Access to market information still a big issue – Spain

“For almost every company the main problem is to strengthen, within its own organisation, the knowledge of the key mechanisms linked to the coverages that it needs,” said Juan José Gil Sánchez, the Risks Finance and Corporate Insurance Director at Telefónica, the telecommunications group. He stressed, however, that insurance market partners also have an important role to play in this process. “Our experience is that the support of the broker and even the insurer acting as a consultant is of much help to prepare the information in such a way that it will convince the underwriter to take the risk.” Buyers would like to make use of information to elaborate benchmarks and other compilation of data to support their daily toils.hideMr Gil thinks that insurers and brokers have much of the data they need in their own files, and are often failing to meet the needs of their clients in this area. “It is clear that, when it comes to large risks, in the big industrial sectors, there is a lot of valuable information that is held by insurers and, to a lesser extent, by brokers,” he said. “We as insurance buyers need this information internally to prepare benchmarks about premiums and losses. It is very clear that insurance companies are losing to brokers the battle to provide this service to their clients. Brokers have been using their databanks to satisfy the needs of their clients by meeting the needs that we have to compare data and statistics,” explained Mr Gil. He added: “Insurers increasingly make use of actuarial studies to define the premium for large risks. Some of them have set specific ranges for the premiums charged in certain sectors, of which almost no buyer can escape. And we as risk managers are kept completely without access to this information.” “I understand that the information that I provide in the case of a loss belongs to my company. So I have always supported that we should have access to loss adjuster reports, as they are drafted based on information that we have provided,” said Cristina Martínez, the Director of Risk Management at Campofrío Food Group. “As part of the services provided by insurers, it should be delivered to buyers as a report of losses, including a comparison with market averages, with data not only from the subsidiary that has written the risk, but from the whole insurance group internationally,” she pointed out. For his part, Ivan Delgado de Robles, the Risk Manager at ACS, expressed concerns about the handling of sensitive data by brokers, especially in ultra-competitive international tenders that can be decided by any small advantage held by one of the companies involved. “In the early stages of international tenders, we often have to share information with brokers that is very important, as it can win us a project. So I always ask my brokers if there are any conflicts of interest, such as the possibility that they are already working for other participants in the same tender,” he said. “Brokers answer that, if that is the case, they have ‘Chinese Wall’ policies in place, and they assign different teams to deal with each client. Even then, however, if there are alternatives available, I prefer to avoid the risk. The teams are different, but they use the same offices, the same equipment, and this is something that worries me,” said Mr de Robles. Miguel Angel Zarandona, a Vice-President at AGERS, the risk management association, urged a higher level of collaboration between companies in order to promote the flow of valuable information about the market. “It is of essence to promote networking among insurance buyers,” he said. “This is where associations like AGERS and IGREA have an important role to play.”

Access to market information still a big issue – Spain

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