Chief executive Alex Moczarski today outlined a series of changes to be implemented at Marsh to allow the broking giant to respond more effectively to a dramatically changing risk environment.
Speaking at the Insurance Institute of London lunchtime lecture at Lloyd's, Moczarski highlighted the simple fact that the nature of risk is changing and that the market must adapt in tandem, a fact which so far it has failed to do.
"Organisations need to regain control of their risk profiles and proactively build resilience into their business," Moczarski told delegates, adding that they needed to adopt a holistic, strategic view of risk.
In order to achieve this view, not only does the client require the skills of a broker, he explained, but also those of "a trusted business risk advisor" - a combined offering which Moczarski felt confident Marsh could provide.
Citing the efforts of Marsh UK CEO Martin South, Moczarski said that Marsh was now "focussing [its] efforts single-mindedly around this strategy", pulling together all of the pieces in order to create "a One Marsh Picture". The previous structure, he admitted, based around silos, "may have served managers' egos, but it didn't serve our clients' interests".
In order to improve risk response times, Moczarski said that Marsh was adopting a more integrated approach to its placement activity. Highlighting the fact that Marsh UK currently places some $9bn of premium through 94 different "touch points" with the top ten markets alone, a clear example of inefficiency, he said that under the guidance of Mark Gregory Marsh was now implementing a focussed placement strategy in the UK across all lines. "This should not only enable us to secure terms our competitors cannot match; it will also simplify access for our markets into Marsh UK."
Added to this, Marsh is currently devising a list of key performance indicators as part of a market relationship management programme, which will allow it to continually monitor insurers, and also to provide clients with objective feedback on underwriters' performance. Moczarski added, however, "I want to stress that we see this as beneficial to all parties involved in the insurance cycle; this is not a zero sum game, where for every winner there has to be a loser."
Issuing a rallying cry, he said that the London market can be of greatest value to clients if all parties work together. "It's in this spirit of collaboration that we need to work together as an industry to ensure we provide clients with what they need to succeed in this new risk environment."
