Few in the insurance market are quite as well placed as Elie Hanna, chief distribution officer, UK & Lloyd’s, at AXA XL to discuss the current trading landscape in the UK. Speaking with IBTV, Hanna delved into some of the pressing questions on the minds of brokers at this time and shared his thoughts on where the market goes next.
Highlighting the top questions he and his team are fielding from brokers, he noted that brokers want to know when the hard market dynamics of the present trading landscape will end.
“Obviously, there is no crystal ball,” he said, “but the market continues to change and… our expectation is that this dynamic will continue, specifically in some lines of business more than others driven by the crisis in Ukraine. But there is no question that when you look at the risk landscape, also, it’s dramatically evolving. And what we need to do as carriers and brokers is to work with our clients, to better understand those changes and support them in ensuring that they are able to continue to be sustainable in their businesses.”
Of course, it’s impossible to pinpoint with 100% accuracy where the market will go next, but generally speaking, AXA XL expects to see the rate environment continue to increase, albeit with some moderation. There is capacity in the market, Hanna said, and there is enough capital behind the insurance industry.
“What we need to think [about] and keep in mind is that, for us at AXA XL, we’ve had a year or two years of dramatic change that we had to go through. 2021 was a great year for us, if you look at the results, we delivered one of the best results in the market basically. So now it’s the time for us to capitalise on the opportunity - we see this is a very good market, and we have a very good proposition to offer to our clients. So, definitely, I think the market will continue to be quite dynamic in the next 12 months.”
