Dermot Joyce, executive director, commercial services, Capita Group
If you go back a number of years, the distribution of insurance was pretty sensible, according to Joyce.
But he said; "Today, when people ask where you bought your insurance, it is a brand, neither a broker nor an insurer.
"Most people who buy insurance do not really know the difference, and do not even understand who actually carries the risk. They understand the brand."
Joyce said in the current market there were clear and discernibly different channels of distribution.
He pointed to direct brands, carriers with multi brands, corporate affinity partnerships, and the convergence channels, which had also become a force in the market.
"The easiest way to understand distribution in the future is to follow the private equity money and find out where it is going at the retail level," he commented.
Looking to the future, Joyce said questions that needed to be answered in the short term were: What does your brand stand for? the issue of owning customer data and the advantages of buying that data; sub-commission sustainability; customer experience and the importance of brand.
