Insurindex will use a variety of metrics to benchmark the performance of London Market brands. We’ll look at factors like leadership, trust, and diversity and inclusion to help illustrate what makes a successful brand.

Whilst at a tangent from the OTC Market, Insurance as a form of risk transfer faces the same technical and business challenges as many firms within the wholesale markets.  A new service launched this month which we felt would be of interest which delivers Insurance Brand Rankings:

Insurindex, the independent ranking of insurance brands in the London Market, launched on the 9th of March 2022. 

Brand, though a concept not always well understood in the insurance Market, will, we believe, prove vital to those businesses that thrive in future years as our industry modernises and adapts to new risks, new challenges and new ways of working. “A great brand is a promise kept”  – an apt adage for an industry whose product is sold on a pledge to pay claims.

As the London Market continues to modernise, building recognisable, trusted and aspirational brands will play a hugely important role in not only helping companies to stand out from the pack now, but to create sustainable business models for the future. Brand is vital in attracting both customers and talent. As they face the looming talent gap, London Market insurers need more than ever before to be able to recruit the very best young professionals and, in turn, prove their value proposition and secure the best business.

Despite recent investments in marketing, many London Market insurance brands still lag their peers in other industries in terms of recognition. Too often insurance is still viewed as opaque to those outside the industry, and insurance brands and what they represent are not well understood.

We hope Insurindex can go some way to changing that. In other industries, indices have played a vital role in growing brand value and giving trusted third party recognition. Insurindex will provide independent ranking and analysis to help insurance brands understand what they are doing well, what they could be doing better, and what customers, employees and other stakeholders expect.

We want to be able to showcase to customers and other stakeholders who the top players in the London Insurance Market are – and why!

There’s growing demand for independent ranking and commentary on what makes a powerful insurance brand and what the industry can do to enhance its visibility, reputation and image to the outside world. London is an insurance marketplace; not only do individual brands need to prove their own worth, the Market as a whole must improve these brand values to remain relevant in the face of competition from other insurance hubs and outside players.

Not only will Insurindex recognise those brands that are doing things well, it will serve as a driver to others by demonstrating what good looks like.

Insurindex will use a variety of metrics to benchmark the performance of London Market brands. We’ll look at factors like leadership, trust, and diversity and inclusion to help illustrate what makes a successful brand.

Insurindex is a joint venture between Gracechurch, the commercial insurance market customer reputation and research specialist, and brand and digital marketing specialist Brandex. Gracechurch has been tracking the London insurance brands for more than 20 years and now benchmarks other insurance hubs around the world. Brandex has worked with many insurance entities developing their brands and implementing strategies.

In a business-to-business, intermediated market like London, people are an integral part of what makes a brand.

We know the leaders of London Market businesses  – and we know that the successful ones understand the value of brand development.

Looking ahead, as the Market consolidates, as players increasingly specialise, and as insurers compete intensively at the global level, it is vital that they have a clear proposition to be able to demonstrate their value. Innovation will be key. Insurers need to be able to cater to the new and evolving risks their clients face. They must be able to show sound Environmental Society and Governance (ESG) principles, solid Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) plans, and to demonstrate fair value. Having a real purpose, building trust and being able to show that – clearly and simply – to customers and employees will be the differentiator.

Buying insurance isn’t like buying a watch, or a car, or a handbag. But insurers in the London Market are working hard to show their customers that – beyond the incredibly valuable promise to pay – insurance is an enabler and supporter of business. With an increased focus on efficiency, technology will become increasingly important too.

To future proof the insurance industry, all the actors in the chain – brokers too – will need to align themselves to standards of customer value and service. Building brands will be an important way to sell-in what our industry does to those board members who make decisions on risks but who may not currently be well acquainted with speciality insurers.

We aim to provide high quality brand data, enhanced by other metrics such as financial and ESG performance, to help the Market better understand the value of brand and the role it will play in readying our industry for the challenges of today and the opportunities of tomorrow.

Full details of the brands and their rankings are on the insur index website.