
Podcasts
Ryan Specialty CEO Tim Turner outlines ambitions with ‘tremendous partner’ Lloyd’s
Ryan Speciality is an ‘avid supporter’ of Lloyd’s of London, says chief executive Tim Turner.
Turner, speaking on the Voice of Insurance podcast to host Mark Geoghegan, explained why Lloyd’s was so beneficial to Ryan Specialty.
“They’re a tremendous partner for us and do so much for others in the non-admitted space traditionally and even more so today.
“Their ability to get into these niches, whether it is binding authority programs, MGUs (managing general underwriters),” he said.
Lloyd’s positive actions
In a wide-ranging interview, Turner talked about subjects including Lloyd’s positive steps, company strategy and artificial intelligence.
Turner praised the Lloyd’s initiatives on digitalisation and capital attraction.
He said: “In the addition to the concerted efforts to digitise their platform and eliminate inefficiencies via the blueprint, they’ve done an even better job, in my opinion, in commercialising the platform through the London Bridge in an effort to bring new forms of capital.”
Turner was asked whether starting or taking a share in a syndicate would appeal to him.
He replied: “I wouldn’t rule it out, but it’s certainly not a priority for us right now. On a going forward basis, we continue to be avid supporters of the market, and we don’t see ownership or launching of a syndicate as a key to our strategy at this time, the rational being we have strategic trading partners with syndicate platforms already.”
Avoiding conflict
Turner praised the ‘incredible global vision’ of founder Pat Ryan who led the company to expand across the world.
Ryan Speciality works with more than 20,000 brokers as a large wholesale broking and delegated authority specialist. It handles more than $25bn in global premium.
Turner, who was noted in the podcast for his extensive industry knowledge and experience, was announced CEO in July last year.
Despite the successful growth, owning a London broker was not part of Ryan Speciality’s expansion plans.
He said: “We’ve made a strategic decision, number one, to avoid owning a London broker because of the potential channel conflict that we see with our retail customers.
“So, we see Europe and the UK as a very fertile ground, for delegated underwriting authority.”
The acquisition of Castel Underwriting Agencies, announced in December last year, had ‘significantly enhanced our UK and European footprint’.
Strategy explained
Turner emphasised that under Ryan’s leadership, the business had grown into an ‘extraordinary company with a dynamic and really differentiated business model’.
He said: “So looking ahead, we’ll continue to execute our strategy, of course, and it remains unchanged.
“We’re focused on a handful of things. Maybe four that stick out and define us.”
Turner highlighted its ambitions to deliver innovative solutions; generate industry leading organic growth; execute its M&A strategy; and finally, deliver profits and value for shareholders.
Last year, Ryan Speciality had a record year in M&A. Notable deals include Castel, Griffin Underwriting Services and wholesale broker Socius Insurance Services.
“There are still deals to do in wholesale broking, more than you would think”, he said.
Artificial intelligence
Touching on the big issue of AI, Geoghegan asked how Ryan Speciality was using AI.
Turner said Ryan Speciality had invested heavily in tech. He highlighted investment in the cloud, workflow systems and trading platforms.
Combined with ownership of its ‘rich proprietary data’, the insurance firm was in a strong position, the podcast heard.
Outlining some of the goals where tech is helping, Turner highlighted growing underwriting profits, providing better advice to clients with market insight, and efficiency in submissions handling.
“We view AI as another tool in the toolbox, frankly, that supports the overall business,” he said.
The future
Looking to the future, Turner noted the winners in today’s world recruit, develop and build talent.
Handling transactions at high speed without losing any efficiency would also be vital in staying ahead of the game.
Turner finished off by saying he was ‘excited’ about the future regarding some of the opportunities it will bring.