Specialist
Former senior executive at Allianz France
Agenda
- April Group’s GWP (gross written premium) growth outlook and commission levels by insurance line
- Broker share of GWP vs banks by insurance line
- Distribution channel mix, intermediary acquisition in France and regulation threat
- Further consolidation outlook and potential strategic acquirers
Questions
1.
How do you think about future growth in GWP [gross written premium] in some of the core lines that April Group operates in?
2.
Do you see much growth in policy volume as well as premiums?
3.
April Group is well-known for being almost a full-service wholesale broker in terms of the lines it can serve. Are there any lines where the company has more exposure than others? Where does it typically do most of its business?
4.
You mentioned motor isn’t indexed in France. Does that mean you’re seeing premiums rising above inflation? What is the average premium in motor?
5.
As far as it relates to the distribution mix in France for carriers, what share of GWP do brokers currently capture? I think it’s a very broker-heavy market.
6.
How do you think about understanding the typical commission per policy, rather than just the whole market size? Obviously, it’ll depend on the mortgage size, but if you think about the average mortgage.
7.
We spoke about the broker market share in life and health and non-life – I think we said about 22% on non-life and up to 13% on life and health in 2021. What makes up the rest of the distribution?
8.
Is it correct that April Group only does business with the broker channels?
9.
What market share of the broker channel do you think April Group has?
10.
April Group talks about partnering with 15,000 broker distributors in France. Is that largely the whole market?
11.
Do you expect the broker market share of GWP in the P&C [property and casualty] and non-life channels to return to its historical average, or might that channel sustainably take share from the others?
12.
How do wholesale brokers identify mis-selling?
13.
What happens to the amount that wholesalers have to retrocede the brokers? Do you think the wholesaler and proximity broker will split the difference of the 5-10% effective commission lost at the broker level? Presumably, the brokers still want to make that much money.
14.
Were you suggesting that the additional fees the proximity broker charges to the insured wouldn’t be allowed, going forwards? I want to fully understand the potential impact on wholesalers from regulation.
15.
Do you think the wholesaler can maintain its average commission per policy in the regulated environment you described?
16.
How do you think April Group scores on some of the metrics you mentioned – the technical result and business sources diversity on the different lines?
17.
What’s driving the performance in the motorbike segment? Why is that so good?
18.
Where do you think growth will continue to come from for April Group? Is there a rationale to acquire other wholesale brokers? You mentioned proximity brokers not so much, but what do you think the organic growth strategy for a wholesaler such as the company might look like?
19.
Do you view April Group as a potential acquisition target? You mentioned carriers who don’t have much distribution in France might want to get that inorganically. Could you see a Swiss Re coming in and purchasing the business? Would that make sense?
20.
Why have the wholesalers struggled to grow so much in the non-life space?
21.
Which distribution channel do you view as being most at risk to disruption from insurtechs?
22.
How easy is it for a wholesale broker to go direct without alienating its proximity broker client base?
23.
Could you describe April Group’s international business growth, so outside of France?
