Good evening, everyone.
It is a privilege to welcome you to the ABI's Annual Dinner.
This has been an incredible year.
A year where I’ve watched election pollsters worldwide, and realised they could learn a thing or two from our brilliant actuaries. Mind you, I don’t see any actuaries switching careers – after all, why would you want to go from predicting the future… to getting it wrong?
But while politics captures headlines, our industry quietly delivers… providing stability and security for Britain and around the globe.
Tonight, I want to share three powerful ways, our industry, working through the ABI, has served our nation this year.
First, we’re building trust...
Taking action to help hard-pressed households and families struggling to make ends meet.
We launched our Motor Affordability Roadmap - a comprehensive plan to make driving more affordable for millions by tackling the root causes of claims costs.
We developed premium finance principles to make insurance more accessible to those who need it most.
We secured crucial reforms to the Personal Injury discount rate for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
And, together with government and industry partners, we launched an Insurance Fraud Charter - to strengthen support for victims while better defending against the threat.
Second, we’re investing in people and our planet.
As Solvency UK finally takes effect, we’re backing Britain’s future, pledging £100 billion of investment into the infrastructure our country needs.
Our Investment Delivery Forum is developing new funding models to help accelerate this injection of capital.
And we stand ready to support the National Wealth Fund in its mission to drive growth.
Even more vital than infrastructure is the health of this nation’s workforce.
Our human capital.
This year we proved to those at the heart of the debate - including Alan Millburn's Pathways to Work Commission - that workplace health insurance plays a critical role in supporting employee wellbeing and productivity.
Third, we’re building resilience for the future.
Our Pension Attention campaign, once again, delivered astonishing results.
It didn’t just reach one in three adults - it prompted 87% of them to act.
That's not just engagement - that's transformation.
And I’m proud that this year we delivered my day one priority.
Working with McGill and Partners, we launched the Fire Safety Reinsurance Facility - a vital step toward tackling costs for leaseholders living in high rise, higher-risk buildings.
These are just a few highlights from what could have been a very long list… but I want to talk about tomorrow.
Few industries can match our reach and impact.
Without insurance, the wheels of global trade would stop.
Ships would stay in harbour. Factories would fall silent.
In this interconnected world, our industry is an economic and social cornerstone. We bring risk management expertise… unmatched innovation… and the investment power that fuels our economic progress.
But to build on this foundation… to expand our contribution to our nation’s prosperity … we need to confront some uncomfortable truths.
While politicians in the United States were chasing an endorsement by Taylor Swift, I had another Swift in mind. Jonathan Swift may not have a best-selling album in the charts but his story of Gulliver perfectly mirrors our industry today.
Like the great giant in Lilliput, we find ourselves - capable of extraordinary impact - yet bound by countless tiny threads.
Each individual regulation seems sensible in isolation. Each new requirement appears reasonable on its own.
But together?
They weave a web that constrains the agility we need to compete
Stifles the innovation our customers deserve… and dampens the growth our economy needs.
Consider this: in the UK nearly six and a half thousand people are regulating financial services… each one pulling their own tiny rope.
No one knows how many rules there are… a scary fact in its own right.
But I have seen estimates between 35,000 and 200,000 depending on the level of granularity or specificity taken.
The FCA, PRA and TPR are world-class regulators. Their approach has built trust and maintained market integrity. But consider the scale of their task.
Which of the billion[1] records collected daily actually drive better outcomes? How many of those 200,000 rules constrain growth?
No single person can possibly grasp the full detail of the Financial Services regulatory framework.
This framework doesn’t stand alone. It’s interwoven with rules from other regulators, creating conflicts that affect businesses but more importantly affect the people we serve.
Imagine Sarah. She’s twenty-two. First job. New pension. Like most young people, she manages her whole life through her phone.
But here’s the problem. Her pension provider knows she needs help. She’s got to make choices that will shape her financial future. But they can’t send her the kind of messages she’d read. Why? Because when she was automatically enrolled, she never had the chance to opt-in to marketing communications.
And here’s the rub. The ICO says firms must keep their tone neutral. No encouraging people to act. Yet the FCA tells these same firms they must provide helpful, engaging support designed to meet customer needs.
So what does Sarah get? Bland updates she’ll likely ignore. Not the clear, practical help she needs to secure her future. This isn’t just a regulatory tension – it’s a failure to serve the very people we’re meant to protect.
It cannot be what either regulator intended.
And while it is positive to see the ICO and FCA and TPR now working together to clarify what communication can take place without the need for marketing permission…
The resulting joint statement is but another page to add to the regulatory lexicon.
While our global competitors move at the speed of innovation… we move at the speed of compliance.
The challenge runs deeper than complexity.
The FOS – at times stepping beyond the FCA’s rules and guidance -
Creates a sense of ‘double regulation’…
Making determinations based on hindsight . . . expecting firms to have gone beyond what was reasonably required of them at the time.
For our industry to grow faster… by which I mean, grow faster than the general economy… we need consistency, stability and certainty.
Our long-term savings providers make investment decisions spanning generations.
They commit capital today to provide retirement security decades into the future.
When the principles of contract and established law are questioned… when the rules of the game are changed after commitments have been made… it doesn’t just affect returns . . it undermines the very foundations of long-term investment planning.
This matters because secure, long-term investments are the bedrock of pension provision.
And political stability and legal certainty are the foundations for investing in the UK.
Insurance giants have a choice. They can domicile in Bermuda, Singapore, the GCC - or they can choose Britain. For them to choose us, we need more than our reputation and our expertise. We need a compelling business case.
That means stable rules that reward long-term commitment.
Competitive tax treatment that recognises the value these businesses bring.
Regulation that protects consumers without suffocating innovation.
And above all, it means certainty - the confidence that today's decision won't be undermined by tomorrow's political or policy shifts.
So what should we do?
This isn’t a problem that can be solved by careful untangling… it needs the bold stroke of Alexander the Great’s sword if we are to cut through this regulatory Gordian knot.
The regulators themselves recognise that major change is needed. Sam Woods has said it’s “implausible that healthy business models… will thrive in an environment of ever-expanding regulation.”[2]
Our government has committed to growth. The Prime Minister’s key questions for regulations are, and I quote:
“Is this going to make our economy more dynamic?
Is this going to inhibit or unlock investment?.”[3]
The Chancellor is on board: The FCA handbook review, the call for input on the FOS and the consultation on growing a Captive insurance market in the UK.
But like Gulliver… we need more than just a few threads loosened.
First, we should identify what truly matters. Which regulations genuinely protect consumers and stability… and which merely act as a brake on growth?
Second, we must learn from those who are getting it right.
Let’s learn from our partners and competitors. Let’s understand how the BMA has authorised more new insurers this year, than the PRA has since it was created in 2013.
Let’s look closely at Singapore, the GCC and others. What can we learn from them?
I am hopeful.
Our government has recognised that the UK has been regulating for risk, not regulating for growth.
Our government has taken up Alexander the Great’s sword . . . and now our government must have the courage to use it.
I offer our unwavering support, another hand on the hilt.
We will help you, however we can, to cut all the way through the Gordian Knot . . .
To boost our industry, to release its shackles and help us in our common mission to transform our economy.
Tonight, in this room… sit the leaders… of one of our most vital industries.
We chose this industry.
We chose it because what we do transcends the dry imperatives of a business.
While others count quarters, we count generations.
While others see numbers, we see people.
We see the young man, with life-changing injuries in a road accident, and know that we will provide the care he needs.
We see the entrepreneur, her life’s work shattered by a cyber-attack, and know that we will make her whole.
We see the mother, the father and their young child, their family home damaged by storm, and we know that we will rebuild.
That is what we chose.
And this is why I am calling for the government to look wider, to dig deeper, to be bolder.
The tangle of red tape that binds our Gulliver is not just a fitting metaphor.
Our industry isn’t just a giant waiting to be freed.
We are the quiet force behind this country’s greatest economic ambitions.
My friends. Look around this room. Some of you may compete in the morning but we are and always will be colleagues with a shared purpose.
We chose this path because we wanted to make a difference.
This industry…
We don't just insure our nation’s future.
We secure it.
Thank you.
[1] https://www.fca.org.uk/news/speeches/growth-mission-possible
[2] https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/speech/2024/october/sam-woods-speech-at-annual-city-banquet-at-mansion-house
[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-international-investment-summit-speech-14-october-2024