Insurance Times Advent Calendar: Steve Gibson

Every day for the festive period continuing until Christmas Eve, Insurance Times speaks to a selection of industry personalities about what they’d like to find under the tree for 2024.   

What was your insurance industry highlight of 2023?

For us, Avid expanded its insurer partnerships thanks to our strong understanding of the markets we play in, supported by really good people and working with technology-enabled MI and data analytics.

In a volatile year, we proved the value that managing general agents (MGAs) like us, with strong niche and specialist proposition, can bring to customers and our insurer partners. It places us in a good position to grow next year and we expect to accelerate out market presence by moving into additional niches, which we’re very excited about.

What is your Christmas message for your insurance colleagues?

I think following the difficulties the market faced in 2023, the MGA space is an exciting environment to be in for those MGA’s with strong insurer relationships, a strong track record within chosen specialities and the ability to understand the granularity of the product lines within those specialities.

The sector is poised to make a major contribution to the future growth and success of the whole insurance sector in the UK and we’re keen to play a part in it. 

What do you hope to find under the industry’s Christmas tree for 2024? 

It would be good to experience a position of stability within the market, together with a continuation of reducing inflationary pressures. This year saw the implementation of the Consumer Duty initiative and I would like to see time given to the market in order to understand the outcomes of this initiative.

We as an industry need to measure our performance against the expectations of our customers and ensure we deliver products and services that meet those expectations.