Value-added services key to broker proposition

Brokers must adapt their services to remain as relevant as possible for their clients in the future and align these efforts with wider modernisation initiatives and talent drives, Vicky Carter, chairman at Global Capital Solutions, International, Guy Carpenter, told The Insurer.

To adapt to the future, brokers must deliver a “real, true understanding and value-added [service] to the client,” Carter said.

Speaking to The Insurer at the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous, Carter said, “Risk is getting far more complicated.

“[Brokers] have got to look and really understand the requirements of their clients right across the spectrum, whether its managing volatility, or helping them to optimise capital,” she added.

“We have to have the broadest range of capabilities to really deliver value to our clients today.”

Speaking about the ‘Future at Lloyd’s’ project – the John Neal-led initiative to overhaul the Lloyd’s market and return it to profitability – Carter said she is very pleased with the work that is being carried out by Neal and his team.

“I absolutely believe the vision for Lloyd’s that John Neal has announced is achievable and it is an exciting time for the market,” she said.

“They have engaged with all the stakeholders around the world to really understand the challenges, issues and also the frustrations they’ve previously had with Lloyd’s. They’ve taken that information and are now in the process of putting together a blueprint which will take us through the detail of each of the six lines of work that will be going on,” she said.

“I think we should commend the management for really understanding what those challenges are and if you look at the six lines that they are focusing on, they are going to transform Lloyd’s and turn it into a really exciting place in the future,” she added.

Despite the changes that are happening at Lloyd’s and the market’s wider modernisation efforts, Carter said the industry still has some way to go when it comes to attracting talent.

“I think the insurance industry has been extremely poor at attracting talent,” she said.

“I think we’ve got to change the culture and we’ve got to change the attitude we have to the next generation. If you look at the way the world is changing, it’s incredibly fast paced. The millennials live their lives very differently to the way other generations have done in the past and that means we have to adapt to their environments,” she said.

Significantly, Carter believes that this generation will play an integral role in the industry’s ability to address this rapidly changing risk environment.

“If you think about the way risk is evolving, it’s that next generation who really understand that and we need to utilise that knowledge to enable us to grow, optimise and inspire the development of new products,” she added.