Actuarial team of the year: Hymans Robertson
Hymans Robertson has continued to grow its insurance consulting practice over the past five years, gaining new clients and producing influential thought leadership.
Annual income has grown by 20-25% consecutively for the last three years, driven by a 35-strong team of life consultants.
In the bulk annuity markets, Hymans Robertson now advises eight of the 10 reinsurers active in the space, as well as six of the eight primary insurers, equating to a 75% share of the bulk annuity market.
InsuranceERM's judging panel praised Hymans Robertson's commercial success, generated through focused expertise.
The judges were impressed with several research and thought leadership papers over the last year, including its "Closing the wellbeing gap" paper, which explored the interaction between work, health and wellbeing.
The consultancy also undertook a benchmarking survey among insurers that use the Solvency II matching adjustment, and a paper on the UK protection insurance market.
Throughout 2018, Hymans Robertson has assisted clients in a range of innovative ways.
For example, inspired by an increased market demand to transfer deferred longevity risk to insurers, the team developed non-pensioner insights to support insurers and reinsurers keen to deliver solutions to this growing market.
The insurance consultancy also investigated data to provide longevity insights based on over 9m records, in order to understand the underlying risk drivers and support more confident pricing.
Another achievement has been supporting clients in launching innovative retail retirement and protection products.
For example, in 2018 it developed a value proposition for a new diabetes management programme, and new data analytics services for insurers.
Overall, Hymans Robertson has worked with 35 insurer, reinsurer and financial services clients over the course of 2018.
The judging panel felt its submission clearly conveyed a strong determination to keep growing and help increasingly more clients.
Emma McWilliam, head of life & financial Services at Hymans Robertson, says: "What sets our team apart is our focus on growth and supporting clients to grow their businesses, it's this approach which has helped us to become firmly established as a key player in the life and financial services consulting market."