Baird and Richards: Consilium strategy ‘coming to fruition’

Since Paul Richards and James Baird were appointed as joint chief executives of Consilium, the two top bosses have refocused the broker’s strategy in an attempt to bolster growth.

Baird joined the Aventum Group-owned broker in November 2022, while Richards joined the team in January 2023. 

As part of their plans for 2023 and beyond into this year, the two appointees decided to focus their strategy on growing Consilium’s product portfolio, international reach and service.

To help achieve this, the firm has invested in new and existing specialist teams in a bid to seize new opportunities.

In turn, it has extended its international reach on its existing lines with expanded wholesale and retail broker, managing general agent (MGA) and cedant relationships in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and South Africa.

“Our strategy is coming to fruition,” Richards tells Insurance Times.

And Baird highlights that the firm’s risk solutions team, which mainly focuses on UK-based business, and international property team have been key to driving growth.

“[The risk solutions team] have been refining their relationships and securing some more deeper and meaningful ones, so they have had very good growth year-on-year,” he says.

“And the property insurance market has been more of a sellers’ market over the last 12 to 18 months, so we have seen good uplift there as well.”

Distribution 

As part of Consilium’s strategy, the firm has been investing in new technologies to seize opportunities in sectors like property, construction, cyber, financial and other liability lines.

The firm has reported a compound growth rate of 39% since 2019 and expects to see a further 45% growth in 2024.

Richards and Baird believe the firm is currently already ahead of budget for Q1 24 and on target to now reach $1.4bn (£1.1bn) in gross written premiums by 2026.

Baird says the growth comes down to increased distribution of speciality products across the lines that it focuses on.

“There is also broader geographical distribution as well,” he adds.

“We have started to see good business flow out of Australia, some good business opportunities coming out of Canada and we are starting to see business coming out of the US as well.”

Talent

To help with its growth, Consilium is also looking to attract more talent to the business.

It has seen an 85% increase in headcount since June 2022, with further recruitment planned for 2024.

Attracting talent to the insurance sector has been a worry for businesses, with what seems like the majority of insurance professionals acknowledging that they ‘fell’ into their current careers, rather than choosing to pursue roles in the industry.

And a survey by the Chartered Insurance Institute revealed that 60% of young talent found the insurance industry “boring” and only 30% would consider it as a career.

The findings were based on a survey of 50 participants between the ages of 14-22 in April 2023.

However, Richards says one way his firm is able to attract more talent is not having a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) strategy.

“We are a business that is private, we have no third party shareholders, we’re in control of our destiny and we haven’t got an M&A strategy – meaning we are not going to buy anything and no-one is going to buy us,” he says.

“So, we offer a very stable platform. In a world – certainly where in the last three to five years it has been an M&A race among the private equity backed owners – we offer a very attractive platform with the opportunity to own equity.”

Richards says Consilium is also looking at ways it can bring younger talent into the industry.

“We have talked about graduate schemes, school leaver training schemes and upskilling,” he says.

“Particularly in certain roles, there is a lack of the younger generation and a lack of skills in certain areas.

“We think we are an attractive proposition and we will develop our own talent.”