Best Reinsurance Broker for Expertise and Market Knowledge (revenues of less than $1bn) winner: JLT Towers Re

The broker received a multitude of praise on its in-depth market knowledge with a number of respondents commending the broker on its excellent niche market knowledge and contribution and its local approach.

The team at JLT Towers Re was also praised highly. One respondent said that the broker team “has many combined years of experience in placing our business in the London Market”, while another added that the team “will always give the right answer. We use them to get the right information and fast”.

A respondent added that JLT Towers Re is “positioned to succeed”, while another said that the broker is “well informed and commercial”.

Greek broker Matrix took second place with a score of 6.11 out of 10. The broker was celebrated for its experienced and well educated personnel.

Dimitris Tsesmetzoglou, CEO of Matrix, and Gerry Tighe, vice chairman and manager of the treaty department, were applauded by a number of respondents for their knowledge.

“We use them to get the right information and fast.”

One respondent said that the broker has “developed new staff each year to a very high standard of knowledge”, while another added that the team “understands our needs and meets them with the right programme and reinsurers”.

A registered broker at Lloyd’s since September 2012, Matrix was also commended on its good knowledge of local market practice, particularly in South East Europe. One respondent added that Matrix has become a key business partner in Greece and Cyprus over the past year.

One respondent celebrated Matrix’s impressive growth rate over the past few years. The broker’s premium income grew to €441.3 million in 2013, compared with €137.2 million in 2012.

BMS secured third place with a score of 6.08. BMS, which is organised across three main divisions of reinsurance, wholesale and specialist insurance, was praised on its market knowledge as it continues to increase its global reach. The team at BMS was also commended on its expertise and customer service.

TigerRisk Partners took fourth place, as it achieved a score of 6.03 out of 10. The privately held reinsurance broker and risk/capital management advisor was highly commended on its analytics.

Headed by Rod Fox, managing partner and CEO, and Jim Stanard, chairman, the broker is well-known within the industry and provides a unique service to its clients. It was also commended on its experience and proactivity,

Holborn and RFIB took joint fourth place with a score of 6 out of 10. Both brokers were commended for their experience and global knowledge, with one respondent holding Holborn’s US business in high regard.

The companies in the shortlists seen here were selected based on the first stage of the research, conducted via phone interviews and open online polls. Respondents were asked to name three companies they regard highly in this category. They were then asked to give details of why they had chosen these firms.

The shortlist for this category reflects the companies mentioned the most frequently.

The researchers then approached the market a second time and, using this shortlist presented in a random order, asked respondents to score each company out of ten based on how they perceive the firm based on the criteria of this category. It is the results of this part of the survey that are shown here.

More than 500 respondents took part in each part of the survey respectively.

The score shows the average score out of ten that each company received in stage two of the survey.

The shortlist was presented to respondents in a random order.