Russell Sessions, Director of Vizion Commercial talks to May Walker-Wallis, Head of Marketing, about the evolution of Vizion Commercial.
MAY: How did it come about that you joined Vizion as a Partner? What was the main appeal for you?
RUSSELL: I have worked for many years in larger corporate brokers. Towards the latter stages of my time, I became disillusioned at the lack of autonomy and influence needed to make key strategic decisions.
For some time, my goal had been to create a new Commercial brokerage that approached insurance in a slightly different way. Of course, this is easier said than done! The opportunity of investment from Vizion came at the right time and offered me the financial backing I needed to get things off the ground. The support that the investors gave me in terms of knowledge and expertise has also been invaluable.
MAY: How does your role as a Partner at Vizion contrast to working in a larger broker setting?
RUSSELL: Being at the helm of Vizion Commercial from the start has meant a huge amount of groundwork to get the business up and running to where we are now, 3 years on. Indeed, a key difference from operating in a larger broker is that the buck stops with you; every decision I make now has a key influence over the operation of the business and the direction it takes. I have drawn on past relationships in the market to allow me to develop our product offering quickly. Pitching a new broker to insurer partners has been great fun!
MAY: What is your specialism within the Commercial insurance market?
RUSSELL: For some time now, my specialism has been in financial lines. Many of my clients are based in the City and over the last 15 years, I have built up a strong reputation for consulting on Professional Indemnity, Directors’ & Officers’, Cyber and Crime. I also have several clients that are in the emerging tech space. With technology continually changing, we pride ourselves at being at the cutting edge which helps us successfully understand a client’s needs.
MAY: Do you have any insight into the current Commercial market, in particular with regards to Professional Indemnity?
RUSSELL: Professional Indemnity is certainly a tricky market to navigate at the moment! What once was a “buyer’s market” with a simplified renewal process and premium reductions year on year is now hugely different. Brokers and businesses alike have been faced with the harsh reality of the current PI market. With many insurers having withdrawn their offerings completely, there has been a dramatic hardening of the market, thus leading to significant premium increases and a vastly reduced choice of insurers. It goes without saying, the shift has left many brokers and clients unprepared. Whilst the outlook for the market is somewhat bleak, picking the right broker, who with their experience, does the necessary work to present the risk in a favourable light is an absolute key influencing factor to obtaining the best terms possible.
MAY: Has that posed challenges to growing a new business?
RUSSELL: We have been successful at steering our clients through the rough seas of the financial lines markets. Our expertise has allowed us show real value to those we advise, and will continue to do so. More than ever, businesses need a safe pair of hands to help them navigate the renewal process. The difficulty for us is getting the message out to clients and prospects that they need to approach their insurance discussions in the same way they would pitch to a new audience or investor – they need to sell themselves to the insurance market to allow them the best opportunity at getting favourable insurance coverage and terms.
MAY: What are your plans for Vizion Commercial over the next few years?
RUSEELL: The current Covid-19 pandemic is keeping us busy. We are becoming more than just a broker for many of our clients, helping them navigate the turbulent and troublesome times they are facing. It's business as usual for Vizion; all the team are working remotely, and the services levels that we have aspired to remain.
Vizion Commercial continues to grow and we find ourselves in a great place to offer clients an unrivalled service that they simply wouldn’t get from one of the large, faceless brokers. There are a number of key opportunities for us over the next 12 months to grow the team and widen our product offering. Of course, as we grow, we are keen to keep our ear to the ground for individuals committed to our ethos of client-centred service to join the team.
We are ambitious but also grounded in our approach to growth, but we see a very bright future for us.
