2018 Speakers

Matt is the co-founder and CEO of iGO4, a leading digital distributor of intelligent insurance. Matt is leading the company through a dynamic growth strategy; developing a digital, diverse business that delivers its own motor, home and telematics car insurance alongside successfully providing insurance solutions to a growing number of corporate partners, including Hastings and the RAC.

Prior to iGO4, Matt was Sales Director for the BGL Group and was on the Management team that launched Junction and CompareTheMarket. He has also held senior roles with Aon and Endsleigh.

Mike was appointed MD of LV= Broker Division in January 2016 responsible for the delivery and strategy of Commercial and Personal Lines Broker Business.

In addition to his responsibility for the Broker Division of LV= he has executive responsibility for Reinsurance strategy for LV= General Insurance.

Mike has a strong underwriting background and high professional standards. He is a Chartered Insurer and holds an FCA approved role.

Mike initially joined LV= in 2008 as Head of Broker Underwriting for Personal and Commercial lines before moving to focus on establishing and leading the development of its Commercial business. With a strong service ethos at its core, LV= developed an extensive range of SME products and a network of offices throughout the UK to support its broker development.

He has over 30 years of experience within the Insurance Industry. Having started his career initially with Commercial Union in the late 1980’s, working his way up and then moving on to hold a variety of senior managerial positions across both Personal and Commercial Lines.  Other Insurance Companies he has worked for include RBS, DLG and Aviva.

Mike is married with two children and lives in Hampshire.

Ian started his career at Alexander & Alexander in Manchester before moving to Sedgwick in 1997. There, he moved to the Isle of Man and became responsible for the management of more than 40 captive insurance companies. In 2002, he relocated to London to lead Marsh’s major account risk finance team.
Ian joined Lockton in 2007 as Chief Operating Officer for the Risk Solutions business where he has been involved in a number of acquisitions including the Italian Marine business, P.L. Ferrari and the establishment of Lockton’s Benefits business in the UK.
In 2018, Ian assumed responsibility for Lockton’s International Benefits businesses outside of the USA and assumed responsibility for Lockton’s Brexit plans.

After gaining a Management Science degree at Warwick University Business School, Phil worked in the Motor industry with the AA, before moving to the outsourcing sector with Motability Financial Operations. Phil joined Aviva in 2002 initially as Partnerships Director looking after our strategic relationship with Santander.
In the last 15 years Phil has undertaken a number of trading and distribution roles in the broker, and partnerships channel. In April 2013 he was appointed into the role of Intermediary and Partnerships Director, leading the trading, sales and branch network across the UK. Phil was appointed as Intermediaries MD in June 2017, with responsibility for sales and distribution across Aviva’s intermediary business.
Phil lives on the South coast. He is married, with 4 children.

Brendan McManus is CEO of PIB Group having previously served as CEO of insurance brokers Willis UK, Giles Group and Gallagher UK. He began his insurance career with Sun Alliance Group, rising to become Managing Director of RSA UK Commercial Division from 2003 – 2007. He is Vice President of the Chartered Insurance Institute and past Deputy Chair of BIBA.

Alan joined Simply Business in September 2016 as the Chief Commercial Officer.  He previously spent 12 years at Hiscox where his career spanned underwriting, operations and leadership roles, most latterly as the Sales Director UK & Ireland.  He started his insurance career as a trainee with Royal & Sun Alliance.

John founded Konsileo, a commercial insurance broking startup, with tech veteran Peter Henderson in 2015. John's insight behind Konsileo is that there is a wealth of opportunity to use technology to: help businesses manage risk; transform the efficiency of the broking process; and to build a self-managing broking organisation. John is a regular commentator on insurance technology issues, particularly broking technology, notably in the recent "Future of Commercial Insurance Broking" report for the CII.  

John has participated in the evolution of the insurance business model for over 20 years.  A common thread has been the application of technology to support and enhance, rather than replace, people in insurance. He started in 1993 in Commercial Union (now Aviva) in Leicester where he had an extensive apprenticeship in underwriting, sales and operations. He then worked in Hong Kong and Beijing before returning to the UK to run a personal lines affinity business. In 1999 he started a “dot com” selling travel insurance online.  

Following an MBA at London Business School, John became a consultant at Accenture where he worked in a number of markets applying technology to support underwriters. He joined Allianz in 2004 and fulfilled a number of senior roles in the UK business. John moved to Munich in 2011 as the Director of Marketing responsible for driving Allianz’s global Digital Business initiatives, reporting to the global CMO. He left Allianz in 2015 to start Konsileo, where he continues to be driven by a deep respect for the expertise of insurance professionals and a desire to use technology to augment rather than replace them.

Sara is the Managing Director of the Willis Networks. Her twenty eight years in the insurance industry comprises both network and insurer experience. Sara’s passionate approach has redefined the Willis Networks market-leading proposition; she has set them on a new course, reaffirmed the networks as the most professional in the market and strengthened the members’ collective voice. Sara is FCII, Chartered Insurance Broker, Chartered Manager and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. She is keen to engage in wider industry issues and joined the CII board in March 2013.

Martyn is the Managing Director of Aon’s Affinity business in the UK, who concentrate in providing insurance solutions for consumers and SME businesses. Martyn has worked in the financial services for over 20 years, with experience ranging from start-up and SME through to Global businesses at an executive level. Martyn’s current focus is on high growth sectors, including the gig/ sharing economy, working with Insurtech providers to offer insurance that can help enable growth.

Peter is an experienced insurance industry practitioner having worked for over 40 years in broking and delegated authority markets. 

He is the former Head of Technical Services at the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA). 

Peter sits on a number of industry groups and committees including the Insurance Charities Board & Grants Committee.

Responsible for BIBA's policy positions and overseeing of three departments:

Public Affairs:
• Creation of award winning manifesto and promotion of it to over 20 government departments, the Prime Minister, HM Treasury and the FCA
• Appearances before parliamentary committees at the House of Lords and House of Common as well as bodies such as the IMF 
• Creation of the 'Age Agreement' with Government, which has signposted over 250,000 older travel and motor insurance customers to appropriate insurance
• Contributor to the Good Practice Guide for Vulnerable Customers
• Promotion of key Brexit issues to the Prime Minister Theresa May

Technical - managing 25 successful commercial schemes and facilities including:
• BIBA Travel Insurance Scheme which has won several categories with Which?
• The Professional Indemnity Initiative - appointing a panel of three expert brokers to meet a specified policy wording
• Working with MGA/ reinsurance broker solution to create a new commercial insurance facility to assist SMEs in flood risk areas
• Responsible for guidance documents on the Insurance Act, under-insurance and the Sharing Economy

Communications:
Appearances on all major national broadcasters (BBC, SKY, ITV, C4) and print media, as well as regular expert columns e.g. Auto Express. 
Spokesperson on all general insurance issues, including Travel, Motor, Home, Pet, Commercial and the sharing economy.

 

An experienced insurance executive with over 25 years’ in-depth experience across composite insurers, MGAs, brokers and claims TPAs, including: CEO responsibility for BUs where he has driven growth and performance improvement; and CFO and IT director roles in turnaround businesses. He is accomplished in change-management delivering large transformational programmes and building high-performance teams. Hands-on experience across international businesses, PE backed ventures and regional SMEs.

Having spent 15 years working in retail and software, Simon made the move into the insurance industry last year, taking up the role of Head of Digital Strategy and Innovation at iGO4. With vast experience working in digital development, such as Head of Digital Development at Wm Morrison’s and as Co-Founder of cloud SaaS platform Elevaate, Simon has brought his skills in technology and marketing to iGO4 to help cement its position as a customer focused and innovative company.

Winner of the Northern Power House Outstanding Entrepreneur 2018, Sam is a true business initiator having set up her first company aged just 24 from her sister’s conservatory. Motivated by a deep-rooted desire to fundamentally change the insurance industry for the better and level the playing field, Sam has become known for her promotion of women and diversity in the financial services sector. 

Founder and CEO of insurance services provider, Action 365, insurance provider, Pukka Insure and the newly launched brokerage, Freedom Brokers, Sam prides herself on operating a true meritocracy. With a collective turnover in excess of £15 million, Sam employs over 250 people in the UK, Gibraltar and Australia. A vocal supporter of equal rights in the workplace, 67% of Sam’s directors are women. Her innovative and positive approach to trouble shooting set’s her apart. If something isn’t working, she will take the time to fully investigate the issue. This hands-on, can-do approach has allowed her to successfully guide her team through many of the recent industry legislation changes that otherwise would have had an extremely negative impact on the business. 

A true opportunity spotter and unapologetic hustler by nature, Sam uses challenges, such as legislation changes that have crippled other businesses, to her advantage.

As a working mother of two, philanthropy is also important to Sam, a foundation benefiting from her businesses has been established with the goal of supporting some of the most worthy human rights causes locally, nationally and internationally. The focus so far of the endeavour has been on regional grassroots outreach and Sam is personally participating in the 2018 InsureTrek climb of Mount Kilimanjaro raising vital funds and awareness for the Alzheimers Society.

Avi is the Co-Founder & CEO of PolyWizz,

Prior to establishing PolyWizz, Avi was a Partnership Manager for life & non-life insurance company, helping insurers, brokers & agents unlock their customer potential with a data-driven approach.

Martyn has 40 years’ experience in the General Insurance market, having held positions with Cornhill, Bishopsgate/Fortis and Zenith he moved into broking 20 years ago with Marsh heading up their Bancassurance SME business before establishing Group Direct in 2001 which then became Brightside Plc on a reverse takeover in 2008. Having been running all Broking operations he then became CEO in 2012. After being thwarted in an attempt to take the business private in 2014 he left and joined Markerstudy Group as Commercial Director managing all external relationships whilst also overseeing the Insurance Broking and Affinity divisions. He established Holman Advisory Ltd in 2017 and is currently a Non Exec Director at Insurance Software provider Open GI and niche Telematics Insurer Smart Driver Insurance whilst also consulting for Legal Protection Group, Amber management and Pukka Insurance.

Andy started his career in the public sector, working in the NHS and the Department for Health.  His first role in the insurance industry was at the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, with responsibility for communications on industry databases as well as media handling of wider uninsured driving issues. He joined the British Insurance Brokers’ Association in 2013 and is now responsible for corporate affairs at BIBA, helping to develop the trade association’s influencing policy and represents brokers’ interests to Government. Latterly he has taken responsibility for BIBA’s position on cyber, both threats and opportunities and is also driving forward BIBA’s role in helping the industry make the most of  innovative opportunities arising from InsurTech through BIBA’s cross-industry  Innovation Working Group.

Michael has 25 years’ experience in the insurance industry, latterly as Sales & Marketing Director of Highway Insurance before joining LV= in 2008 as Personal Lines Sales Director. Michael was appointed Personal Lines Director for LV=Broker in October 2010 and is responsible for all Highway, ABC and Clear Personal Lines products and broker management.

Michael has held a number of senior posts in underwriting, electronic trading, sales and marketing.  All these posts have been in the insurer intermediary market and the broker market is his passion. He is ACII qualified and obtained an honours degree in Insurance Management in 1999.

A proven leader with an inquisitive nature, Fraser’s courage to challenge the status quo led him to co-found Broker Insights, an award winning insurtech start-up, with ex-Aviva colleague Iain Crole. Over the last year Broker Insights has been leading the Scottish insurtech market, transforming insurance distribution and improving collaboration between major insurers and regional commercial brokers through data analytics. Formerly Broker Distribution Director for Aviva UK, Fraser has over 25 years of knowledge and experience from the general insurance industry having led distribution and commercial teams using a full range of distribution models for general insurance products. Investors in innovation and people, Fraser and co-founder Iain have tripled the size of the Broker Insights team over the last six months to accelerate growth plans and are dedicated to helping Brokers unlock the value held in their data whilst using technology to facilitate new insurer relationships.

Lucy has worked with Applied brokers for over 12 years. In her current role she ensures existing customers and new ones are getting the most from their technology investment and driving growth within their businesses.

Nick has over 30 years’ experience working in marine, engineering and terrorism insurance across company and Lloyd’s markets. He had a successful track record from Engineering and Specialist Business Unit Manager for NMU nationally to Divisional Director in April 2015, before being promoted to Executive Director in January 2016.

Nick is well known in the UK and Irish markets, and respected for his business knowledge and commercial awareness.

Olly founded IMAS in 1992 and was responsible for the development of IMAS-insight, IMAS’s central knowledge-based system.  He has been involved in the majority of IMAS’ transactions so has enormous experience in what makes for a successful transaction and making it happen.

Prior to setting up IMAS he worked for Cazenove and Kleinwort Benson. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen and has a degree in Economics from Exeter University.

Olly revels in building long-lasting relationships with decision-makers across the financial services sector based on his knowledge and insights.

Neil Walton has been a practicing insurance broker involved in both the Lloyds and Company markets for over 30 years. A Director of Centor and its predecessor business since 1996.

C.E.O. and the majority shareholder of Centor Insurance and Risk Management since performing an MBO in 2004. Centor are an old Investor in People Accredited business and have placed in the top 10 “Great Places To Work” (under 50 employees) for the last 8 years.

Centor employees 45 staff across Commercial, Corporate, Real Estate,

Private Client and Employee Benefit lines, and has a premium income of £28 million Based in the City of London with a strong Exec and Non Exec Board, Centor have grown year on year by meticulous strategy planning and the fostering of long term relationships and successful JV’s. Centor are multiple industry award winners, including British Insurance Awards – Commercial Insurance Broker of the year, 2016 and 2017, Broker of the year at the Commercial Insurance awards 2017 & Broker Claims team of the year at the Insurance Times Claims excellence awards 2017.

After starting his career in motor underwriting, Peter switched to broking, and eventually led a management buy-out of the UK commercial division of Farr in 2000 which he then named FMW Risk Services Ltd.  He grew this business to approximately £25m gross written premium before selling the business in December 2007 to Oval.  In 2012 Peter was appointed Chief Executive of Oval and he ran the business through until its eventual sale to Arthur J. Gallagher which completed in April 2014.

In May 2015 Peter concluded a management buy-in of Aston Scott and is now Group CEO of the business.  He merged the business with Lark Group in 2017 and the combined business will write nearly £300m of gross written premium, employing over 600 staff in 18 locations across the UK.  The business has now rebranded as Aston Lark.

Peter is also non-executive chairman at Hastings Insurance Services Ltd, the broker arm of Hastings Direct, and is chairman of the Large Brokers’ Advisory Board at the British Insurance Brokers Insurance Association (BIBA).

Peter has just concluded a 9-year term as a trustee of the Essex Community Foundation which is an independent charitable trust improving the quality of life of people in Essex by investing and distributing funds on behalf of a wide range of donors.  Essex Community Foundation looks after over £40m worth of endowed funds and awards thousands of grants each year to a variety of voluntary organisations and projects.

Peter lives in Colchester with his wife, Sue, and has three children aged 18, 16 and 11 and his hobbies include padel tennis, tennis, swimming, shooting, golf and watching rugby.

Joanna has worked in the insurance industry for 20 years in different roles from broking to insurer. She now heads up UK product ensuring we are delivering technology that meets the needs of today’s broker.

Michael Savage is a Director advising on opportunities in the global financial services sector. He is based in London.

Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Savage worked at Moelis & Company where he focused on mergers & acquisitions and corporate restructurings. Prior to joining Moelis & Company, Mr. Savage was an analyst in the Financial Institutions Group at UBS Investment Bank.

Mr. Savage received a B.A. in economics from Boston College.

Robin Wood is CEO of RWA and founded the business in 1992. He is an acknowledged Expert on insurance broker's duties and Conduct Standards and Risk Management and has been an Expert to the courts on a number of reported cases including Environcom v Miles Smith, The Café De Lecq case and Eurokey v Giles.

Robin is happy to advise anyone who wants to know how to meet good and reasonable standards of conduct and behaviour whether that be a sole trader or a regulator. Robin has written a number of important guide books on topics such as Training & Competence, The Duty of an Insurance Broker, The Insurance Act and Professional Standards of Insurance Brokers. A regular speaker at industry conference events and Masterclasses, Robin is an engaging presenter who is known for filling a room and providing a challenging and effective delivery. He is a Founder Member of the Expert Witness Institute and a Chartered Insurance Practitioner

Leah graduated from the University of Reading in 2013, immediately joining the Sterling Insurance graduate scheme, underwriting high net worth household and commercial property and casualty business. Leah became Schemes Manager at Covea Insurance in January 2016, managing the team of 10 underwriters and account managers. Leah moved to Hiscox in November 2017 as a national Schemes Account Manager to help deliver the best schemes service in the market. She ensures brokers receive as much support following the launch of their scheme as they do during the building of it, forming an integral part of the wider Hiscox Schemes strategy.

Francesca is the Schemes eCommerce Manager at Hiscox. She joined Hiscox in April 2016 as an experienced project manager looking after the open market etrade offerings of the Hiscox extranet and Acturis products. In January 2017, she took over the running of eCommerce for Schemes, managing all aspects of broker eCommerce. From the review of existing broker scheme websites, to delivering innovative new solutions tailored to the individual client needs, along with driving growth through the use of both digital analytics and digital marketing streams.

Kathryn is Managing Director of the Gallagher office in Coventry and also plays a key role in Gallagher’s international life science team.

Kathryn has been instrumental in the initiation and delivery of an innovative growth model within Gallagher. She is a Chartered Insurance Practitioner with 20+ years industry experience, having held a variety of roles across the Gallagher business.

James Burton serves as Director of Product Management across UK and Ireland, having come via the IIL acquisition, and is responsible for the management and execution of our product strategy across the business. Prior to LexisNexis, James has worked in a number of product and analytical roles across Loyalty, Credit Risk and Debt Management after spending a number of years as a Government Bond trader. He has worked for Ikano Bank and Equifax and has a Master degree in Economics from Nottingham University.

Sian Fisher is CEO of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

Leading the professional standards body for insurance since February 2016 follows a distinguished career in the sector, which has included senior roles at a Lloyd’s Syndicate, a UK and European insurance company, a market leading MGA, a major international broker and US corporate.

Sian has also run her own start-up intermediary and was part of the creation of the Managing General Agents’ Association.

A graduate of Oxford University with an Exec MBA from Harvard, Sian is a strong advocate for equality.  She is a founding member and Executive Chair of the Insuring Women’s Futures initiative and a Committee Member of the Insurance Supper Club.

Ms. Fisher is also a Non-Executive Director at Asta Underwriting Management and Vice President of the Insurance Institute of London.

Jonathan has just completed 30 years with Aviva. Jonathan’s current role is Head of Commercial SME Solutions and Schemes, supporting accelerated growth of Commercial Mid-Market business and seeking out new affinity scheme opportunities.

Andrew is into his 38th year at Aviva, and is currently heading up Aviva’s Personal Lines intermediated transformation alongside Schemes and Telematics teams. Andrew started his career as an Underwriter, and has had numerous roles in the group over the years, including; Claims, Business Change, with the last 15 years being in Senior Relationship Management and Distribution roles. At weekends Andrew enjoys spending time with the family, playing golf and walking his two dogs.

Gary is the Terrorism Underwriting Manager for NMU, based in Manchester and overseeing the underwriting and management of the terrorism account for the NMU regional offices. Previously working in the Marine Cargo department, Gary has now established himself in the field of commercial and property owners standalone terrorism insurance since 2011.

Born in East Africa and arrived in this country at the age of 7 happily married to Mina with 2 children. I have over 40 years experience in general insurance and broking, starting my career at Guardian Royal Exchange at 17 and first becoming a Director at Brett and Randall in 1983.

Following B&R’s organic success, I helped establish Brokerbility Ltd in 2006. The broking group is now a major independent group in the UK, trading as Brokerbility Holdings Insurance Brokers Ltd (BHIB).

After leading the Management buy out in November 2009 I assumed the position of Chairman for the group whilst maintaining a book of clients for BHIB Ltd, as well as my responsibilities to the Brokerbility Holdings. 

Stanmore Insurance Brokers have spent nearly 15 years building their dot2dot scheme into one of the UK’s largest providers of nursery and childcare insurance. Director of Stanmore and dot2dot, Jackie Hyde, believes that a customer-centric approach is vital in running a successful scheme, and her favourite part of the job is engaging with customers and being innovative with new development ideas.

Aviva and Stanmore Insurance Brokers have been working together on their specialist dot2dot scheme since 2015, and played an important role in Stanmore winning the Insurance Times Scheme Broker of the Year in 2017.

Andy has held the position of CEO at Broker Network since August 2014. Prior to joining the Network he was Managing Director at Footman James, a classic car & bike insurance broker. Andy has a wealth of industry experience including serving on the UK Board of AXA, latterly as Chief Operating Officer. He established the insurance and customer service proposition at First Direct, and was part of the original Countrywide Insurance marketing team. Andy holds an MBA from the University of Warwick Business School.