Changing risks are raising the bar for brokers: Gallagher’s Nagler

European corporate risks are changing faster than traditional programmes, and firms need to work with brokers with scale, specialist expertise and international connectivity to keep pace, says Gallagher’s Alexander Nagler. 

Key points:
Softer markets raise expectations
Clients want local and global reach
Use of tech changing casualty exposures 

“Clients increasingly are looking for strong local expertise, but with access to global capabilities.”

European companies are facing a faster-changing mix of risks, while a softer insurance market is giving buyers more scope to scrutinise price, coverage and service. For brokers, Gallagher’s Alexander Nagler says that raises the bar – local knowledge increasingly has to be backed by specialist expertise, data and international reach.

“Clients increasingly are looking for strong local expertise, but with access to global capabilities,” Nagler, CEO of Gallagher in Europe, told FERMA Forum Today. “Businesses are becoming more global and, with that globalisation, one requires that local expertise partnered with those global capabilities and reach to make sure one’s getting the right solutions in place.”

One area where that combination is becoming particularly important is manufacturing, where the growing use of technology is changing traditional liability exposures.

“There’s so much technology that’s starting to flow into the manufacturing world. Traditional casualty solutions that they’ve had are no longer fit for purpose,” Nagler said. “You need to think more about tech PI covers, with cyber connected to those liability exposures.”

The risk, he added, is that casualty policies can simply be renewed without fully reflecting how a company’s operations have changed.

“Potentially, you just have traditional casualty policies being renewed without having taken into account changing PI exposures and increased cyber risks that firms are now exposed to,” he said. “That’s for me a risk that I think we’re not talking enough about at the moment.”

For Gallagher, the broker’s role increasingly extends beyond placing individual policies to helping clients identify how changing operations create new or interconnected exposures. Nagler pointed to Gallagher’s cyber capabilities, including teams that help clients strengthen their defences.

“One has to be very conscious about shifting of exposures,” he said, adding that clients may be taking on new risks without always recognising that their insurance programmes need to change with them.

Building European capability

Gallagher is also expanding its European reach through acquisitions, completing four deals in around three years, including the acquisition of German broker Krose.

Nagler said potential new partners can add geographic reach, specialist talent or products, but cultural fit remains central.

“It’s about the people that run the business, the people that built the business and the history of the company,” he said. “I think that’s the number one thing that drives us.”

Financial performance still has to make sense, with healthy organic growth an important measure of a broking business. But Nagler said Gallagher’s model is intended to preserve local leadership while giving the incoming businesses access to a broader international platform.

Krose, he said, is an example – its managing directors remained in place, while its mainly large German corporate clients gained access to Gallagher’s wider product range and support in other markets.

That balance is becoming more important as clients operate across multiple jurisdictions.

Gallagher is investing in CRM technology to improve visibility and insight across regions. “We can be doing things for a client in the US, Germany, Asia or Australia and using that understanding to help other clients and having line of sight across all our teams  is super important,” Nagler said.

Rising client expectations

The market is also changing what buyers expect from brokers.

“We’ve come out of a hard market cycle where the focus was heavily on getting capacity,” Nagler said. In a softer market, clients are paying closer attention to pricing, policy terms and the breadth of cover.

That is also increasing demand for better benchmarking. Gallagher has developed an in-house tool which helps clients compare the limits and pricing bought by similar companies so they know what other firms in their market are purchasing and what cover they are prioritising.

“Clients often want to understand the relativity – why do I need these limits, and why are these the right limits for me?” Nagler said.

Those comparisons can help buyers decide whether to purchase higher limits, retain more risk or change deductibles. The tool currently uses global data and Gallagher will be rolling out a Europe specific version over the coming 12 – 24 months so buyers can see local trends. 

As exposures shift, companies become more international and buyers demand more insight, Nagler said brokers need to connect local advice with specialist expertise, data and global reach.

That is also the message Gallagher will take to FERMA Forum, where it will field a team spanning broking, claims through Gallagher Bassett, and alternative risk and captives through Artex.

“In Europe, many know us, but there are still some that know less about us,” Nagler said. “It’s a great opportunity to connect with the market and share our story.”

For more news from FERMA Forum Today, click here.

Did you get value from this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.