AEGIS London has launched a digital trading division, heralding the move as the beginning of a new era for the top quartile Lloyd’s insurer.
Tom Squires, AEGIS London’s head of digital trading, will lead the division, reporting to Nigel Roberts, head of distribution. He will be supported by Angus Turner, digital trading manager; Phil Lucas, business application manager, plus a series of new posts to be announced.
According to Squires, the decision to create a team dedicated to building and distributing digital products was inspired by the success of Opal, AEGIS London’s award-winning online quote-and-bind platform.
Tom Squires said: “Opal has been a tremendous boost for us. It’s grown our revenue and attracted a swathe of American and international business that wouldn’t otherwise have been cost effective for a Lloyd’s insurer.
“Opal has opened our eyes to the possibilities. That’s why we decided to create this new division to bring together underwriting and digital distribution. It allows us to really explore the opportunities presented by the digital channel and take commercial advantage of them.”
The digital division will work alongside AEGIS London’s underwriting teams to develop digital products and new ways of distributing them to the international market. While complex risks will continue to be underwritten at Lloyd’s, digital versions of suitable products will be made available to brokers and intermediaries in AEGIS London’s key markets including North America and Australasia.
Nigel Roberts said: “Four years ago, we developed the idea of Opal in order to bring business to London that was uneconomical using the traditional distribution chain. Last year, we were pleased to see Lloyd’s reached the same conclusion. The key for us is to make our underwriting expertise available to a wider market but without ratcheting up prohibitive distribution costs. Digital is clearly the way to achieve that.
“This marks the start of a new era for us. We’ll be running digital and traditional distribution chains in parallel, both backed by the underwriting expertise with which AEGIS London is synonymous.”
Tom Squires became head of digital trading earlier this year. He has been with AEGIS London for 12 years and was previously deputy head of casualty.
Opal current offers a range of products including terrorism, professional indemnity and wind deductible buy-back.
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