The Insurance Market Cycle and the Soft Market

Overview

This session is the first in a series of two that focus on the soft market; both can be run standalone. This session explores how the insurance market cycle operates, and how the current soft market has evolved, before turning to the implications for both insurers and brokers. Finally, we explore some core strategies for both protecting existing account revenue and winning new business in this environment.
Trainers – Nick Thomas and David Hole

Learning Objectives

• Be able to explain the insurance market cycle and the reasons for the softening market to clients or brokers
• Be able to discuss with clients their strategic options to best respond to developing market conditions
• To understand the implications of the softening market from a sales and account management/retention perspective

Speaker Bio

Nick Thomas
Nick offers a unique combination of skills in the UK insurance training sector – an industry sales specialist and a widely qualified professional coach and trainer. Nick is an Economics graduate with over 25 years corporate insurance broking experience. He was a highly successful sales producer in the UK broking market before progressing into regional and then national sales leadership roles. As National Development Director at HSBC, Nick was one of only forty people from a global workforce of 265,000 selected as part of the STARS programme to recognise exceptional performance. He is a highly trained consultative sales specialist, and his experience includes a secondment with a major management consultant to design a best practice sales process.
In the mid-2000s, Nick developed a chronic health condition; his journey to recovery fostered a new range of interests, and a passion for health, and performance. He studied widely, qualifying as a Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), obtaining a Diploma in Life Coaching, before going on to study Corporate/Business Coaching with The Coaching Academy. He is also a qualified Holistic Lifestyle Coach and Advanced Exercise Coach.
Nick has worked in a self-employed capacity in training, coaching, and consulting since 2017, including as a specialist adviser in Insurance sector M&A (Mergers & Acquisitions) sector. He set up Nick Thomas & Associates in 2020 in response to demand from his industry network for training solutions designed and delivered by people with a background of working in the industry.

David Hole ACII – technical insurance trainer
David is an experienced insurance professional with a career spanning 40 years. He is a subject matter expert for the Chartered Insurance Institute, authoring and updating modules for the CII computer-based training programme, Broker Assess. His experience includes Head of Claims at Plum Underwriting Ltd, where he was responsible for managing the relationship between insurers and claims third party administrators, managing larger claims received via technical referral processes.
David has been delivering technical insurance training for over 20 years, to a variety of different industry customers in the UK and abroad and provides examination support for clients undertaking CII studies to achieve industry recognised designations. He provides training on many general insurance classes up to at least intermediate level to include motor trade insurance, cyber, marine cargo, commercial property, business interruption, liabilities, construction, engineering, and trade credit. He also delivers more generic underwriting and claims training.

To view our image and video capture consent statement, please click here.