Underwriter Spotlight: Thomas Poynder
Name, Job title, Company
Thomas Poynder, Senior Underwriter Property and Transportation Binders
What’s your specialism?
US and Canadian Transportation focusing on Auto Physical Damage, Motor Truck Cargo, Garage Keepers Legal Liability, and Dealers open lot.
Why Berkley Specialty London?
Berkley Specialty London has provided me with a great opportunity to advance my career in a collaborative environment, where the cross class underwriting teams share experiences and learn from each other. Here, underwriters are empowered with the authority and responsibility to proactively underwrite opportunities on their merits with efficiency. Additionally, having a focus on innovation and collaboration across the syndicate, and the wider Group provides opportunities for learning and potentially the development of new solutions for our clients.
WHAT’S ON YOUR RADAR FOR 2024?
For me, the face-to-face part of relationship building is incredibly important in creating successful long-term partnerships. So, I’m looking forward to attending upcoming market events such as the MCIEF, Target Markets and WSIA annual conferences to continue building our market presence and partnerships with our existing brokers, coverholders and agent partners. This not only benefits those relationships but also enables me to explore growth opportunities with new potential partners to continue the positive trajectory of the Berkley Specialty London transportation book.
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN YOUR MARKET AT THE MOMENT?
The growth of online rating systems has the potential to offer great benefits. It’s the time savings for the brokers and insureds that will provide a more efficient user experience when seeking quotes in a highly transactional market.
However, this opportunity presents its own challenge. If all markets utilise those systems, it could cause a race to the bottom when it comes to pricing meaning overall market performance would dip. Only if this technology is harnessed while retaining the value of day-to-day relationships that underpin successful business will we benefit from those efficiencies and create a more personalised approach to quoting.
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS BEING KEY FACTORS TO A SUCCESSFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH UNDERWRITERS AND BROKERS?
I truly believe that service speed, honest communication, and a focus on building a long-term book together (versus one-off deals) is the key to a successful underwriter-broker relationship. The priority then is on the growth and profitability that both sides would see over the long-term, rather than short-term gains.
HOW ARE INNOVATIONS IN TECHNOLOGY IMPACTING THE INDUSTRY?
While I value creating face-to-face relationships, technology still has an ever-growing role in underwriting today. In particular, I am intrigued by the evolving potential of data use.
The combination of improvements in data modelling and machine learning with driver behaviour and loss claim pattern information aims to derive better, faster insights from large trucking datasets. Finding a partner who can provide information that can be personalised and harnessed for different purposes will enable more experimentation as we develop a way to marry data insights with ratings, loss mitigation, and creating value for better managed customers.
How important is ‘face to face’?
Face-to-face underwriting is a key advantage of the London and Lloyd’s market. It provides an unparalleled training experience for junior brokers and underwriters, who gain hands on experience of pricing, risk selection, and negotiation skills. Which would have otherwise taken far longer to learn from a fully e-trading market.
Additionally, the Lloyd’s face-to-face market enables the negotiation and collaboration from multiple syndicates and brokers, to truly innovate and provide all-around solutions to insureds all in one room.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR CAREER?
It’s hard to pinpoint what has been the highlight of my career, as there are still many things to look forward to achieving. But a day that will always stick with me was sitting at the box in Lloyd’s and, after careful negotiation and pricing analysis, putting my first stamp down on a slip contract.
What’s the best piece of advice you have received?
Work with people you enjoy spending your time with – After all, you’ll spend almost every day with them!