Tim Gardner, Global Chief Executive Officer of Lockton Re, says that the broker’s priorities in the next couple of years are to grow in North America and Europe, and he doesn’t see the need to chase business in Asia. This could change in the future, though.
“We have so much opportunity in the geographies where we sit now – between the US, Bermuda, the UK, Western Europe – there’s so much for us to do, so much for us to chase. We’re pretty mindful that we don’t want to spread ourselves too thinly,” says Gardner.
The CEO was speaking during a media roundtable at the annual Monte Carlo Rendezvous.
He added: “There will likely come a time, at some point in the future, where we think about putting additional flags in the ground [in Asia], but that’s not really an immediate priority for us.”
Lockton Re operates in Asia, but does so via joint venture partnerships with its retail brokerage. This is distinct from how the firm operates in North America and Europe, where everything sits within the Lockton Re franchise.
“Where we have Lockton insurance brokerage operations [in Asia], sometimes there are facultative business or growing operations that we support. So these are not directly under our purview, but we are collaborating on these and making sure we build out a value proposition,” says Gardner.
Gardner says that Lockton Re plans to add a total of between 80 and 90 people to its business this year, but these will be mostly in Europe and North America. Earlier this year, Lockton Re launched a new dedicated food, agriculture and beverage insurance broking practice in the Caribbean and Central America.
Persistent market volatility and uncertainty is likely to continue to present opportunities in Lockton Re’s established markets, says the CEO.
“There’s more volatility in the world than there’s ever been. There’s more value-at-risk than there’s ever been. So we have a seat at the table in this growing market. We just have to continue to add capabilities and continue to bring as much value to clients as we can. This is our goal,” says Gardner.
For Lockton Re, sustainable growth is the key. The broker doesn’t want to over-extend itself.
“We need to think about how we build the business for the long term. We’re competitive people. We want to win. We want to grow. Profit is as important a metric as any, but ‘when’ is the question we need to think about,” says Gardner.
This is why Asia can wait, explains Gardner – at least for the time being.
