Daily briefing: Monday

As the soft market staggers on, growth is increasingly coming to mean diversification. Insurers with might in one area are looking to another for expansion.

There are several live examples of this. Take Aviva, which has been building up its presence in corporate risks for the past 12 months or so, and on Friday afternoon uncovered its new management team for this division. David Hall and John Tiernan will be looking to make a noise as they seek further growth – watch out for them at Biba this week.

Meanwhile MMA has unveiled Derek Bradshaw from Ecclesiastical as development manager, with a remit to drive commercial growth. MMA’s French parent company Covea recently acquired motor insurer Provident and also owns expanding broker Swinton – clearly it has wide-ranging ambitions for the UK.

As does the legendary Peter Wood, who has announced the forthcoming launch of esure’s broker division. Now, given Wood’s history as the founder of Direct Line, it will be interesting to see whether the broker market welcomes him with open arms or kicks him to the kerb. But if history is anything to judge by, Wood will be making waves.

This development is also a notable reinforcement of insurers' growing interest in intermediated personal lines – in the age of the aggregator, brokers really come into their own for insurers seeking anti-fraud controls and customer loyalty.

Further woe at Helphire

Bad news for accident-prone claims management company Helphire. Following a recent run of bad results, the company has announced that it may have overvalued its assets by up to £25m in 2010. With more pain ahead for claims management companies, in the guise of the Jackson Review, Helphire will be taking a deep breath as it looks to the future.

Money, money, money

Finally, who can’t resist a quick glance at the Sunday Times’s Rich List? The insurance roll call is strong as ever, with Peter Cullum, Neil Utley and Wood himself notable entries.