How AIG and Talbot join forces to balance risk

If you were to ask recent college grads what they value in a career, chances are you’ll get a far different answer today versus just a few years ago:

In a 2022 global survey of employees by Gartner Research, for example, more than half (65%), said the pandemic made them rethink the place that work should have in their life. And 56% said the pandemic made them want to contribute more to society. 

As CEO of Talbot Underwriting, Chris Rash is paying close attention to such workplace trends and industry developments

“Many are searching for purpose in the work that they do,” Chris says.

“The world is going through a lot of change and insurance can make a difference – it can be a channel for community stability and improvement.”

Since taking the helm of Talbot in 2020, one of Chris’s priorities has been encouraging and embedding a workplace culture that helps attract and retain top talent, and another has been ensuring underwriters are equipped with the latest tools, data, and insight to help them better assess complex risks.

“Our ambition is to be AIG’s center of underwriting excellence at Lloyd’s, and to be the market leader in select specialty lines,” Chris adds.

How Talbot works with AIG

Talbot is a managing agency operating two syndicates - 1183 & 2019 - within the Lloyd’s of London market and has been part of AIG since 2018. Its ambition is to be AIG’s centre of underwriting excellence at Lloyd’s, the world’s leading insurance and reinsurance marketplace, where brokers and underwriters come together to buy and sell insurance. Risks are shared among multiple syndicates, which means Lloyd’s is well positioned to accommodate complex risks. Additionally, access to Lloyd’s global license framework and financial security makes it fast and easy to transact business.

Syndicate 1183 writes a diverse portfolio of more than 20 product lines, including Crisis Management, Upstream Energy, Marine & Energy Liabilities, Property and Treaty. Syndicate 2019 supports high-net worth U.S. clients, essentially providing reinsurance for policies underwritten by AIG’s Private Client Group, which has long supported ultra-high net worth individuals.

Talbot is also AIG’s Centre of  Excellence for Political Violence. The team’s market-leading position is reinforced by its ability to offer clients coverage through Lloyd’s and on locally admitted paper through its global network of offices. Businesses are facing an increasingly complex risk landscape and the team has invested in and adapted its product offerings to respond to these evolving threats. Talbot takes a holistic approach to risk management in this area, utilizing a range of specialized tools and technologies to deliver insights on political violence risks to its clients, as well as offering tailored insights in crisis consultancy and bomb-blast analysis.

“We strive to help organizations manage and mitigate some of today’s most pressing and complex risks,” Chris says. “These are big responsibilities, and we have teams here that combine experience, insight and data to best support our broker partners and their clients.”

Balancing new and emerging risks

Looking ahead, Chris is prioritizing greater collaboration and alignment with AIG as the Talbot/ AIG relationship brings numerous benefits for clients.

One initiative is Dual Stamp. This is a unique way for the market to access AIG capacity alongside Talbot and allows clients to leverage the significant licensing, data, and analytics of Lloyd’s, as well as the global expertise and risk engineering services of AIG.

 “Being a part of AIG presents a huge opportunity for us,” Chris says. “We might see opportunities that aren’t there for Talbot to write; however, we can connect that client directly to AIG, which can be mutually beneficial for Talbot and AIG as well as to the client.”

Talbot is also working with AIG’s global specialty insurance experts to help risk managers address rapidly changing business challenges in the years ahead.

This includes helping the energy industry transition to different sources of power – an area of AIG’s business that is becoming increasingly important, as the organization aims to support a more sustainable environment.

“AIG and Talbot have historically had a number of energy clients, and they’re going through immense change,” Chris says. “Insurance has a key role in enabling clients to make the transition.

  “We’re building a culture that is consistently looking to improve and make a positive difference both internally for our people, but also externally for our partners and clients.”