Dear Friends and Colleagues,
2016/17 have been remarkable years for us at Pro. As we continue to grow in scale, I’d like to take this opportunity to bring you up to date with all our latest news and developments.
“Client First” is at the core of how we operate at Pro. These two words dictate our strategy, our approach to service and how we strive to operate each and every day. As you would expect, this strategy underpins a vision that was created in 2014, which continues to drive us forward to be:
“The number one service provider, solving complex operational needs of global insurers and reinsurers.”
These 2 key elements, our vision and our strategy, have worked together to help us expand and service some of the largest companies across the globe. Indeed, over the last 3 years, we have grown our team of insurance professionals by nearly 50% and our global employee count is reaching 500.
It seems that our clients choose to bring more of their business to us, whether for their legacy management, underwriting support, accounting, audit or consultancy needs. So, when we enjoy success in virtually every service area, we turn to our clients and say, “Thank you.”
New Investment by Acuity
We are very proud of our results and our disciplined approach ensures that we invest for the future, always creating long-term value. This recipe for success has been recognised by our new owners, Acuity LLP, who’ve invested in the insurance market for the last decade. The acquisition, completed in Q2 of 2017, has made us a Limited company with long-term support and financial backing from an organisation that truly understands the complexities of insurance. This, together with an agreement by Acuity on our continuing strategy, gives us great confidence and optimism for the future.
Pro’s Global Reach
In the UK, we recently opened a new Glasgow location, our Centre of Excellence for UK Disease Claims Management. It delivers a modern approach to long-tail claims that brings together over 55 specialists in asbestosis, hearing loss, vibration, pollution, medical malpractice and physical abuse. We transferred this team from a leading UK insurer and equipped them with a market-leading technology platform that consolidates multi-year exposures directly to a single claim. Putting “Clients First” means leveraging technology and highly-skilled professionals, along with exceptionally low costs that deliver long-term value for every client of Pro.
Moving to Germany, Jan-Henning Evers – previously head of Loss Adjusting at Crawford & Company (Deutschland) GmbH, has joined Pro as Managing Director for our claims team in Germany. He joins us when the German market needs specialist services across occupational disability and health. His experience will be invaluable to our clients, enabling us to rapidly assess complex live claims from initial assessment through to final legal review.
In March 2017, Pro in the US announced an industry first. ProTucket was honoured to become the first ever US run-off carrier to be granted a licence to accept run-off portfolio transfers. This ground-breaking move was made possible under new legislation from the State of Rhode Island, which allows companies to transfer their insurance books in a way that is already accepted in countries like the UK. We believe this is a game changer for the US market, and is expected to release many billions in trapped capital.
Earlier this year in Argentina, we established an innovative marine recoveries operation by forming a partnership with ZASS International. This newly formed relationship will give Latin American clients increased choice when managing their cargo-related insurance claims.
Within our Audit and Consultancy division, we have seen an increased global demand for our services. Increasing market regulation and extensive change programmes have created a requirement for market leading subject-matter-experts that can help drive compliance and process efficiencies where either underwriting or claims authority is delegated to third parties (MGAs and TPAs respectively). We’ve built a wide network of certified professionals that work across, UK, Europe, US and Latin America to improve and ensure rigorous governance for some of the largest (re)insurers.
As we enter a new era for Pro, I’m excited about the extraordinary opportunity that stretches out before us. With new private owners who are committed to supporting our long term “Client First” strategy, Pro is well positioned to serve the insurance markets for many years to come.
Thank you for your confidence in Pro, and as always, we appreciate your ongoing support.
Warmly,
Artur Niemczewski
CEO, Pro.