The 2020s (so far) – Providing security during tur...

The 2020s (so far) - Providing security during turbulence

The 2020s have presented unprecedented challenges. A global pandemic and lockdown, the shattering of peace in Europe, war in Gaza, the advent of AI and a level of geopolitical and economic turmoil not seen in decades. In this turbulent context, the insurance industry has come into focus like never before. As the impact of each of these crises comes to bear, the sector has come under scrutiny and has had to adapt and refine its approach with a much more forward-looking view of risk. Throughout this period, we have undergone dramatic change.

A world locked-down

In early 2020, the world faced its greatest challenge in decades - the COVID-19 pandemic. The magnitude of a crisis on this scale could not have been predicted. Every household, every business, every society was affected.

For insurers, many policies had not been drafted with a global pandemic in mind, and policy wordings came under scrutiny for this type of cover. The industry and its partners worked to find solutions to these new circumstances. Products were adapted and new covers launched. We developed an offering for hospitality businesses who began offering outdoor dining experiences by extending our income stabilisation offering.

War returns to European soil

After years of intense political tensions and military skirmishes, February 2022 saw an unprovoked Russian invasion of the Ukraine resulting in a war between those two countries.

Given Ukraine's reputation as the breadbasket of Europe and a key lynchpin in the global oil and gas trade, supply chain disruptions were felt globally. Energy costs soared, inflation rocketed, and the insurance market saw substantial losses across a number of lines, including aviation, marine, trade credit and political risk. Additionally, many countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada imposed harsh financial sanctions on Russia further restricting insurer abilities to operate in these lines.

Now operating in a new landscape of restricted access and increased risk of war in certain regions, we are collaborating with global insurers to help clients across the world navigate these new market dynamics.

Growing to meet the challenges

Realising the need for further resilience and the need to look towards sustainability and renewability of our resources, we acquired GCube in 2020, creating a new centre of excellence in the renewable energy segment. With GCube's 25-year track record supporting renewables developers and asset owners worldwide, and our global footprint and financial scale, the acquisition bolstered the businesses abilities to service clients and mitigate against the threat of the energy and climate change crises.

We grew our presence in the professional risks market by expanding to premises in Manchester and Birmingham. We also doubled the size of the Bridgend office in Wales, UK, reaffirming the importance of operating close to where clients conduct business.

In 2023 we acquired US-based Gulf Guaranty Employee Benefit Services, Inc., a third-party administrator and managing general underwriter that designs, underwrites and administers group gap medical plans for small and mid-sized businesses. Reflecting the needs of the market, this acquisition provided a complementary niche product to our first-class medical stop loss franchise, building on the solid foundation we already had in the health insurance market.

We hope you have enjoyed our look back over the past five decades, we are now looking forward to what the next 50 years has in store for our growing business. You can find more about our 50th Anniversary celebrations here or read our previous blog post here.

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