Strengthening broker relationships a key priority for 2021: AXIS Insurance

Strengthening relationships with brokers is a top priority for AXIS Insurance in 2021, according to Ed Ashby, global head of distribution at the re/insurer.

Ashby said: “Ensuring that we continue to foster high-quality engagement with our strategic brokers is a major priority, especially as the current favourable market environment looks to extend well into 2021.”

Ashby noted that face-to-face meetings help enhance meaningful engagement. “We have to foster that in a digital environment,” he said. “That can happen if we’re allowing for easy spontaneous conversations, and going beyond just talking to actually working together.”

Ashby believes 2020 has given AXIS a mandate to rapidly evolve its approach to client engagement.

“We have shown that good business can be conducted virtually from different cities, and good relationships can improve via digital means,” he said. “Over time we anticipated the specialty insurance industry will adopt a more agile, efficient model, incorporating the best of the digital and virtual business tools that have been utilised throughout the pandemic, with the necessary importance and value of in-person relationship building.”

Analysis shows the shift to digital channels that has taken place in 2020 has led to AXIS having more interactions, but those interactions may sometimes be of lower quality. “Companies that don’t prioritise quality over quantity might struggle with ‘Zoom fatigue’ more than those leveraging digital tools to move business forward though information sharing and problem solving,” said Ashby.

AXIS has worked to maintain its relationships by maintaining some healthy informality, Ashby noted. AXIS has hosted virtual wine tasting events, trivia nights, competitions and a magic show, all designed to maintain the ties it enjoyed with clients before the COVID-19 pandemic prevented face-to-face meetings. “It turns out there’s a lot that can be done together while we’re physically apart,” said Ashby.

Ashby pointed to AXIS' Virtual Broker Lounge (VBL), a custom virtual communications tool, as more evidence of the work AXIS is doing to strengthen its ties with brokers. VBL provides direct access to AXIS underwriters via video and one-click calling, and calendar sharing to quickly schedule time.

“Explaining our risk appetite, discussing how we can find creative solutions, negotiating deals with transparency and long-lasting partnerships in mind are all of critical importance for curating a stable market that protects against risks,” he added.

Ashby believes both underwriters and brokers are conscious of the challenges presented by the current market, including remote working conditions.

“The hard market conditions cast a longer shadow on how underwriters are approaching business, much more so than any perceived ability to say ‘no’ easier when not face to face,” he said. “When you consider advancing business technology, better modelling, new risks – in physical and virtual – and many other factors since the last hard market, layering in a restriction on face-to-face meetings is unlikely to play a role in why a deal that would have been accepted two years ago is being declined.”

Ashby noted that 2020 has been characterised by a steady increase in business flowing into the E&S wholesale market, driven largely by the challenging risk environments that existed prior to the pandemic.

“Social inflation, increased severe natural catastrophes and an uptake in class events have created a growing shift to the specialist markets,” Ashby explained. “AXIS remains bullish about the market and the tailwinds we’re experiencing in the wholesale channel. We see opportunities across the space in areas like professional lines – particularly directors and officers – as well as excess casualty, primary casualty and property.”