The external market conditions that plagued businesses in 2023 show no sign of turning over a new leaf in acknowledgement of the New Year. Discussing some of the key trends he’s seeing face the market as 2024 unfolds, Allianz Trade’s Stephen Bramall highlighted the ongoing challenges of sticky inflation, higher for longer interest rates, and continued supply chain disruption.
Allianz Trade expects business insolvencies in the UK to stay 30% above pre-pandemic levels, he said, while globally, it expects insolvencies to rise +6% in 2023 and +10% in 2024.
“The effects of the current market headwinds have left businesses facing multiple pressures on their finances,” Bramall said. “Trading margins are coming under pressure and we have seen specific issues in sectors like the construction sector where fixed price work does not match the new inflated cost base. Additionally, companies’ cash buffers have been decreasing and the access to new sources of finances have been more difficult, especially for SME business.”
In the interest of delivering a little good news to go with the tough reality facing so many businesses today, Insurance Business reached out to specialists across the insurance industry to understand what a great 2024 looks like for them and their businesses. For Jon Walker (pictured left), CEO at AXA Commercial, a great 2024 would see the market working more collaboratively for the benefit of the customer.
“Insurers and brokers face many of the same challenges including hybrid working, talent acquisition and retention and digitisation,” he said. “Opening up a dialogue is crucial so we can explore these together and come up with solutions that work for everyone.
“If we recognise customer and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) challenges as opportunities rather than obstacles, we’ll be more positive about developing innovative solutions that will lead to better solutions for customers and a more modern industry for the next generation of talent to join and be part of.”
Walker noted that AXA Commercial is actively encouraging people back into the workplace to embrace the cultural, shared learning and joint working benefits of more days together in the office. This has been a huge success, he said, and he hopes this new operating rhythm will continue in 2024 as people find a balance with hybrid working that is mutually beneficial.
Utilising internal expertise to navigate external market conditions is also on the mind of John Pickersgill, group chief commercial officer of Charles Taylor. As a business, he said, Charles Taylor enjoys a solid foundation stemming from its “unusual and special” position in the market. It is through combining its expertise with the latest technology, that it can offer clients innovative solutions specific to their needs.
“‘Great for us’ would mean, firstly our global experts being nominated to assist clients in accelerating the elimination of risk by supporting climate change/net zero transition projects,” he said. “Secondly, it means the expanding of our technology and data solutions to optimise client delivery and support our clients’ technology stack/data ambitions.
“And finally, a great 2024 would see our senior experts unify with new pools of talent, in our quest to create the best outcomes for the industry and the stakeholders it serves. Above all, we hold ourselves accountable to be a destination company for our clients, our people, and the industry.”
For Karl Hennessy, CEO of McGill Global Risk Solutions LLC a great 2024 would see the business continue to grow as more talent is attracted to join the firm to work as part of a completely unique proposition in the market. In addition, he and his team are looking to, “continue to challenge outdated, inefficient, and opaque market practices and build our base of partners and clients.”
Ambitious targets are on the menu for Rich Tomlinson and his team at Percayso Inform in 2024 and if they achieve even half of them, he’ll be happy. Having said that, he hopes that Percayso will be able to measure and quantify the value of what it’s delivering for the more recent clients whom it has partnered with in 2023.
He said: “Percayso is focused on turning insurance data into intelligence, insights and outcomes and so I really want to be able to analyse those newer customers at the end of next year and put some solid figures on the table to demonstrate how we’ve helped them optimise their pricing or reduce cancellations or combat fraud. It’s a hugely challenging marketplace right now, and it’s only going to get tougher so working in collaboration with them to help them write better business is what we’re all about.”
When his team at the insurance law firm HF have the opportunity to look back on 2024, managing partner and CEO Ronan McCann (pictured right) hopes they’ll see that they’ve grown both organically and inorganically through delivering excellent service as well as through acquisition and taking on board new teams and people.
“I’d also like to see that we’ve consolidated our sustainability agenda, protecting our approach to social mobility, being a diverse and inclusive workplace, our commitment to environmental targets and making sure we give back to the communities in which we work,” he said. “If we can do that while keeping our eye on the ball with costs, staying innovative and dynamic in our approach and, crucially, keep hold of the culture that makes us stand out from the crowd, I’d call that a great year.”
