Liberty Specialty Markets on track with plan to double European business by 2020

European risk managers can expect to see more of Liberty Specialty Markets during the next three years. Its European head Kadidja Sinz told Commercial Risk Europe that the firm is forging ahead with ambitious plans to “profitably” double its premium volume in core European markets by 2020, despite the stubbornly competitive commercial and corporate insurance market. Ms Sinz also said that the US-based mutual – which has European insurance operations in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland operating under the Liberty Specialty Markets brand – is investing in the people and technology needed to become a truly viable option in the international programmes market. In Europe, Liberty has traditionally focused mainly on the niche specialty market for middle and upper middle market customers. But Ms Sinz said the group is building its capabilities and partnerships with brokers and other service providers, which will enable it to offer a truly integrated global service for large corporate customers. For now though, Ms Sinz and her team, bolstered earlier this year by the arrival of Kerry McKay from XL Catlin to the newly-created role of head of distribution and client management for continental Europe, is busily building its business in existing core markets, and doing well despite the tough market conditions. “Liberty has been in Europe for over 12 years now and has created a very good platform. In recent times it has not grown a huge amount. We now have the scalable platform needed to move onto the next level and with the right investment, will reach our goal of profitably doubling the size of the portfolio by 2020,” said Ms Sinz. The key to achieving profitable growth in such a competitive market is to remain highly focused on delivering tailor-made solutions for risk managers in more niche specialty areas, she explained. “The European market may be very commoditised and price-driven currently, but there are actually very few insurers that offer tailor-made solutions in more specialised and niche areas, and offer out-of-the-box thinking. This is one of our key drivers and we are expanding our product suite in specialist areas, such as surety, where less than 20 insurers compete,” commented Ms Sinz. Liberty Mutual, of which Liberty Specialty Markets is a part, has also invested in some innovative new capital structures. These include Limestone Re, a $160m multi-year collateralised reinsurance sidecar-like vehicle launched last December to bring fresh reinsurance capital to cover mainly US primary risks. These innovative structures can potentially be brought to into play for European corporate customers as sidecars or via captives, explained Ms Sinz. “All the elements are not in place yet, but we are building this on a three-year horizon. This is one of the advantages of working for a mutual. They tend to have a longer-term and more customer-centric view,” she added. The second big area of investment that will help Liberty Mutual expand in Europe, is the creation of new data points and analysis to help improve underwriting decisions. Such investment can help underwriters build tailor-made solutions for customers that more accurately fit their needs. Deeper analysis of what customers really want also helps add important services such as crisis management. “It is not always simply about financial compensation; it can be more about the ability of a company to actually stay in their market following an incident, retain market share or their reputation. A cheque can be nice, but is not always the full answer. This needs real cooperation between insurer, broker and risk manager,” said Ms Sinz.

Liberty Specialty Markets on track with plan to double European business by 2020

Want to read this article?

Read Next

German SMEs record rise in cyberattacks, reveals HDI poll

Convex books first annual profit since 2019 launch

Munich Re reorganises P&C underwriting in Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa

Climate change to cause ‘massive economic damage’

Two-paced upstream energy market falls in favour of buyers

German SMEs record rise in cyberattacks, reveals HDI poll

Convex books first annual profit since 2019 launch

Munich Re reorganises P&C underwriting in Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa

Climate change to cause ‘massive economic damage’

Two-paced upstream energy market falls in favour of buyers

Want to read this article?

Read Next

German SMEs record rise in cyberattacks, reveals HDI poll

Convex books first annual profit since 2019 launch

Munich Re reorganises P&C underwriting in Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa

Climate change to cause ‘massive economic damage’

Two-paced upstream energy market falls in favour of buyers

Related Articles