Nick Wright: Pen exploring acquisition opportunities in the UK

How is Pen looking to develop its service to match and exceed brokers’ expectations?

We know that brokers look to Pen for three essentials – service, solutions and sustainability. So, we’ll keep investing in all three, across our people and our platforms. That means maintaining our focus on access, product range and expertise.

When brokers want to speak to us, we’ll make sure we answer, respond promptly and actively meet with them. We’re proud of our 4.8/5 Feefo rating, but we’ll also work hard to maintain it. That’s why we have dedicated customer champions right across Pen and a customer service committee to challenge us.

Something else that won’t change is choice. Brokers have always been able to trade with Pen in multiple ways. For individual support, they’ll continue to have experienced underwriters on hand across our established network of regional offices, as well as the benefit of our dedicated UK-wide business development team. For digital delivery, brokers can expect further enhancements on Pen’s own quote and bind portals, as well as software house platforms.

Like any good marketplace, Pen will always strive to stay fresh and relevant. So, brokers can also look forward to complementary products or wholly new specialisms that enable them to find even more of what their clients need in one place.

What products have faced the biggest developments through working with brokers?

Every Pen product is routinely reviewed to ensure it is delivering fair value and the appropriate levels of protection. But two recent examples stand out, where enhancements were a direct result of ongoing broker collaboration.

The first is with our cyber proposition, where phase one resulted in us offering a comprehensive suite of risk mitigation measures at no added cost, to help SME clients improve their overall cyber resilience and thus minimise the risk of disruption.

Services include vulnerability scans, blocking of dangerous downloads, real-time detection of suspicious emails and targeted employee training based on the results of phishing simulations to reduce the risk of human error. This helps brokers bring to life the intangible exposures of businesses and convey the real risk SMEs face from cyber-related incidents, whether malicious or accidental.

Phase two – underway right now – has seen us revamp our product in terms of extra covers, as a direct result of feedback from our broker partners. We’re confident our enhanced cyber proposition will ensure they can offer clients a compelling mix of loss prevention and enhanced insurance indemnities.

The second example comes from our specialist marine war risk insurance specialist Vessel Protect, which earlier this year increased its any one vessel coverage limit by 40% to $250m to respond to broker demand. This materially enhanced the availability of cover for significant value vessels and the most modern of fleets needing to transit the most active conflict zones, and thus protected and facilitated trade.

What can brokers expect in the next 12 months from Pen? 

A relentless focus on service and adding value, as well as finding ways we can help brokers win and retain business. We’ll keep on investing in technology where appropriate to better the brokers’ journey, while making sure it remains easy for them to speak to and trade with our regional and specialist underwriters.

We’ll also be looking to enhance our products and risk management led services for brokers to best meet their clients’ evolving needs. That could include new specialisms that would add capabilities to the Pen family marketplace and strengthen our ability to offer brokers a one-stop-shop experience.

We’ll also keep on exploring acquisition opportunities in the UK and across Europe to bring in like-minded businesses that share our focus on sustainable growth, disciplined underwriting and customer centricity. Watch this space.