International insurers get closer to French buyers

A number of international insurers have been looking to bring their expertise and products to commercial insurance buyers in France, with a greater focus on local servicing and underwriting.

The French insurance market is one of the largest in the world. Business optimism has been rising under President Emmanuel Macron and following a marked improvement in the French economy. This optimism appears to be shared by international commercial insurers, a number of which are investing in their French businesses.

For example, XL Catlin is building its local presence in France, underwriting more specialty lines in the country. In addition to its specialty teams in London, the insurer is developing its kidnap and ransom, political risk and accident and health insurance capabilities.

“We have brought more specialty lines to France and we are also looking to develop our presence in the French regions,” Bruno Laval, regional manager, France and southern Europe for insurance at XL Catlin, told CRE at this year’s Les Rencontres de l’AMRAE.

Corinne Cipière, who took over as CEO of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) in France this summer from former risk manager Thierry van Santen, told CRE that she will focus on continuity in the French market, but is looking to make her company’s offering more visible to clients. In addition, AGCS France is working to deliver new covers and services for risk managers in key areas, while targeting intermediate-sized companies as they seek insurance partners to meet expanding needs.

“I think the French market knew about our capacity, but thought we were not always sufficiently making ourselves visible. So we are focusing on that. It is about being a bit more explicit to the market about what we can deliver. Everything was there but we probably weren’t pushing that externally as much as we are now,” said Ms Cipière.

She explained that AGCS remains focused on large French accounts and is actively looking to win new clients, while retaining longstanding relationship-driven business and being selective in certain areas, given market conditions. In addition, the unit is looking to deliver its expertise to medium-sized companies “because they are increasingly operating internationally and I think we can bring something to these type of accounts”, explained Ms Cipière.

Areas of renewed focus for AGCS in France include environmental and entertainment, while improved service is high on the list of objectives.

“We tend to focus on all lines of business, but there are certain areas that are new to us in France. We have been developing an offer for environmental impairment liability that allows us to do international programmes. We have been developing the entertainment offering and non-damage business interruption will remain a key area for us, as supply chain remains the highest ranked on our AGCS risk barometer,” explained Ms Cipière.

“We are also working more on the services side. For instance, we have developed Nat Cat Solutions with our loss prevention team – a permanent watch of our clients’ exposures, helping them to be ready before a natural catastrophe event hits and get back to normal more quickly after. We have also been working on tools that are useful for underwriting and our clients. There is a tool called Supply-I that is helping us to better map the supply chain of our clients. This allows us to limit the amount of information we require from clients in this area. For cyber we have a partnership with a company called Cyence to do something similar,” she added.

Zurich France is being given more “autonomy and agility” to respond to the needs of its clients, while tapping into the knowledge and capabilities of the insurer’s global expertise, explained Florence Tondu-Mélique, chief executive officer of the French unit.

The move is part of the insurer’s strategy under chief executive Mario Greco, which saw the end of the Zurich Global Corporate brand and centralised structure, in favour of a local approach across all customer segments and lines of business.

“We will continue to defend our technical and service excellence while also having more autonomy and power locally to address complex risk and structure tailor made solutions meeting clients’ needs,” said Ms Tondu-Mélique, who joined Zurich in the spring of 2017, having previously been European chief operating officer at Hiscox.

Zurich enjoyed a positive renewal in January, significantly exceeding its retention and new business targets for corporate business in France. According to Ms Tondu-Mélique, the insurer achieved this result while preserving underwriting integrity in rate and performance.

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions also sees growth opportunities in France, mostly through targeting international programme business, innovative risk solutions and specialty lines such as aviation, construction, marine and professional indemnity.

The primary commercial arm of reinsurer Swiss Re has already been winning new clients in France, according to Bruno Mostermans, head of France for Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. It has been investing in people and capabilities as it looks to increase primary lead positions on international insurance programmes, he said.

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