Whoever said insurance was dull? Back when I used to buy helicopters for a living maybe, if I thought about it, I might have thought that comparatively it was the duller option. But events of the last week or so have proved that not to be the case.

Firstly, I finally said au revoir to my old boss, close friend and mentor, John Kitson. Now life with John was never dull. He left the industry as he did everything in life, with style, humour and huge personality. I can honestly say I’ve never worked with anyone like John, he has the ability to make me laugh, even when I want to cry, and behind that much loved quirkiness is a business brain that most would envy.

I say au revoir and not goodbye, not because I believe he’ll be back in this industry, although if I had a fiver for every time I had answered that question over the last few months I’d be getting rich. For the record, lest you’re tempted to ask, I don’t think he will. As long as I’ve known John he’s had a pretty clear plan and I’ve no doubt that he’ll now make the most of every minute of his new life. But John and I will keep in touch, we already are, he text me on Easter Monday asking about March numbers. And maybe, when we meet up, every now and then he’ll allow me to share a few tales from the riverbank. I’ll trade it for the latest gossip, which I know he’ll be dying to hear.

John loves to gossip. On the day before he hung up his blackberry, I bumped into him at the train station. I was heading back to Norwich, he and Jennifer were heading for a farewell dinner with a broker. I shared the news about Quinn, and for a split second I could see him thinking, his brain going at 100 miles an hour, maybe contemplating that things could be getting really interesting just as he bid us farewell.

Which brings me on to the other thing that’s made life interesting over the last week…Quinn.

Maybe not a surprise……

Maybe not enough to lead us to a hard market overnight…….

And maybe not as widespread an impact in the UK as it will have in the Irish market…….

…………………That said if you’re business is insurance, your job or your livelihood is impacted and it will leave you with plenty to worry about.

Making money out of insurance is far from a sure bet. The tough years more than offset the good years, cash generation and investment returns means that new entrants are a plenty, and it’s really easy to look like you’re making lots of money in the early years and find out later that you’re not. I won’t join in the press frenzy and commentary about a competitors’ demise, and the whys and wherefores of what happened but what I will say is that even in a business where it takes years to know how profitable the business you are writing today is, if it looks like you’re defying gravity, you probably are.

 Out of this frenzy I have only 2 hopes:

- that despite the pressures our business customers still face, we do see rates harden. Insurers’ results across the industry make interesting reading, and there isn’t one of us that doesn’t want to see a harder market. The events of the last week aren’t enough alone, but they certainly can’t hurt.

-  that those of us that have been around for hundreds of years, and will be for hundreds more, can be there for the brokers and clients that need us now, tomorrow, next year and in many years to come. That maybe we see a bit more value associated with the long term players, the bigger brands, and the peace of mind and certainty that this brings for our customers and brokers

So an eventful week, setting up an even more eventful year. Saying a regretful au revoir to an old and trusted friend and a welcome goodbye to a competitor in the market. How can insurance ever be DULL?!

Janice

xxxxxx

Is it me or have the Daffodils been a long time coming this year? Over the last week we’ve seen the very first signs of spring after a winter that felt like it would never end.

A bit of sunshine seems to put a smile on most faces, certainly mine as the first daffs appeared in my garden last week. This coming weekend we alter the clocks. Losing an hour of any weekend is hard, but driving home in daylight makes it all worth it.

So maybe it’s the spring in the air that’s bringing a few signs of optimism, I’m certainly detecting some. Before you all get carried away and tell me my optimism is misplaced I’m not kidding myself that the challenges are getting any easier, or that the markets are lending a helping hand, or that our customers are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. But there are signs fuelled by a little relief, a belief that ‘it will be a tough year, but not as quite as bad as last year’. 

With the spring in the air and a vague hint of optimism, hopefully comes a renewed energy. Energy to take things on and make a difference rather than accept them as our fate.

For me this renewed energy couldn’t come at a better time, because it feels like there are some big issues around that will impact the broker market, decisions to be made and issues resolved in the coming months that could have a profound effect on our industry. One such issue that brokers have raised with me is the issue of changes to fees and levies and how strongly you feel about the potential impact on your businesses and your customers. The debates on the subject bring lots of passion, challenges and concern. So what better time to channel this energy into a cause you genuinely believe in.

One thing I genuinely believe in is that whatever the issue, brokers in the UK should have a louder and united voice…..

You represent a huge proportion of UK businesses…..

You have built businesses of which you should be proud…..

You are entrepreneurs, braver than most of us who stick to the relative comfort of the corporate world….

…. so be bold and work together to make even greater use of your influence.

How did I get from daffodils and spring to one broker voice?! I’m not even sure on that one, there’s no telling how my mind works.

What I do know is that over the last 4 years I’ve grown to share your passion and belief in the broker world, and what better time to make the most of that passion than when spring is in the air.

Lots of love

Jd

Paul:    Yes, I’ll do a guest blog, but only if I can do a special one.

Brigid: Paul, what do you mean, ‘a special one’, special like the Canadian Hockey Team? (Brigid Murphy)

Paul:    No, although they were impressive.

Brigid: So what have you in mind?  This isn’t an attempt to use the blog to promote Specialist Lines is it Paul?  The blogs are meant to inform, not promote.

Paul:    Yes, I realise that, although I would just like to mention that as I’ve travelled around the country recently, Perth, Birmingham, London, Southampton, Plymouth, Exeter and Bristol I’ve also met some of my teams in Professional Indemnity, Marine, Engineering and bumped into the Bonds, D&O, GPA and Latent Defects teams.  The breadth and depth of their knowledge and expertise is mind blowing.  They are a special bunch and at times unsung heroes.

Brigid: Paul, get to the point.

Paul:    OK, well I was in the pub last Monday and we were having a warm down session after my keep fit class.

Brigid: Paul, is this relevant?

Paul:    Yes.  Anyway we got talking about football and Jose Mourinho came up – you know, the ex-Chelsea Manager, now Inter Milan.  Well he regarded himself as ‘the special one’ and that got me thinking………..

You see, he was good, knew his job, was a skilled coach, and understood his business.  He had real self belief.  He might have overdone it occasionally, but he really got results.

I think the people we work with are a bit like that.  Special I mean – but more of the shrinking violet side of this, only we don’t perhaps tell everyone how good our people are.

So, as the blog is about informing, rather than promoting, I’d like to do a special blog about our staff, and just inform whoever reads this that our people are pretty special too.

Is that OK?

Brigid: Yes it is, our people are special.

Paul:    So, there it is then – my special blog.

Paul Charlton, Aviva’s Head of Trading for West, South Wales and Specialist Lines

I am an avid reader. If I’m honest I like feel-good books, a bit of escapism. I’ve worked out that it’s impossible to switch my brain off, to stop my mind wandering to the latest work issue, so I have to make sure I occupy it in other ways and reading becomes like therapy.

As I said I like feel-good books, the girlier the better, the sort that if you were bothered about image you’d hide the titles behind a Financial Times, especially when on business travel. Not that I do worry about image too much. Those of you that have seen me dash into a meeting wet through from the rain, dragging my wheelie suitcase behind me, will know that I’ve never quite mastered the corporate image thing. What you see is what you get!

Anyway back to reading! For some reason one of my Christmas presents from my stepson was a book that was a bit more depressing, or so I thought, a book about the struggles of a family with a terminally ill daughter. I’ve left it on the shelf for weeks, but then I ran out of reading matter options and thought I’d give it a try. I have to admit to shedding a few tears along the way, but in some strange way I still think this book fits the feel-good category. Especially so this past weekend.

This weekend my nineteen year old nephew had a real scare. I’m very close to my nieces and nephews, they are fantastic young adults and I’m hugely proud of them. Now my nineteen year old nephew, as most nineteen year olds, has the world at his feet; at Uni, beautiful girlfriend, football team captain, thinks he’s indestructible. So when his arm swelled up he thought it couldn’t be anything serious, he had probably just slept on it funny, after all when you’re indestructible how could it be anything serious?!

After some considerable persuasion and coercion, he ends up at the hospital on Sunday and in the high dependency unit by Monday. Now I’m not writing about this for the sympathy vote, he is on the mend, and I’m sure his mum has aged ten years, but he’s taking things in his stride. All this trauma together with my very sad, but strangely uplifting book got me thinking.

We all have good days and bad days at work, I admit to having the highest highs and the lowest lows, and work does this for me. But every now and again something happens in life that reminds you about perspective, which puts work and all its challenges in the rightful place in the order of things.

This weekend’s medical scare and my reading material reminded me of the need for perspective. I know those in my team will remind me some more the next time they see me forget this lesson.

Take care

Janice

xx

“Would you guest on Janice’s blog? It’s an opportunity.”

Hmmm. I tend toward Ambrose Bierce’s view; Opportunity defined as ‘an occasion for grasping a disappointment’.

I’m an Underwriter……..well I’m heading Aviva’s new Corporate Risks team…….. but I’m an Underwriter (even the Insurance press said so)…typical of the breed…glass half empty (far too frequently of late!) Why would any one be interested? Can you blag a blog?

But then – on reflection, the interest in Aviva’s latest initiative has been incredible: internally and externally.

Again, typical Underwriter: paranoia to the fore – unsure of a public launch; didn’t want the noise; nervous of perceptions: conscious of legacy. Lets prove ourselves, get ourselves established. Want to listen to our partners and clients, not make announcements. It wasn’t as if there was a lack of opinion in the market (always impressed with certain individual’s belief in their own divinity, untroubled that their pronouncements have all the accuracy of a long range weather forecast).

And actually it’s been fantastic:

- the support, counsel, reception from brokers…brilliant: a real spirit of generosity.

- the commitment from all the team across Aviva to get the business up and running.

- building the team, a core of Aviva’s best with a blend of the best in the market.

- interest from around the business – our internal tele-conference briefing on the launch was one of the best attended with hundreds phoning in.

- winning our place on one of our key partners panels for corporate business at the same time as we were establishing the unit.

- attendance at two of our brokers conferences and the warmth of response.

- success of the two launch events superbly put together by our Marketing and Events team.

- achieving our January plan and from a personal perspective one of the most exciting developments in my 30 year career.

Still lots to do and best that I leave as I started with a thought from my life coach Mr Bierce:

‘Future – that period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness assured.’

Paul Sullivan (Head of Corporate Risk Solutions)

(nb. both quotes by Ambrose Bierce from the Devil’s Dictionary 1911)

John – We started, we started, sorry I started this blog with a little group of friends about a year ago and to start off the New Year 2010 we thought we’d do a little video blog as a one off, see how it goes and if its popular I think we’ll run it again, but this is the first sort of video blog we have done and we hope you like it.

What were your highlights of 2009?

Janice – One was being asked to dress as a mermaid, one of John’s wonderful ideas, which was Janice should dress as a mermaid for the key partner conference.

John interrupts – sorry Janice we are doing highlights

*Janice laughs and slaps John’s hand*

*Clip of Janice as a mermaid*

Janice – so yeah, one of them was being asked to be a mermaid.

John interrupts – that was – it was very funny

Janice – the highlight…Key Partner Conference and 110 Conference were great highlights for me, I just think they, in the toughest of years with our brokers they highlighted the strengths of the relationships are still there and that those relationships are still working for us and that we have come through some really tough times together and those relationships are stronger than ever.

John – Highlight has to be the re-brand obviously we re-branded and if anybody, if anybody watching this blog doesn’t know…we’re Aviva and we changed our name from Norwich Union, well shame on you really! Shame on the audience, if you’re watching audience, shame on you!  And actually I think, you can sense that the whole of the UK population knows we’re Aviva and Norwich Union is packed into the history of insurance companies.

What was the funniest moment of 2009?

Janice – Mine was the ‘Gingergate episode’ at the 110 conference that was my funniest moment of all the things and all the videos.

John – I do remember that actually…gingergate!

Janice – and that actually…(laughs) Gingergate!

*Clip of Gingergate episode from 110 Conference*

What are your biggest hopes for 2010?

John – My biggest hope for 2010 is that Aviva recovers from my departure

*Janice laughs*

John – and can carry on being the thrusting successful organisation that it has become in the last year since it was re-branded. That’s definitely my hope for 2010.

Janice – My biggest hope for 2010 is that the optimism I feel now, the first week in January, sort of comes to fruition, not just for Aviva but actually for generally in the world outside and the economy and that we start to see some real traction and improvement, because that effects lots of peoples lives and I love this time of year its actually a time of optimism, part of the year where you can be optimistic around the rest of the year so that’s what I’m hoping for and obviously that we recover from Johns departure.

*Janice laughs*

John – because yours was a really serious hope wasn’t it – really quite deep and profound about optimism and world recovery! Mine was a little glib comment about…

Janice interrupts – that’s because I’m staying and you’re going!

John – true true true true.

What can brokers expect from Aviva in 2010?

Janice – it won’t be quite so colourful with John not around but I think pretty much brokers can expect that the most important thing is our relationship and that will just continue, there’s no doubt that 2009 was a tough year, 2010 might be tough as well, but we are in it together and that’s what they will see in 2010. I don’t see that changing I see, more of you know, the same working together to get through the tough times and hopefully that’s what they’ll say they have seen this year.

Janice, what will you miss the most and least about John?

Janice – What I’ll miss most is that fact that he makes me laugh so much when bad days are bad can always have 5 minutes therapy and always make me laugh.

John interrupts – and you have had lots of bad days!

Janice – what I’ll miss least. What will I miss least?

John Interrupts – there isn’t anything can we cut this out!? There won’t be anything to say!

*Janice laughs*

John – I do annoy her when I chase her up on stuff – she hates being chased up..so whoevers..Yeah..She hates being chased up on stuff..”so how you doing with that”?  ”ill tell you when I tell you!!!”..

Janice – mmm I do yeah..its email traffic generation aswell – you generate a lot of traffic…laughs….thanks I don’t sound like that!?

John – no no – a bit deeper!

*Janice Laughs*

John, What will you miss the most about Janice?

John – About Janice? …..*Long pause*

3 hours later

*longer pause…Janice laughs*

John – I think I’ll definitely miss the friendship actually because whilst we work together, I don’t think, we don’t work together as, I tend to be like that anyway but I can be like that more with Janice than anybody else, we tend not to work, although she’s effectively in my team or whatever or as I was the Sales and Marketing… its not like that – it is just as the blog says – its Janice and John

…and what will you miss about the broker world?

John – I’ll miss the gossip and in the insurance world in the broker world I love (as I was new to it in 2006) love the little bits of gossip and you get Insurance Times ringing me up or Post Mag ringing me up for some off the record gossip or I ring them and give them off the record gossip or the press office and individual brokers ring me up and say “have you heard about this?. What about that? What do you think?” I like that stuff…

Janice interrupts – yeah probably more in the broker world than any other world.

John – I do like to. Oh its fantastic in the broker world – its all about personality and individuals so there is always some little tittle tattle thing going on (Janice laughs and agrees) either at me or Janice or Igal or David or Towergate or small broker, big broker or all those things – I’ll miss that..I’ll miss that definitely.

Any New Year’s resolutions?

Janice – No I never make new years resolutions

John interrupts– really don’t you? Why not, need to give you some!

Janice – No never I just find them so repetitive…

John – Hello..I mean look at your appraisal – you have loads of things to be doing!

*Janice laughs*

John – I would always make one or two and they I would always..if I make one I do it otherwise what’s the point? And my central resolution this year is simply make the most of the opportunity in front of me because, I’ve never not worked and I’m not going to work I’m going to write and fish and ‘stuff’ yeah..so just make the most of it – don’t sit in front of the telly watching the Jeremy Kyle show because that is such a waste of a life and I’ll be really angry with myself if that’s what I do…

Anything else you would like to add?

John – yes I think that this is the last time that I’m going to be doing a blog anymore, I wont be doing the next video blog and I think it’s the apt time to handover the legacy…laughs..the apt time to say the baton has changed from me to Janice

*John hands Janice a notebook…*

Janice – Thank you *laughs*

John – There’s nothing in it!

Janice – I know! I’m used to that

John – There’s no wise words of wisdom

Janice – I wasn’t expecting any!

John – It just says in there its bloody hard work! So good luck

Janice – Thanks – So that’s it for now – this is the last time that John and I will be doing the first and last video blog together and if you have got any questions/comments – you liked it/hated it – then you know drop us a line or give us a call.

John – I liked it actually, I liked it..

Janice – you liked what?

John – I liked it, thought it was very good

Janice – right. *laughs*

John – that’s my comment! *laughs*

Janice – thanks…forever he has to get the last word!

John – Cheerio…bye bye *laughs*

Janice – Bye *laughs*

B: So George, we get to do the blog this week! How does that feel?

G: Damn, I thought I could have escaped without having to do any blogging. How does it work?

B: Well, you just say what’s going on in your life and hope that people reading it will find it interesting.

G: What about what’s going on in their own lives – wouldn’t that be more interesting?

B: That’s not how it works! So come on, what’s happening, what have you been up to and what are you going to do next year?

G: Ah, I get it. Well, I’m busy shredding and deleting stuff that I’ve accumulated over the last decade at Aviva. When I look back at all the plans and objectives and all the strategies what strikes me is that our industry in many ways is vastly different to when I joined 32 years ago – and in many ways it is still the same!

B: So what’s different?

G: I thought this was a joint blog? What have you been getting up to?

B: We’ll get back to that …

G: OK. What is different is distribution – to a point. The big difference is the emergence of aggregators and consolidators and the use of the internet for Personal Lines business. Isn’t this all a bit boring?

B: That’s up to you …

G: What has remained the same is the handshake.

B: Are you saying you are a Freemason?

G: You’ve been reading too much Dan Brown. What I mean is that no amount of technology – telephone, internet, blogging, tweeting etc can replace a meeting between people to build a solid business relationship, do business together and have a good time along the way. A handshake is both a literal manifestation of that as well as being a pretty good metaphor for how I like to do business.

B: And what are you going to do next year when you retire from Aviva?

G: I’m glad you said “retire from Aviva” – you could also have said I’m too young to retire …

B: Ok – you’re too young to retire … what are you going to do?

G: I’m not telling you on the grounds that it is too boring …

B: That’s not fair …

G: I know. Now what about you, what’s happening in your life Bridge? I can call you Bridge, can’t I?

B: It’s Brigid, George. I’m busy, travelling all over the country. You should know – you’ve been in the same places having “leaving do”s …

G: Yes, true. Adverse affect on the old waist measurement but well worth it. What else have you been up to?

B: I’ve been mucking out …

G: Have you been raking through my cupboards already? I’m not away yet …

B: No, I’ve been mucking out the horses – in Ireland. I’m from Ireland you know …

G: You’re Canadian.

B: I’m Irish.

G: Irish Canadian?

B: Ok, Irish Canadian.

G: Is that a good thing?

B: No. It’s a great thing!

G: Happy New Year Brigid and good luck in your new role. Have fun!

B: You too Georgie. Enjoy your “retirement”. Maybe we could have lunch next month?

G: You’re on …

Brigid Murphy (Regional Brokers Director)

George Berrie (Retiring Director of Trading)

At this time of the year, my job becomes more of a trial of endurance and recovery than the nuts and bolts of everyday trading. Everyone has a party and you can trip from bar to restaurant to bar in the City from noon till midnight, often rubbing shoulders with the same brokers and competitors, all taking their turns to host and be hosted. On one level, this all seems a bit old-school and somewhat removed from these straightened times but on another level it meets that deep psychological need to draw the line under one year and start preparing for the one to come.

Someone once said that success is when preparation meets opportunity and we are certainly well prepared for 2010. You know when you have market momentum and we are in that happy position on a number of fronts – Corporate Risks, Personal Lines, Fast Trade, Independent Brokers and open market trading. This time last year, the recession was just hitting us – clients/brokers/insurers were reeling but this year we know what it means and are trading through it alongside our broker partners. So when at the XV Club Dinner last week, I had the opportunity to ‘drink from the loving cup’ with august colleagues from the industry, it wasn’t just a cold that I caught, it was the whiff of better times ahead for us and our brokers – you may think I’ve had a little too much Christmas cheer on my rounds in the City but just try a little optimism this New Year, it might – like the loving cup – prove contagious.

Best regs,

Phil Bayles (Broker & Key Partners Director)

Driving down to Birmingham after attending a family funeral on a wet and dark Friday night last week, I wasn’t really feeling or expecting too much from the evening ahead at the Insurance Times Awards.

After rapidly checking in and quickly swapping my black suit and tie for a black DJ and bow tie, I darted to the Aviva branded bar area to press the flesh, hook up with members of my brilliant marketing team and play host to the finalists from the IT pack…Oh yes and get that much deserved and eagerly awaited drink!

At the bar I quickly remembered how important the Insurance Times awards are. It’s our moment (our being the industry at large) to be recognised for our achievements, a chance to bask in the glory as a winner, even if only for a brief moment and of course the opportunity to meet our broker friends and even our competitors. Soon we had all taken our seats for dinner, the gold shower curtain (you had to be there) had fallen to the floor and all eyes were lifted heaven-ward to the imposing if rather high stage. The awards began to flow, as did the wine, as did the chat and on stage our industry talent was recognised.

One award Aviva had entered this year was especially close to my heart. The Industry Communications Strategy of the Year encompassed everything my marketing team had worked so hard on this year. Ensuring that our brokers, were completely engaged and informed as we moved from Norwich Union to Aviva here in the UK.  

As I sat at the dinner table I started thinking about the variety of work undertaken to ensure that brokers were happy with the way we had communicated the change to Aviva. This blog,  the e-zines, BIBA conference, the heritage supplement and our TV advert promoting brokers as the right choice for business insurance – all playing a part in ensuring that 9 out of 10 brokers were happy with the manner we had communicated the change to Aviva.

And for me that’s the real prize, so as the winners were being read out (well done Matthew Stringer on winning the IT Pack – well deserved!), I felt a real sense of pride. Even if we didn’t win the award we had still achieved a lot this year…But we did win!

And it’s great to have been recognised externally by experts in the industry for a great job done and have the opportunity to receive the award and walk around post ceremony showing off our very own gold bar all to the sounds of Tony Hadley…

Brian Spinks, Head of Corporate Marketing

Maybe I should dedicate my first blog in my new role to confirming that Aviva’s broker strategy is unchanged. But I won’t because you’ll hear that lots and lots from Mark and David in the next few weeks and months.

Maybe I should dedicate my first blog in my new role to explaining the new structure, but that would be far too internally focussed, and there’s a danger you’d all lose the will to live.  

Maybe I should dedicate my first blog to extolling the virtues of our new CEO, but you’ll see lots of him for yourselves over the coming months.

Maybe I should just stop for a minute and reflect….

If I had a fiver for every time I’ve been asked about my job in the last few weeks I’d be a long way to joining George and John and putting my feet up for good.

On one particular day I got asked the question 47 times, mostly by brokers, and always with good wishes.

So now it’s all out in the open, the fact that you’re stuck with me confirmed, I’ve been reflecting on how I feel.

Last week I didn’t have a minute to do that. I didn’t stop to think about the milestone of joining the Exec and what it means, I didn’t really stop to enjoy or celebrate the moment.

So on the advice of John, David and Igal, I did take a bit of time over the weekend to savour the many emails and texts of congratulations. I did stop to enjoy the flowers from my hubby and my mum and family. I did stop to reflect on why I don’t feel more different.

And what I decided is that the overwhelming feeling I have is that I’ve come home. My working life is all about relationships, my dream job is one that’s all about relationships, the thing I value most is the relationships I’ve built with brokers and partners over the years.

My heart and soul is in the broker business….. and they do say home is where the heart is.

Janice

xxx