Co-operation between brokers, carriers and clients has never been more important — insurers and reinsurers need more information than ever before to underwrite specific risks.

‘It is no longer just about differentiation of risk quality, but, in many cases, the basic availability of capacity,’ explains Ben Rolfe, managing director, broking and chief broking officer at Aon Australia. ‘Collaboration between brokers and insurers is vital as we help clients through this unprecedented market change.’

Of particular concern is the unabated deterioration of economic conditions, which for many buyers means the gap between insurable and uninsurable risks continues to grow — all at a time when they can least afford volatility.

THE CLIENT LENS

‘Brokers and insurers alike need to work together as an industry to find sustainable ways of providing risk transfer solutions to clients who operate in those sectors that insurers have deemed almost uninsurable over the past 18 months,’ says Rolfe. 

‘This involves both brokers and insurers collaborating on the co-development of products ultimately designed to help clients adapt to the ever-evolving insurance market landscape.’

Brokers are uniquely placed to champion such innovation. ‘Because of the way in which insurer capacity is structured, the vast majority will look at their books through a product rather than client lens,’ explains Rolfe. 

‘This is where a broker can help bring the client needs, both current and emerging, into the picture and help insurers both broaden the scope of existing policies and work with them to create new and innovative products to meet these unmet needs.’

A STRONG TRADITION

In Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Minh Trang, deputy head of the property and casualty department at Willis Towers Watson, says co-operation between insurers and brokers has always been a strong tradition.

With 16 years’ experience in banking and insurance broking, Nguyen has observed that insurers ‘do not hesitate to reach out to brokers when they have a request from their clients or the need for new products or services that they can’t satisfy internally’.

She agrees that at the present time, brokers play a critical role in helping insurers define and deliver the innovation needed to keep pace with market changes, new trends, higher and more sophisticated customer expectations and emerging risks.

‘Brokers are proactive in involving different stakeholders and seeking out and forming partnerships with third parties; however, innovation shouldn’t be carried out in isolation,’ she says. ‘That’s why Vietnamese insurers and their broking partners prefer to work hand in hand.’

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