How did you join the insurance industry?
After graduating from university, I worked as an analyst for the Bank of England whilst I decided what I wanted to do. We were coming out of a recession and a period of volatility, and insurance appealed to me as a stable industry which a friend suggested would suit me better. Meeting up with some insurance contacts in Leadenhall Market to discuss further opportunities led to me starting my first role in the industry in 2012.
Insurance is more fluid and dynamic than working for a financial institution and there are many opportunities to move between departments, especially for those just starting out in the industry. Having a degree in Mathematics gave me many different options in the insurance market but I felt the underwriting path was right for me.
What do you like most about the Delegated Authority Property line and your role in general?
We provide coverage for Commercial and Residential Property insurance across the world. Predominantly concentrating on the US, we also write in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, so the work is varied, and I enjoy the travel that comes with it.
Meeting clients and providing them with solutions is one of the best parts of my role. It is satisfying to find a bespoke product for our specialist coverholders in their time of need, providing capital after reviewing how they underwrite and how they look at a portfolio. They are our distribution partners, and we provide solutions for their end customers.
What attracted you to IQUW?
I joined IQUW in 2021 when it acquired Agora Syndicate, where I was already working as an underwriter. I was attracted by IQUW’s ambition, dynamic nature, and fluidity. The company was at of the start of its growth journey when it acquired Agora. It was a challenging but exciting opportunity to be in on the ground floor when the business started to really escalate, and to directly influence underwriting decisions to help build a syndicate that has been in the top quartile of Lloyd’s carriers for the past year.
What differentiates IQUW’s approach from other firms in the market?
Starting a business in 2021 demonstrates IQUW’s agile approach and ability to adapt to changing market conditions. The company is entrepreneurial and, on the IQUW Specialty side, doesn’t have any legacy systems so we had freedom to build the portfolio in line with our strategic initiatives and ambitions.
From a class of business perspective, we have constant capital, an experienced team, and an excellent broker following. When many syndicates were scaling back, IQUW continued to provide capacity, partnering with coverholders who share our focus on using data and insights to make better underwriting decisions.
What are the main challenges affecting the delegated authority property sector?
One challenge is that managing general agents (MGAs) are trying to innovate but are coming up against blind follow capacity. For example, tracker syndicates driven by probable maximum loss (PML) will blindly follow leaders or managing general underwriters (MGUs).
Like all insurance products, we are affected by the hard and soft cycle. Currently, we are seeing an abundance of capacity and this is proving challenging. We have had three good years of strong rate increases, but the dynamics are starting to shift. We are focusing on providing consistent, profitable returns within our risk appetite.
Can you tell us more about the Delegated Authority Property team?
We are data-driven and like to partner with coverholders who are the same and seek to pioneer with AI-based underwriting tools. We leverage a vast number of data points to swiftly calculate loss ratio, exposure management, forecasting, and gross written premiums. With two data analysts who support our underwriting, our team of five has built a sizeable Delegated Authority portfolio in a short space of time, which delivers consistent returns.
The team’s ultimate aim is to deliver IQUW’s business plan – by using data to enhance our underwriting decisions, gain a competitive edge and ultimately support our coverholders and their customers.
