And those markets are now competing heavily in the local market for our clients on limit and premium. London can't just compete on the premium because it's hard to compete with the current markets out there. So we have to innovate and prove our product is better and our claims service is better and try and bring some-- wrestle some of that business back into London. And we're also pushing our global lines of business out to our global clients across the globe to bring FINEX to those clients across the globe, FINEX expanding ever more rapidly around the world.
JOANNA BROWN: So a lot of clients are staying with incumbents. Are brokers challenging this?
RICHARD MULTON: Absolutely. Our role is to challenge insurers on behalf of our clients who we, obviously, take instructions from and operate for all in line with FINEX broking, FINMAR broking protocols. We will market all risks unless a client has specifically asked us to only approach certain markets or not to remarket the risk.
So everything is marketed. However, at the current time, in the softening market, it is well known that budgets are tight for insurers. They will want to retain the business, if it's good business. So in light of competition, insurers are fighting hard. Our brokers here are our fair brokers, and we wouldn't just remove an insurer from-- an incumbent insurer from a risk purely based off one quote. We'd like to give them the opportunity to work with us to improve premium terms, conditions, wording, retention, whatever it might be in response to competing quotes.
And they have the ability to retain that business if they want it, if our client has asked us to go back to that client to improve the terms, give them one more shot. And I'd like to think that's how we operate. And often if it's [INAUDIBLE] an insurer will not want to lose that business and will match or better some of the best terms you get. So, yes, business is staying with incumbents but as a result of the softening market.
And as a result of competition, there is they are staying with incumbents. The opportunity is there for all insurers to take it, but they must realize they have to compete and win the business.
JOANNA BROWN: So WTW D&O has a new Side A facility, thus reducing available open market business. What impact is this having on nonparticipating insurers, and how can they compete?
RICHARD MULTON: It's true. We have-- at the end of last year, we did launch our first ever facility within the D&O team called A-star. It's a Side A DIC product. It's unique in the market. It has Lloyd's markets and company markets competing for the business and within the panel on the facility.
I don't think it's necessarily true to say it's taking business away from open markets because the business will still be presented. Our client's instruction, ordinarily to open markets, but they'll have to compete and the facility is as-- offers terms as good as or better than we like to think than open market opportunities. So we don't think-- yeah, open market will still have the opportunity to quote for this business.
If it's an incumbent layer, then we will ask the incumbent market to quote. But they will be quoting against the facility. And if their terms, conditions, premium is better than we can get through the facility, then there's no reason to keep it with that market. Obviously, if the client instructions, again, are to move it because they feel-- if our limit is exhausted within the facility, then excess of that will go to open market carriers to have the opportunity to quote for that layer.
So again, client instructions, there's no reason why open market can't compete for that business and win it as long as they can compete on a fair playing field and be better than the facility.
JOANNA BROWN: Thank you very much, Richard. That was very insightful, and let's hope we can get that new business in 2024.
RICHARD MULTON: Thank you.
JOANNA BROWN: That's all we've got time for today. Thank you for watching, and I hope you can join us for the next episode.
