Poppy Appeal
The Royal British Legion is the UK’s leading Service charity providing care and support to serving members of the Armed Forces, veterans of all ages and their families. This cause is taken particularly seriously by our industry, with great support from Brokers, Insurers & Lloyds.
Arthur J. Gallagher are no different, and today officers and soldiers of the Irish Guards (dressed in full uniform) visited our London Walbrook office collecting on behalf of the Royal British Legion.
I know of at least 150 other companies taking part in this worthy cause, including Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Google, Blackrock, Soc Gen, Santander, Schroders, Aon and Willis.
Dig deep people, I’m wearing mine with pride
New neighbours! The City of London’s Lord Mayor
We recently marked the opening of our new office, with a visit from The City of London’s Lord Mayor – Alderman Roger Gifford.
Thanks for the sugar
The Lord Mayor was welcomed to the office by the CEO, David Ross, I’m told he asked he could borrow some sugar.
Executives from Arthur J. Gallagher & the market where in attendance, this is where Mr Ross told how the Fosters & Partners-designed Walbrook building will help “further unleash our entrepreneurial spirit”
In response, The Lord Mayor went on to say “As a Lloyd’s broker, Arthur J. Gallagher has had a long partnership with the City, the Mansion House, and my predecessors as Lord Mayor – not least through support for the Sir John Cass Foundation and the Bob Gallagher Lifelong Learning Scholarship programme in Tower Hamlets. Both organisations strive for excellence in education – identifying and encouraging the best of British, and global, talent.” Kind words indeed, it’s easy to take for granted how much the rich history our fine city has to offer, I know the Americans amongst us absolutely love this part of the world.
To mark this fine occasion, the troops on the floor were given a couple of crates of champagne & chocolates, which were consumed within a matter of seconds, some stereotypes about the insurance industry are hard to quash!
Pass the champagne
I wonder if The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of Sydney – Cr. Clover Moore holds affections for the Insurance Market down under? If anyone happens to know, please do let me know
Costa Concordia
It took more than 500 people, a similar number of Millions & months of work to right the sunken cruise ship, Costa Concordia. It’s not over yet though, not for our industry.
Before
The Claim
Insurance industry pay-outs related to last year’s sinking of cruise liner Costa Concordia have continued to rise, some analysts have this pushing one Billion in insured costs when it’s all said and done.
The successful parbuckling, or vertical rotation, was part of a removal plan costing about 500 Million, according to Beniamino Maltese, chief financial officer of Carnival Corp (CCL)’s Costa Crociere SpA Italian unit, which owns the ship. After the righting, which was spread over two days, the 114,500-ton ship will rest on underwater platforms, built under the hull using 18,000 tons of cement, for several months before being towed to an Italian port to be broken up. I imagine the project manager will be collating and collecting invoices for months for this job.
After
The impact on Marine market
Almost exactly 100 years after the sinking of the Titanic, the Costa Concordia disaster has been cited as one of the worst maritime insurance losses ever. The fallout from the Costa Concordia is likely to have a worldwide impact, not only on vessel owners and operators, but also on our market. It made a few financial ripples, but the market is mature enough to ensure that there are no waves in Lloyds, the Munich RE boys will probably keep relatively dry too.
What about the French?
I’m hearing that COSTA Cruises have reached a €2.1m settlement with around half of the 456 French passengers on board the ill-fated cruise ship, c’est bon!
And Ze Germans?
Political pressure is mounting from Merkel and her crew on the Italian government to deliver its full accident investigation report into the sinking of the doomed liner, more on this later.
And Francesco Schettino?
Where is he now? Capt. Schettino is believed to be at home with his wife in the seaside town of Meta di Sorrento, near Naples. His trial, in which he faces charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship, started in July in Grosseto in Tuscany, the closest city to the scene of the disaster. He claims that the rocky reef that the ship hit on the night was not marked on his nautical charts – despite the fact that it appears on tourist maps of Giglio. His lawyer denied that the captain had deliberately abandoned ship, instead insisting that the skipper had been inadvertently thrown off the ship by accident!
I’ll keep you posted on how the trial goes, the Italian courts love a drama, this will be full on I imagine
Related articles
- Costa Concordia pulled completely upright off Italy (cbsnews.com)
Key To The City
I’m very much looking forward to catching Stephen Fry’s Key To The City, on ITV next week, apparently it is going to give us an insight into all things (good and bad) that go on in our square mile, aka The City of London.
He will describe how he thinks that The City is almost an independent republic and that it goes back to the 13th Century when King John needed the money and power of The City. Apparently King John was a bit of a bad man, and was alleged to have said to some folk: ‘If you help me raise an army and survive as King, I will give you special powers.’ These powers still exist to this day, which can be seen when witnessing The Lord Mayor show and the control he (or she) flexes over the city.
Lloyds of London
Stephen Fry will visit Lloyd’s, which is the world’s specialist insurance market, it’s not your regular Camden Market though, this is where members (syndicates) join together to insure risks, somewhere I enjoy plying my trade.
Lloyd’s of London, often styled simply as Lloyd’s, is a British insurance and reinsurance market. Multiple financial backers, known as underwriters, or “members”, both individuals (traditionally known as “Names”) and corporations, come together to pool and spread risk. This place is a corporate body governed by the Lloyd’s Act 1871 and subsequent Acts of the Parliament of the UK. For those of you interested, their motto is Fidentia which is Latin for “confidence”, this is something I learned when studying for my CII PO5 exam (Insurance Law) which I passed thank god!
The Bank of England
Mr. Fry will also pay homage to the UK’s central bank, sometimes known as the “Old Lady” of Threadneedle Street. It was founded in 1694, nationalised on 1 March 1946, and in 1997 gained operational independence to set monetary policy. We now have a Canadian in charge of it.
What I like most amount The Bank of England, is that when I wander past, I’m walking on top of its mind boggling gold reserves. From what I can gather, there are stacks of gold bars worth a whopping £156billion stored in an old canteen deep below the streets of the capital, I held one once (in the museum under strict guard) and it was bloody heavy! 
You might also be surprised to read that the ‘Old Lady’ once helped in the sale of gold stolen by Nazis after the 1939 invasion of Czechoslovakia. A recently released document from 1950 shows the gold bars were sold by the Bank on behalf of Germany’s central Reichsbank.
In 1939 the UK government said it had frozen all Czech assets being held in London at the time, but the sale of looted gold still went ahead.
I’ll keep you posted on how good the programme is, or isn’t, please do let me know if you happen to catch it.
Networking
I find, the best way to off-load some of the 2,000 business cards we all tend to have, is by attending networking events.
My most recent opportunity came last week, when I attended the ‘High Level Debate’ question time, at The Shard, London, organised by the Estates Gazette in association with Savills and Curtin & co. Normally, I find that these events are attend by a couple of dozen or so Lawyers & managing agents, none with any real sparkle, and normally with very little fizz in terms of refreshments.
This time however, because of The Shard venue, attracted quite a bit of attention. I’m normally pretty quick off the mark, and this time I was one of the first attendees to get my name down, the final list included in excess of 100 people, and there were some pretty big hitters on the list. Not only did I get a complimentary ticket to the 72nd floor viewing platform, I also got to sample some of the very best food courtesy of nearby Borough Market, and some mighty fine champagne.
I won’t bore you with what was with debated, or the type of questions and answers thrown out and subsequently batted back, I will say that I offloaded a dozen or so cards (being the only representative from the Insurance market) and caught up with a few friendly faces. I even managed to get a bit of face time with Irvine Sellar (20% owner) and got a few re-tweets for my troubles.
All in all, a very successful and high profile event, I represented well, got fed and watered, and off-loaded some cards, which, according to Wikipedia, means I was involved in a socioeconomic activity by which groups of like-minded businesspeople recognize, create, or act upon business opportunities.
If anyone knows of any other upcoming events, or wants a heads up on some I know about, please do get in touch, I’m sure we can help one another deplete our stash of cards together.
Should reckless bankers be jailed?
The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards set up by @George_Osborne last year was published today. It was set up as a direct result of major scandals involving rate-rigging, money-laundering and rogue-trading which rocked the already rocky foundations in the UK’s financial industry.
Although I like to keep this insurance blog relatively light hearted and informative, we can’t avoid the fact that our closest cousins are bankers, and that they are getting bashed..again. The health and reputation of the banking industry is at stake, and because banks have many fingers in many pies (including insurers) we to may feel the effects.
It’s pleasing to hear that Chartered Insurance Institute CEO Dr Sandy Scott is willing to take them under his wing, but is it wise to have two roosters in the same pen? Sure, we can boast about our professional standards and ethics, I’ve seen first-hand the shift in attitude over the last 14 years, we are becoming more transparent and upfront about what we do and why, but with a 112,000 CII members, surely there has to be a few bad apples in our own back yard?
Here are a few highlights from the The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards report, which I understand @David_Cameron has already accepted
• Holding senior bankers personally responsible for malpractice
• Introducing a new criminal offence for reckless management that carries a custodial sentence.
• Deferring bonuses for up to 10 years
• Setting up a new professional code of conduct and licensing bankers
I would love to hear your views and thoughts on this, both from the insurance and banking perspectives, please do get in touch
Related Links
Insuring climate change
Insurers aren’t worried about climate change… Because they are preparing for it.
There are few industries more exposed to financial risk from climate change than insurance. Unsurprisingly, my industry is trying to figure out how to limit exposures from extreme weather events. Here is my quick & dirty round up on three climate change related perils, across three territories:
AUSTRALIA
I introduce to you the number one peril for insurers, fire. More often than not, you will see this as an insured peril on your certificate of insurance, and if your broker is any good (like moi) you will have a nil excess.
The unfortunate folk Down Under had a tough introduction to 2013 when the island state of Tasmania got hit with a series of bushfires in the south-eastern part of the island (Victoria and parts of NSW also took some hits). Although the fires were incredibly destructive, the cost to the market has been mooted at a mere 100 million Australian dollars (much fewer zeros than the ’09 Victorian fires), with at least 2,000 claims being submitted soon after. In time, people’s wounds will heal, people’s properties will be reinstated, the market will recover and hopefully some more faith is installed with insurers who do (sometimes) go above and beyond in difficult times.
USA
Another popular peril amongst buyers of insurance is coverage for losses resulting from tornadoes (excluding losses resulting from the peril of flood) which is particularly relevant following the devastating losses in Oklahoma.
Early reports suggest a bill of 2 billion US dollars, which certainly will ripple the markets on both sides of the pond. As many as 13,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed Monday when the Oklahoma twister ploughed through the suburb of Moore. About 33,000 Oklahoma residents were affected, so many have been left homeless, whilst countless more have been displaced and are believed to have been taken in by loved ones.
UK
It always seems to rain in the UK nowadays, with the rain, comes the need for a good old fashioned Storm / Flood peril…But how long will we have them for?
It has been reported that one in four London properties, collectively worth around 250 billion UK pounds, are at risk of flooding. Ten of the top 25 most at-risk local authority areas across England and Wales are now London boroughs.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has been locked in negotiations with the Treasury and Defra for months to replace the Statement of Principles with regards flood insurance, which expires on 31 July (after being extended). Numerous properties could be left without affordable flood insurance if a new deal is not negotiated or the statement extended, therefore the market is keeping a keen eye on developments, both from a Residential and Commercial aspect. The implications on premium spends / restrictions in cover could be huge!
In summary, once all of these incurred and reported claims have been fully assessed, quantified and paid, the global insurance markets will begin the long process of modeling these numbers and plugging them into their already extensive climate change databases.
Their actuaries will produce ever more accurate and precise trends in terms of frequency and severity, which will allow good underwriters to price accordingly & restrict cover where necessary. This might make certain Governments take note and step up to plate for the sake of everyone, especially the poor souls who can’t even afford basic cover in the first place.
As ever, I would love to hear views from far and wide, please give me a shout in the comments section.
Golf
For those of you that aren’t familiar with the Insurance market, you are required to fulfil two essential character requirements in order to achieve your full potential:
One
You must be able to handle your liquor, at all times, and no matter how much sauce you’ve had the night before, you must be at your desk the next morning before 09.00am.
Two
You must play golf – regardless of ability or gender.
This leads me onto the 2013 golf calendar:
My first invitation of the year comes from my good friends at Allianz, who have been kind enough to extend me an invite to their Allianz Regional Golf Tour 2013. As in previous years, the competition will be at Foxhills on the 5th June. After getting the nod from my superiors, I duly submitted my handicap (18) and dietary requirements (none).
I look forward to this day more than most, not only because they provide quality breakfast, lunch & dinner, but because I get to spar with rival brokers past and present, insurers & loss adjusters. My performance last year was average to say the least, partly because I had never played at Foxhills, partly because of the quality of the opposition.
If I remember to dress appropriately (the louder the better), turn off my blackberry and send my first drive screaming down the fairway, I’ll be off to a good start. The inevitable ‘banter’ with the market will undoubtedly ensue soon after, the obligatory massaging of the score cards and gamesmanship will be in full flow once again. I’ve got a few practice rounds pencilled in before I step into the lions den, I would however appreciate any tips from any low handicappers out there who have a particular axe to grind with the likes of JLT, AON, Willis, Marsh & Locktons.
A follow up post will follow soon after, as will details of future golf jolly’s, sorry, I mean market networking events.
A career in insurance?
For those of you that have stumbled into a career in insurance like so many other poor lambs, you will probably hear talk from folk around the watercooler as to how you can further advance your career by commencing your ‘professional studies’.
When I started in naughty ’98, Insurance Premium Tax was at 4.5%, fax machines were all the rage, smoking at your desk was compulsory… however encouragement of studies was not. It actually took me 7 years for this penny to drop, which was probably as a result of youth & naivety mixed in with a generous dose of ‘why’?
The ‘why’ is very important when it comes to a career in insurance, and I’ve come to realise (without even realising) that the more strings you have to your bow, the more value you add to your company, which in turn has a direct correlation to how high (and how quickly) you climb up the ladder. I won’t harp on about the exams I’ve passed and or failed, I will simply say if you’re in ankle deep, you might as well go knee deep.
The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) is a fantastic and world pioneering professional organisation for insurance and financial services. According to their website, The CII has 112,000 members who are committed to maintaining the highest standards of technical competence and ethical conduct. If your employer has deep enough pockets, not only will they fund your studies, they might even provide you with a financial carrot as an added incentive to commit.
The CII curriculum is flexible enough to tailor a path from FIT (Foundation Insurance Test) to FCII (Fellowship, aka the Holly Grail) which (depending on your own individual circumstances) can take only a few years to achieve.
I am now at a stage in my life where I take great pleasure and pride in encouraging junior members of staff down this righteous path, steering them clear of the mistakes and pitfalls I made, and letting them know which buttons to press and what red tape to avoid in order to maximise their potential and enhance their own remuneration package.
For those of you that are interested in my two cents when it comes to your career in insurance, do feel free to get in touch (especially if you are in London).
I will shortly be writing about The Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) who have been kind enough to recently qualify and admit me into their fine institution as a Senior Associate CIP member.
Top 5 London skyscrapers
The City of London has a unique and ever-changing skyline; it can take you by surprise if you are in ‘commuter-mode’ and choose not to take your eyes of your newspaper whilst crammed onto your train like the preverbial sardine.
London’s renowned ‘Square Mile’ (which I affectionately refer to as my playground) is awash with a glorious mix of the old and the new. I was born in the 80s (which was not architecture’s finest decade), but the naughty’s (2000 – 2010), however, was a completely different matter altogether. This pre- credit crunch period of investment saw a whole host of building development plans drawn up and built up.
I would like to share with you my top 5 London skyscrapers:
The Willis Building (image via peterberthoud.co.uk)
5. The Willis Building, 51 Lime Street, London
In fifth place, I would like to introduce to you The Willis Building, 51 Lime Street, London, which was completed in 2007 (it’s the office of an arch-rival of mine).
With its clam shell design, The Willis Building is a 26-floor statement building situated directly opposite The equally-famous Lloyds Building (which is only 14 floors high).
I’m told that the hotel level is an excellent option for Willis staff who have had one too many after-dinner coffees on a Friday night and miss their last train home.
The Walkie Talkie (20 Fenchurch Street, London). Image via ianvisits.co.uk
4. 20 Fenchurch Street, a.k.a The Walkie Talkie, London
My fourth favourite London City building goes to 20 Fenchurch Street, London.
Nicknamed ‘The Walkie-Talkie’ because of its distinctive shape. When it completes in 2014, this controversial 34-story (plus three-storey sky garden) beast of a building will be home to many insurers and brokers, a ‘meeting’ with one of them will definitely be on the cards soon after!
The insurance market is divided on its design, an underwriter friend of mine who works next door and has been taking weekly pictures of its rapid ascent. I’m sure he’s got better things to be doing with his time, like calculating our annual work transfer fee or my clients low claims rebate, perhaps?
Lloyds Building, London (image via londonwalkabout.com)
3. The Lloyd’s Building, One Lime Street, London
Bronze position is awarded to The Lloyds Building, One Lime Street, London. This magnificent ‘inside-out’ building is home to insurers and syndicates and is fascinating in terms of history and design.
Completed in 1986, it retains some of the old features from the 1958 building and blends the old with the new very nicely. I’m particularly fond of the external lifts and services, and also the free shoe shining facilities in the gent’s lavatories, well worth a tour if you can arrange one (which I might be able to help with).
To help combat pigeon mess (London’s flying rats!) you will often see a falcon on hand with her handler to scare those pesky vermin back to their natural habitat – Trafalgar Square.
The Heron Tower, London (image via hayesdavidson.com)
Second spot is occupied by The Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, London. Although this fine tower hasn’t got a nickname, it does have two of the best restaurants and bars in town with unparalleled views.
The lift takes 30 seconds to ascend all 46 floors, stopping first at Sushi Samba with its outdoor (and surprisingly wind resistant) terrace bar, and then Duck & Waffle which is now the destination of choice when meeting friends and relatives from out of town.
For all you fish lovers out there, the lobby features a 70,000-litre aquarium containing over 1,200 fish making it the largest collection privately owned in Britain – I’m reliably informed that the Executive Chef at Sushi Samba procures his produce from nearby Billingsgate Market, not the aquarium.
The Gherkin, 30 St Mary Axe, London (image via Getty Images)
1. The ‘Gherkin’, 30 St Mary Axe, London
The winner, without question, is The Swiss Re building, 30 St Mary Axe, London affectionately known as ‘The Gherkin’ which is much to the owner’s disdain. Bedsides the fact that my mum works there, this 40 floor vegetable looking building completed in 2003 is as beautiful as it is functional with its unique natural ventilation system making it almost as twice as efficient as a conventional design.
The two layers of interior double glazing can take you by surprise though, during one appointment on the 16th floor earlier this year, I was admiring the view when I was caught unaware as to how good the window cleaners are, and proceeded to head-but the first inner layer of glass much to the amusement of the receptionist.
If I had to pick one fault with the design, it would be the position of The Sterling bar and garden located at ground level. During our two-week summer, the outside seating captures a good amount of sunlight, but when most people’s lunches finish at 17.00, the building hides the sun and casts a shadow over what is otherwise a glorious venue.
I would love to hear people’s thoughts and stories on how London compares to Sydney in terms of skylines & skyscrapers, please do get in touch!
Related articles
- 30 St Mary Axe (ukvoyager.wordpress.com)
- Amazing colour footage of London in the 1920s (newstatesman.com)
- Does Shard point to design’s future? (bbc.co.uk)
Risky Transfer 