where I want us to be and that’s where I firmly believe the business can be.”
