FinTech Magazine - November 2021 | Page 57

MARSH

UK Corporate CEO Alistair Fraser-Hawkins and Digital Leader Adam Kemmis Betty of Marsh insurance brokers discuss a digital transformation built on 150 years of history

Possibility . A word you hear a lot in insurance circles when it comes to managing risk , but at Marsh it is far more than an empty mantra – it ’ s something the world ’ s leading insurance broker and risk advisor has lived and breathed for more than 150 years . Now , the possibility is also the digital opportunity , which means serving commercial and individual clients better and connecting Marsh ’ s 40,000 colleagues across 130 countries in a new hybrid workplace .

Marsh is renowned for leveraging data , technology , and analytics to help reduce clients ’ total cost of risk and that move to a digital mindset has only been accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic .
Alistair Fraser-Hawkins is the Chief Executive Officer of the UK Corporate business at Marsh , which helps Middle Market clients with their risk and insurance needs .
“ Marsh is the world ' s leading risk and insurance advisor and we work with clients across all segments of industry , all sizes of clients from the very smallest to the very largest , working with them to identify risk , understand what risk is involved in their business , and helping to design a risk management and insurance programme that satisfies their needs and allows them to transact their business ,” says Fraser-Hawkins . The company has been in business for
150 years and continues to respond to the world ’ s most pressing challenges . The recent pandemic was no exception .
“ 2020 was a year like no other ,” admits Fraser-Hawkins . “ For us it brought risk to the forefront of conversations with clients at boardroom level .
“ Many companies now look at not just the risks they can see but at those intangible risks that perhaps historically we would have thought are very rare and would have limited impact . We ’ ve also seen that risk isn ' t just a local issue – it could be a global issue and organisations can be affected by risks across the world .”
Fraser-Hawkins believes the global lockdowns also helped further solidify Marsh as a “ global family ”.
He witnessed increased interaction across the globe in terms of how Marsh helped clients through the pandemic and equally a real shift in terms of their own ability to transact in a digital and virtual sense without dropping the level of service delivered to clients .
“ Interestingly , I think it actually brought us closer together as a global business ,” says Fraser-Hawkins . “ The collaboration we see across geographies , across business units , was accelerated despite the fact that it was challenging for all of our colleagues across all the countries we operate in . It was a very challenging but pivotal year that sets us up for the next 150 years .” fintechmagazine . com 57