Annual Conference 2024

Together, Driving Change

Our flagship Annual Conference brought together key industry decision-makers to discuss major issues affecting the insurance and long-term savings industry.

Chaired by Louise Minchin, guest speakers included Mary Portas OBE, Bim Afolami MP and Tulip Saddiq MP. The sessions explored what firms can do to continue building trust and confidence, to reduce complexity and improve transparency, shape an effective market, and support a healthy and diverse workforce.

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Keynote Address

Mary Portas OBE and Hon Baroness Nicky Morgan

The future of the General Insurance Market is under scrutiny as the gap between expectations and protection widens. Amidst difficult times, consumers are increasingly seeking comprehensive insurance policies, while insurers grapple with a multitude of complex and evolving risks and challenges.

In this session, we will seek to answer: How can insurers bridge the protection gap? How are the regulators approaching the expectation gap and what do they expect from insurers? What impact might these issues have on the industry? What are consumer expectations? How can insurers effectively communicate cover to consumers?

Speakers include:

Colm Holmes, CEO, Allianz UK - Chair
Tara Foley, CEO UK and Ireland, AXA
Martin Coppack, Director, Fair By Design
Sam White, CEO, Stella Insurance

Breakout A - Regulation - AI principles into practice

Bringing together experts from across different disciplines within the insurance and long-term savings industry, this session will explore how firms can plan for, and manage, AI risks and opportunities.

It will discuss how to put the Government’s high-level principles for AI into practice, including who needs to be involved and some of the key steps that need to be taken, to ensure responsible use of AI.

Speakers include:

Danny Hoskin, Principal Data Scientist for Artificial Intelligence, Aviva (Chair)
Penny Jones, Ethical Governance Lead, Zurich Insurance
David Crelley, Data Ethics Lead, Admiral Group
Tom Clay, Chief Data Scientist, Covea
Leanne Allen, Partner, FS Consulting Technology and Data, Data Science & AI capability Lead, KPMG in the UK

Breakout B - Saving lives with data

The session will explore how the healthcare system, including insurers, can better utilise health data to improve the population’s health whilst building trust amongst patients, healthcare professionals, policymakers and regulators.

Health data is information about an individual’s or population’s physical and mental health, as well as the biological, environmental, and socioeconomic factors that influence it. This data can be collected from a variety of sources, including clinical records, clinical trials, disease registries, electronic health records (EHRs), research studies, medical devices and data from phone apps and wearables.

Health data can be used to improve our understanding of disease, develop new treatments, and deliver more personalised care and prevention. It can also be used to track the health of populations and identify areas where interventions are needed. The use of health data is growing rapidly, as new technologies make it easier to collect and store data. However, there are also challenges associated with the use of health data, such as ensuring privacy and security, and making sure that the data is used ethically. To reap the benefits of the ever-growing amount of health data, it will be vital to build and maintain trust.

Speakers include:

Ali Hasan, CCO, Vitality (Chair)
Mavis Machirori, Senior Researcher, Ada Lovelace Institute
Avi Mehra, Associate Partner and CSO, IBM
Matthew Bone, Head of Underwriting & Claims UK and Ireland, Munich Re

Breakout C - Empowering customers to make good choices

As the HMT/FCA Advice Guidance Boundary Review and DWP’s reforms on decumulation (including on scheme-saver communications) progress, this panel will debate what changes are needed so that savers are able to make better decisions at retirement.

Industry has long been calling for solutions to the advice gap. 8% of adults received regulated financial advice in the 12 months to May 2022 (FCA’s 2022 Financial Lives Survey). While advice taken on retirement decisions is higher, for example, 29% took advice when purchasing an annuity in 2023 (ABI data), there is still a significant gap in support, as generic, factual guidance does not do enough except for the savviest execution-only investor. Previous regulatory initiatives have made a difference, such as Investment Pathways which worked for the customers it was designed for, but more flexible support is required for a larger cohort of customers across a range of scenarios and financial decisions in accumulation and decumulation.

This panel will explore:

How providers would like to better assist customers in taking financial decisions
The guidance ecosystem and MaPS’ role in offering better support to consumers
The potential benefits of the Advice Guidance Boundary Review and DWP’s decumulation proposals, as well as their limitations as currently formulated

Speakers include:

Andy Curran, CEO, Standard Life (Chair)
Oliver Morley, CEO, MaPS
Michele Golunska, Managing Director, Wealth and Advice, Aviva
Ross Liston, CEO Weath Advice, M&G
Max Mawby, Founder, Behavioural Insight and Advisory, Thinks Insight & Strategy

Breakout D - The Future of Underwriting: Decoding Customer-Complexity through InsurTech – partnership with FinTech Global

In the underwriting process, what features stand out as customer-winning for insurance providers?
What significant challenges do underwriters encounter in effectively meeting and managing customer expectations? What opportunities does technology provide here?
How have these technologies such as IoT and Telematics impacted the ways insurers think about understanding and serving customers better?
To what degree should insurers aim for personalized solutions? How can technology play a pivotal role in achieving this objective?

Speakers include:

Matt Scott, Co-Founder, Insurance DataLab (Chair)
John Pyall, Head of Underwriting and Product, Great Lakes Insurance SE
Jonathan Roomer, Head of Customer Success and Co-Founder, YuLife

Mansion House reforms for pensions: where are we now?

The Chancellor announced a package of pensions measures at his Mansion House speech in July, which was accompanied by a number of policy proposals by DWP. The Autumn Statement in November is expected to continue this focus.

In this speech the Chancellor also announced his three golden rules:

To secure the best possible outcome for pension savers;
to always prioritise a strong and diversified gilt market
to strengthen the UK’s position as a leading financial centre to create wealth and fund public services.

This plenary session will:

Explore the opportunities and barriers to pension funds investing in the UK.
Analyse the progress of each of the strands of reform announced in the Chancellor’s Mansion House speech in July
Debate whether the Chancellor’s golden rules be met.

Speakers include:

Hannah Gurga, Director General, ABI
Liz Fernando, Chief Investment Officer, NEST
Chirantan Barua, CEO, Scottish Widows
David Richardson, Group Chief Executive Officer, Just Group

Breakout E - General Insurance - The commercial and speciality markets in focus

During and following the pandemic, there was a hardening market for many lines of insurance with underwriting actions from insurers including reduction of limits and push for rate after years of soft markets. How has this impacted the commercial / specialty market? More recently, there has been a step change in the reinsurance market, with increasing prices and retentions. What does the future look like for policy coverage, targeting new business opportunities and market stability?

Speakers include:

Jason Richards, CEO, Swiss Re
Sarah Murrow, CEO, Allianz Trade UK and Ireland
Patrick Tiernan, Chief of Markets, Lloyds
Paul Merrey, Partner, Insurance Strategy Group Lead, Deal Advisory, KPMG in the UK

Breakout F - Health, Tax and Politics

Taxation and policy measures are an important tool to change behaviour to address pressing social issues. In response to growing health-related economic inactivity, the government is taking seriously the need to use the tax system hand in hand with health and welfare policy to promote the health of the workforce and increase productivity.

Tax revenue in the UK is currently 37% of national income. This is the highest level since the 1940s. There is a risk that in the face of an ageing population and increasing health and social care costs taxes may need to continue rising. How can we use policy and taxation most effectively to support better workplace health now, to grow the economy and reduce the burden on our health and welfare systems?

This panel will focus on how the policy and taxation system can be used separately or in tandem to drive behavioural change, how it is limited by political, demographic and fiscal constraints, how this relates to health policy, wider party politics and the insurance market.

Speakers include:

Alex Perry, CEO, Bupa Insurance (Chair)
Hannah Behrendt, Director of Health, Behavioural Insights Team
Mark Till, CEO, Unum
Louise Murphy, Economist, Resolution Foundation
Tina Woods, CEO and Founder, Business for Health

Breakout G - Regulation - Consumer Duty six months on

After introducing the Consumer Duty at the end of July 2023 the FCA is now looking to see real change in how insurers deliver good customer outcomes. The regulator’s top market-wide priority is embedding the Consumer Duty and that is reflected in its published priorities for both life insurers and for general insurance and protection.

What are the challenges that insurers face in delivering cover that matches price with value across often extended distribution chains? How do firms approach giving customers effective support to meet their financial objectives when the cost of living drives customers to focus mainly on price when choosing a product or service? What are the steps insurers have already taken and what more do they need to do to achieve good customer outcomes? Will the review of the advice and guidance boundary deliver the hoped-for step change in how insurers can talk to their customers? Looking ahead to the extension of the Consumer Duty to closed books of business, what lessons can we take from the first six months to apply to the large back books of life insurance and pension providers?

Our expert Panel will consider these and other issues as we assess the pitfalls and opportunities on the journey to embedding the Consumer Duty into the way the insurance and LTS industry does business.

Speakers include:

Charlotte Clark, Director of Regulation, ABI
Paddy Greene, Head of Money Policy, Which?
Matt Brewis, Director of General Insurance and Conduct Specialists, Financial Conduct Authority
Mathew Rutter, Partner, DAC Beachcroft

Breakout H - Financial Inclusion

17.5million – the number of people Fair 4 All Finance estimate to be in financially vulnerable circumstances in the UK. A staggering number. And with reports from consumer groups highlighting affordability challenges and the latest FCA Financial Lives Survey showing 6.2million people in the UK cancelling or not renewing cover last year, the challenge of how to improve financial inclusion has never been more topical or more pressing.

What can be done? Or more pertinently, who’s responsibility is it to find ways to improve inclusion for consumers?

Insurance and long-term savings firms are increasingly vocal about their role in looking after individuals, families and businesses - to protect against income shocks to help build secure financial futures. But with thin margins in parts of the market and no obligation to provide products that are not commercially viable, how can firms, government and third parties come together to improve inclusion for consumers in a financially sustainable way?

Speakers include:

Philippa Handyside, General Counsel and Director, ABI (Chair)
Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, Chief Executive, Foresters Financial
Selina Flavius, CEO and Founder, Black Girl Finance
Adrian Smith, Chief Executive, Reclaim Fund
Sacha Romanovitch OBE, CEO, Fair4All Finance

Investing in healthy lives

Healthy life expectancy has increased over time, but not as much as life expectancy. This means that people are spending more years in poor health. People’s healthy life expectancy is driven by a range of socio-economic factors from deprivation to gender and ethnicity, alongside behavioural factors such as smoking, diet and exercise.

These factors are complex and interact with each other leading to differences in health outcomes for different people. These differences in health outcomes are known as health inequalities – unfair and avoidable differences in health between different groups within society. Typically, health inequalities adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced greater obstacles to health.

Reducing poor health and tackling health inequality is beneficial for society, the economy and insurers. So why has it been impossible for successive governments to act upon sound evidence that prevention, which tackles the root cause of ill health, is more cost effective than dealing with the cure? How can insurers best demonstrate their value in keeping people fit and well by incentivising healthy behaviours?

Speakers include:

Yvonne Braun, Director of Policy, Long Term Savings, Health and Protection, ABI (Chair)
Dr Jo Bibby, Director of Health, The Health Foundation
Liz Kendall MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Rachel Sylvester, Journalist, The Times
Alex Perry, CEO, Bupa Insurance
Graham Cookson, Chief Executive, Office of Health Economics
David Buck, Senior Fellow, Public Health and Inequalities, King’s Fund

Breakout I - General Insurance - Challenge or opportunity? Insuring difficult risks

In today's insurance landscape, underwriting challenges such as flood, cladding, pre-existing conditions, and vulnerable customers are becoming increasingly prevalent. This session will provide a platform for industry experts to share their knowledge, experiences, and innovative approaches to effectively manage and mitigate challenging risks.

Speakers include:

Ken Norgrove, CEO, RSA (Chair)
Rachel Lam, Ombudsman Director, Financial Ombudsman Service
Harriet Boughton, General Counsel, Flood Re
Geoff Carter, CEO, Sabre Insurance Group
Mervyn Skeet, Director of General Insurance Policy, ABI

Breakout J - Generative AI: transforming the insurance industry through innovation and growth

This session will explore the potential for Generative AI to transform the insurance and long terms savings industry, exploring both the benefits of doing so and the potential pitfalls. Bringing together experts in digital transformation, law and industry we will explore how the industry can best harness the potential of this rapidly developing area to improve outcomes for consumers and businesses alike.

Speakers include:

Gary Hunter, Data and AI director, Kainos
Matt Quinn, Azure Data & AI Specialist Director, Microsoft
Kay Chand, Partner, Browne Jacobson
Simon Pink, UK Head of Emerging Technology, QBE Ventures

Breakout K - Insurance climate transition – Opportunity, Strategy & Climate Transition Plan

As climate and net zero become central to the regulatory agenda, investors and policyholders are becoming increasingly sensitive to insurers’ climate transition strategy and plans. This session explores the commercial and strategic importance of the UK Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) disclosure requirements, key challenges and how insurers should gear up to respond. You can expect to:

Understand the TPT requirements for the insurance sector
Explore the commercial and strategic implications for our industry
Hear from your peers on the key challenges
Take away practical guidance and immediate next steps

Speakers include:

Chirag Shah, Director, KPMG in the UK
Roger Jackson, Global head of ESG for Insurance, KPMG
Bridget Beals, Climate risk & strategy co-lead, KPMG in the UK
Joshua Holbrook, Climate risk and strategy, Insurance lead, KPMG in the UK

Breakout L - How do customers navigate investment choices

How pension funds and retail products invest has never been such a hot topic, but how do consumers make decisions about where their money is invested, and what influences these decisions?

Engagement with pensions, particularly workplace pensions, is typically poor. For those that do want to engage and make decisions about their investments, what support and tools exist to help them navigate these choices? Meanwhile, is the Government right to encourage customers to invest in Stocks & Shares rather than Cash ISAs? Is the broad public interest in sustainability an opportunity to engage people in making investment choices? This panel will explore how providers currently help customers navigate investment choices.

Speakers include:

Rob Yuille, Assistant Director, Head of Long Term Savings Policy, ABI (Chair)
Catherine Howarth, Chief Executive, ShareAction
Stephen McGee, CEO, Scottish Friendly
Faith Reynolds, Strategic Adviser, Devon Fields Consulting
James Carter, Head of Platform Policy & Oversight, Fidelity