Asian marine insurance broker CTX Special Risks was set up a decade ago when two Hong Kong-based Aon brokers quit the US giant with the aim of better serving the local market.
Current CTX chief executive Thomas Cheung set up the company and was soon followed by former colleague and current managing director Dominique Ng.
Both had become frustrated by the restrictions of a large brokerage, where marine was viewed as a small part of the business and often overlooked.
A decade on, the pair appear to have proved that there is a market in Asia for small, dedicated brokers with specialised local knowledge.
“I set up CTX with the encouragement of clients,” Cheung said. “I had a vision that we could do a lot of things to differentiate ourselves; under a big company, there were a lot of things we could not do.”
CTX now has 35 brokers and offices in Shanghai, Fuzhou and Qingdao in China, as well as branches in Taipei and London. It handles all main marine insurance lines, including protection and indemnity and hull and machinery cover.
Quick to respond
Cheung said CTX is quicker to respond than its rivals, especially on decision-making and meeting the needs of customers.
Cheung remembered how he was not allowed to employ an in-house qualified shipping lawyer at Aon — something he has taken on at CTX.
“We can be pretty agile and quick, and that makes a difference,” he said. “The big brokers have to care about their shareholders."
Its bigger-name, better-known rivals suggest that while CTX might be small and nimble, it does not have the financial clout or network of the mega-brokers and cannot have the same economies of scale, global network or knowledge of the international market.
The bigger brokers also have a wider field of insurance providers to choose from, they claim.
But Ng is adamant that his firm is working on behalf of its shipping clients rather than some of the larger brokers, which he feels often work in the interests of insurance providers.
'Work for shipping'
“We work for shipping not for insurers,” he said.
CTX has built up clients such as China Navigation, Wisdom Line, Wan Hai Lines and Yang Ming Marine Transport.
It has also made inroads into the emerging private shipowning market in China, where many of the new players on the block are unfamiliar with the complex nature of the marine insurance industry and want to learn the ropes from local service providers.
Ng said the Chinese owners feel more comfortable taking advice from a local firm rather than the big international mega brokers.
“We are very service-minded and spend a lot of time having meetings and explaining things to non-shipping people,” he said.
That advice often goes beyond marine insurance advice to charterparties, disputes and claims and even into areas such as ship security and the employment of onboard security guards.
Covering all the bases
“We speak both languages and understand Chinese culture,” Cheung said.
Most of CTX’s cover has been placed within Asia, which on the hull and machinery side has seen significant growth in capacity.
Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam recently announced a project to develop the territory as an Asian marine insurance hub in a recent policy address, something that Cheung feels bodes well for the local industry.
He said their firm is happy to stay at a manageable size and does not want to surrender its service-driven focus for the sake of rapid growth or securing business.
“We don’t want to be the sort of broker that goes to the market and slashing prices just to get the account,” Cheung said.
Ng thinks the focus of the company will remain in Asia and the London outpost for the next five years.
“We want to expand but only in the right way," Ng said. "We want to build our team and let our staff show their talent.”
