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Our research indicates that 2011 will see a new wave of acquisitions across the Insurance market. Already there have been announcements of a fair number of deals, but be in no doubt that many more conversations are taking place – not to mention Gallagher-Oxygen and THB-AmWins.
We talk to a lot of brokers in the course of our work creating acquisition opportunities and raising finance for business growth and we are constantly surprised by the friendliness of the market. Bearing in mind that these are big scary subjects – “acquisition”, “sell”, “merge”, “consolidate” – most business owners are very generous with their time and their knowledge for which we are grateful.
From today’s conversations we learned that the UK Healthcare insurance broker sector is “going like a train” – customers (personal and corporate) have an ever growing appetite for these products. Fear of the failings we keep hearing about in the NHS? Perhaps so. Certainly a sector to watch.
In the Commercial Insurance world business is still tough, but “OK”. Fear of Consolidators appears to be a thing of the past and there is a maturity to most discussions which is refreshing. The economy, the lack of insurer support, the FSA, the difficulty of finding a suitable successor – common subjects of complaint, across the industry. Keeping customers happy (often despite the FSA!), praying for the market to harden and wondering what to do in retirement are generally more light-hearted subjects of conversation – certainly the “when will the market harden” question always raises a smile!Calling a phone number listed in an online directory for a broker in the Midlands we were surprised when the voicemail message said, “You are through to Glamour Model Mandy. Please leave a message with your requirements and I will.......” At this point I hung up. It’s tough out there and brokers are well known for their ability to ‘duck and dive’, but diversification to this degree surprised even us!
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