Ep224 Bruce Carman Hive Underwriters: MGAs are Insurance Speedboats

Today’s guest is a master of the aviation class of business, but is also a well-known and respected market figure across classes, holding key positions in market committees and international insurance trade bodies and non-insurance organisations alike.

Bruce Carman has been a leading aviation and war underwriter since the late 1980s and after over 30 years at the heart of the Lloyd’s market, started his own specialist MGA, Hive Underwriters in 2017.

That business has grown rapidly and has begun to mature and scale and so now seems an excellent time to get Bruce on the show.

The aviation market is in a fascinating position post the Russian invasion of Ukraine and part of our talk will be an incredibly useful listen for any generalist who might feel that aviation is sometimes a specialism too far for them.

But that wouldn’t be doing justice to Bruce and this discussion.

Listening back, what this podcast is really about is examining the art of becoming a good and highly focused underwriter and insurance entrepreneur.

Bruce is incredibly good company and is very generous with his time and insights.

My overriding impression is of someone having the time of their life.

Bruce is someone who has been given the opportunity to start from scratch and be fast-paced and nimble in applying the best practices and technology available today to a lifetime of frontline high-performing underwriting experience.

 

NOTES

Abbreviations:

EASA = the European Union Aviation Safety Agency

WAIG and BAIG = Respectively the Westminster and British Aviation Insurance Groups – early UK aviation pools. BAIG is a forerunner of today’s Global Aerospace.

Appointed Rep = Appointed Representative. A UK term where a younger firm gains regulatory (usually FCA) authorisation via an arrangement with a fully-regulated firm.

LINKS:

Bruce mentioned an Allianz aviation report, which is a highly complementary read to accompany this podcast:

Aviation risk, claims and insurance outlook 2024 | Allianz Commercial

We thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:

https://www.advantagego.com

We also thank new audio advertiser, The Insurance Network (TIN), organiser of the highly-successful TINtech events series. They are advertising their new London-based event, Data Jam, which is focused on exploring the implications and opportunities of data, analytics, AI and automation in the insurance sector.

It’s on 28th November at Convene, 133 Houndsditch, London EC3. I’m going to be there.
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