JON ANGELL: I've been in the legal profession team for 11 years now. It feels like longer sometimes.
ELLA WELHAM: I have a few more questions to ask you if that's OK?
JON ANGELL: Of course.
ELLA WELHAM: How has the recent renewal season gone this year, and have we seen change in premium compared to the last year?
JON ANGELL: Yeah good question. So I don't think it will come as any surprise to anyone who listens to this that the market is in an incredibly competitive cycle again now. Insurers generally have pretty strong growth targets, and as such, there is a huge amount of competitive leverage to be gained in the market at the moment. I think the legal profession itself has been relatively buoyant over the last few years, and by that I mean that some fee income has performed extremely well, and it's not uncommon for our insurers to have had around about a 10% increase year on year in terms of fee.
That they're getting for free in terms of premium coverage from insurers at this moment in time. And there are some premium reductions to be achieved as well. I think the main thing for me in terms of the current market cycle, as opposed to the past market cycle, is that we're seeing an extreme amount of loyalty from clients. So in the past, I think the procurement for PI for law firms has been incredibly transactional. What we're seeing now is that there is a greater emphasis on the relationship with insurers. And I think a lot of our clients are actually looking at the value adds that insurers bring. So claims handling and risk management support, that kind of thing just being a key part of the overall decision making and not just focusing on the transaction.
ELLA WELHAM: Brilliant. Thank you. Where do you anticipate rates for law firms going into 2025, and what are the key drivers for this?
JON ANGELL: Yeah, sure. So I mean, I accidentally left my crystal ball at home this morning. But I think we're really expecting to see more of the same. I think there's nothing to suggest that the current market conditions are going to start going into reverse again. I think competition will remain strong for 2025. I don't think we're seeing any type of systemic issues, claims issues, on the horizon. We've had the Building Safety act in the past, which kind of caused insurers a bit of concern as to whether we were going to see claims arising out of the legal profession. But I think it's a fairly benign claims landscape at the moment.
Of course, having said that, we'll keep our eye on macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions, particularly kind of with the Trump effect and things like that. And that kind of uncertainty can change the game a little bit. But I think competition remains strong. The key drivers as well, artificial intelligence, employee well-being, these are key topics for insurers. But actually they're key topics as well for our law firm clients. These are board level discussions that are taking place. And we do articulate to our clients that it's important that our clients are able to pass that message on to insurers, how they're dealing with those risk exposures. So yeah, they're the key drivers, I'd say.
ELLA WELHAM: Thank you. And finally, where are your key growth areas for 2025, and how can insurers support your ambitions?
JON ANGELL: Yeah, Thank you for that question. So look, in terms of growth, our priority areas in England and Wales remain 11 plus partners. So we're not in the volume end space. We're after those larger, more sophisticated law firms who've got bespoke needs and requirements. And that's really where we pitch ourselves for growth areas. I personally like to develop a lot more wholesale opportunities. We've got a great network in US and Australia, Channel Islands, and it's about really harnessing new business opportunities from those territories.
We've invested in our team as well. So Jack Lowndes has recently joined us from Mayer Brown. He's been eight years as a professional indemnity insurance litigator. And we've also had Lindsay Woolrych recently join us from Berkshire Hathaway. She was before that at Travelers. And she brings a whole lot of experience to our team, which we're really pleased to have. I think in terms of insurers support. Look, service levels are absolutely critical. There's no doubt about that. So turnaround times from insurers. These are the fundamentals.
But I think it's also about the participation in client meetings. We will have client meetings for our clients. And the interest and the engagement shown by insurers to those clients actually means quite a lot. And I think it's all about developing that relationship with our clients, making sure that we're putting insurers in front of clients, not just in front of renewal periods, but also mid-term as well.
ELLA WELHAM: Thank you, John. Very interesting. Many insurers will know you, but for those that perhaps don't. Outside of work, what would you like to do in your spare time?
JON ANGELL: Good question. I have a six-year-old and a three-year-old, so my time over the last number of years has not been my own. I have actually just joined a gym, and I'm looking forward at some stage to making it out of the steam room and the sauna, which is where I seem to spend most of my time.
ELLA WELHAM: Thank you for your time, John.
JON ANGELL: Thank you.
ELLA WELHAM: Well, that's all we have time for today. Please join us again for the next edition of FINMAR Presents. Thank you for watching. Goodbye.
