Insurance Times looks at highlights from Q2 2023 in its review of the year
As we approach the new year, Insurance Times takes a look back at some of the biggest and most popular stories that occurred during each month in 2023.
In Q2 2023, highlights included a big Howden appointment, climate protests and in-person attendance at Lloyd’s.
You can see what happened over April, May and June below:
April
As the weather started to warm up in April this year, Insurance Times reported on a people move story that garnered significant attention. On 24 April, global broker Howden announced that Peter Blanc had been appointed to its head of M&A, new initatives and talent.
The former chief executive of Aston Lark, which was acquired by Howden in October 2021 and rebranded to Howden in October this year, has remained an industry heavyweight and overseen some significant acquisitions.
Also in April, comments from Hubb Insure chief operating officer Ed Halsey kicked off a debate around the changing role of underwriters, with Halsey stating that a data focus was going to become increasingly necessary in a traditionally relationship-driven industry.
May
As Insurance Times acting editor Yiannis Kotoulas celebrated his birthday, the insurance industry continued to throw up big stories in May.
The most popular news from the month concerned climate activists from protest group Money Rebellion staging a fake fire outside Lloyd’s of London on 25 May, in protest against the market’s links to the Adani Carmichael coal operation.
Flares were set off and alarms sounded, with the group highlighting that the market should not be insulated from public opinion of its activities.
Also in May, readers continued to show interest in ecommerce giant Amazon’s recently launched insurance store as news broke of Policy Expert joining the panel of insurers available to Amazon customers.
The store was launched in October 2022 to much fanfare, but its impact has yet to be fully revealed.
June
In June, one of the most popular stories of the year dropped when the London and Internation Insurance Brokers’ Association (Liiba) released some research that showed underwriters had majorly reduced their time spent at the box in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Our face-to-face future report also found that broker lounges were unpopular with surveyed brokers, who also thought that 15 minute appointments granted by underwriters were insufficent for creating prodcutive discussions.
One of June’s – and the year’s – second most popular stories saw Lloyd’s respond to Liiba concerns, with the market stating that it had noted the report and was working to ensure the underwriting room remained a vibrant place to do business.
Since then, the market has completed renovations to its underwriting room, which reopened in September. Lloyd’s said that while digital updates had been carried out, it remained comitted to face-to-face trading.
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