THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING WHERE TO PLACE YOUR BUSINESS….
Disclaimer: 
FTA have a huge amount of experience and have one of the largest Australian multi-syndicated binders into Lloyd’s. We will only ever place your business under our 3-year long term binding agreement, and never wholesale your business.
When knocking on the doors of underwriting agencies for your insureds, it is imperative that you know who is sitting behind it all and how the agency is placing your business into Lloyd’s. Far too often, we are seeing insureds being wholesaled into the London market via Lloyd’s brokers who are acting on behalf of certain Australian Underwriting Agencies who do not have a binder.
Notwithstanding the perception this creates for these insureds, especially for the larger and more complex risks, reality is that the same risk is being indiscriminately flouted around Lloyd’s via another broker who may be acting on behalf of another Underwriting Agency (acting
as a wholesale broker). This happens more often than not. 
The poor local retail broker has unknowingly shopped their account all around Lloyd’s without applying a proper and considered placement strategy. It also becomes increasingly frustrating for syndicates who are then often tasked with making decisions based on various and differing bits of information that are provided by the different brokers. With the insurance markets currently under global scrutiny, and sensitivities to risk being high, it is important to build trust between all parties involved – especially if deals are there to be had.
We are increasingly seeing the local brokers frustration of discovering that their (at times key) accounts are being marketed globally without their knowledge. As technologies continue to evolve, the access into the London market is becoming easier and more accessible than ever before. For us at FTA, it makes very little sense why retail brokers are allowing agencies (acting as wholesale brokers) to clip their tickets on the way through. If you are reading this article, you probably have some first-hand experiences with this and can probably attest to the further issues arising from conducting business this way. The insured gets placed into the open Lloyd’s market via Underwriting Agencies who do not have any binders or are acting as wholesale brokers. FTA very often sees non-renewing business coming out of the local underwriting agencies that are acting as wholesale brokers because of a yearly change in capacity, appetite or poorly underwritten terms and conditions.
With that said, we appreciate the huge amount of value to be had when the Lloyd’s market is
accessed directly and appropriately for the more complex and bespoke type of insurances. London will no doubt continue to provide relevance and value on those type of policies. However, for insureds who value consistency, stability and professionalism, it is always worthwhile ensuring that they are placed under strong binding agreements, stable security and with underwriters who have knowingly insured the risk with full consideration.
No longer should we allow or support underwriting agencies (where acting as wholesale brokers) that continue to operate with a purely distribution focus, simply to “get the deal done”.
Making sure all parties to a deal are benefited and receiving value, is the recipe for a sustainable and long-term beneficial relationship.
Finally, it is important to back the underwriter, their capacity and their approach. The cheapest and nastiest option is seldom the solution. There will always be someone who will do it cheaper, but that is not necessarily better, particularly if the solution is only available for 12 months.
It amazes us, looking back over our correspondence from the last 3-4 years, where FTA have warned brokers of unsustainable markets or terms and conditions, etc, etc. It is even more baffling that some brokers are only too keen to put their key profitable accounts into these said markets or on said terms and conditions. 
Yet year after year we continue to see the cycle of the same accounts being remarketed, coming off different capacity, and being thrown around like a rag doll. Ultimately it is the retail broker who will lose out, often with the insured losing trust with their broker because of the fluctuations of premium and/or terms and conditions.
To this end, FTA continue to underwrite each and every one of your risks and specifically select insureds who coincide and fit with the rest of the lower exposed portfolio that they are part of. It is seldom that FTA does not renew a policy unless there are material and critical changes to the individual risk. Our appetite, guidelines and approach as underwriters has been the same for 15+ years.
At FTA we continue to remain focused on profitable underwriting and we guarantee to never wholesale any of your risks. We are here to ensure that all parties to the insurance contract are benefited (i.e., retail broker, agency and underwriters).