West of England chief executive Tom Bowsher has just turned 40, but he is still, by some way, the youngest executive among the International Group of P&I Clubs’ 13 members.
His two-year tenure has focused on modernising West, which is celebrating 150 years in business with 3,700 ships amounting to 93m gt on its books.
Bowsher’s first move was to update the mutual’s corporate image and move its operation to the heart of London’s insurance district.
He believes the changes have begun to have an effect. “With the new image and the investment we are putting into people, I get the feeling there is a little more interest in us and what we are doing,” he told TradeWinds. “There is more positive energy toward the club than I’ve seen in a few years.”
The investment in people has so far focused on diversification into offshore and further growth in fixed premium. The club was recently granted a claims licence in New York that has allowed it to expand its US team.
There is more expansion to come, but Bowsher is keeping his cards close to his chest until the projects are confirmed.
However, he wants to dispel one rumour about the club’s plans.
'Nothing extravagant'
“We’re working on diversification projects,” he said, “but we’re very mindful not to dilute the core product, and there is nothing extravagant coming. We will not be opening a hull syndicate, I must stress that.
“We are looking at projects that complement what we do. Two of those are quite close to fruition, and we will hope to announce to the market some time soon.
“We’ve modernised, but we’ve not lost sight of our heritage and philosophy, which is service first. I think because we are seeing a lot of support from existing members and a high retention, we clearly must be doing something right.”
Bowsher has made some brave decisions.
Last year, West announced a 5% general increase in premiums at a time when none of the other clubs increased rates. It could have been commercially disastrous for West, but with hindsight it appears to have been a wise move.
'We were well ahead of the curve'
This year, its competitors have been forced into general increases as high as 7.5%, while West has kept its rate rise down to 2%.
Bowsher said he anticipated the current rush to raise rates.
“I think we were well ahead of the curve. We went early with a rate increase because we had the confidence to address the rating ahead of our peers. Now our general increase is at the low end of the market,” he said.
Things are looking up on other fronts too.
A post-election rally in investments in the UK should see the West increase its free reserves, and the club’s own claims have settled, although International Group pool claims are on the up.
Bowsher said the signs are that the West could achieve better figures this year than predicted and should reduce its underwriting deficit.
“Claims are a lot better now than over the last two years. We were predicting a 111% combined ratio, but I think that, with the benefit of a better third quarter, we are looking at more like 107% or 108%, and we are predicting an increase in free reserves.”
He is optimistic the club will put on more weight in terms of incoming tonnage this renewal, although he added that it is already getting enough fresh business from existing clients.
“Most of our growth continues to come organically. We are bringing new business, but we have been quite selective. A lot of the growth we are seeing is coming from members who already have entries with us. I feel quite positive about things in a difficult market.”
