Reshuffle will keep Ageas UK on its toes

The management changes at Ageas UK following Barry Smith’s promotion to group chief operating officer may raise a few eyebrows, but they make a lot of sense and should ensure the insurer does not get stuck in a rut.

Ageas was arguably spoilt for choice for internal candidates to fill Smith’s shoes. He has many trusted lieutenants who are experienced and highly regarded in the market, so in some ways it was difficult to go wrong.

There is the much-liked and respected Mark Cliff, who has been at the company since 2008 and is managing director of core non-life insurance unit Ageas Insurance Ltd, and Andy Watson, who has successfully stewarded Ageas’s burgeoning retail broking arm since he left HSBC Insurance in 2010.

More recently, Ageas UK has benefited from the services of François-Xavier Boisseau, who expertly ran Groupama Insurances before Ageas bought it at the end of last year.

In the end, Watson won the day, which may come as a surprise to some. Cliff had been at the firm for longer, and has much stronger relationships with brokers. As head of retail, Watson was effectively competing with other brokers. Cliff also has a strong background on the underwriting side of the business. Before joining Ageas in 2008 he worked at AXA and RSA.

However, it should be remembered that Ageas UK is more than just a general insurer, and Andy Watson is more than a broker. Ageas is an all-rounder, and also life insurance and broking. Its general insurance business is still the  powerhouse, but the other divisions are growing in importance.

Likewise, Watson has had a varied career in his 25 years in financial services. He was worked at UKI Partnerships, Cooperative Financial Services and Direct Line.

In addition, Watson’s broking experience means he will have a lot in common with Ageas’s core distribution channel – once he gets to know them a bit better, of course.

Given Cliff’s strong background on the underwriting side, it might seem a strange move to put him in charge of retail. However, Cliff knows the broker-insurer relationship well and how to use it to Ageas  Retail’s best advantage. The move also means that the increasingly important retail arm is in a very safe pair of hands.

Both of these changes will also move Watson and Cliff slightly out of their comfort zones, which will keep them, and the company, fresh.

With Cliff moving to retail, Boisseau was an obvious choice to run Ageas Insurance Ltd. He ran an extremely tight ship at Groupama Insurances, striking the right balance between between underwriting profitability and serving broker and client needs. The move will also ensure Ageas UK continues to benefit from Boisseau’s experience and skill.

Before the change, he seemed a little like a spare part after Groupama Insurances was acquired, and may have quickly got bored or disillusioned. However, the change restores him as a chief executive of an insurance legal entity, within a larger European group, as he was before.

One danger here is that if Cliff feels he has missed out on the top UK job, he may decide to leave. His departure would put a big hole in a market-leading insurance management team, and is something Ageas will very much want to avoid.