Chief executives of North P&I Club and the Standard Club have stated their case for merging the two protection and indemnity mutuals on YouTube.
The online social media canvassing comes as shipowner members of both clubs this week vote on the merger that will be decided at an extraordinary meeting scheduled for 27 May.
Most members will be voting via a proxy form that has already been sent out.
Separate videos by both clubs have proved popular, gathering up to 500 views each. While modest by YouTube standards, the viewing figures represent a reasonable number, given the specialist nature of the content.
In a personal message, Paul Jennings told his North P&I members: “We believe that bringing North and Standard together will create a more financially resilient, competitive and, more importantly, service-driven and efficient P&I club.”
Jennings said the Standard Club is the most suitable fit for North P&I among the International Group members. He described it as the “partner of choice” in creating a diversified marine insurer of the future, which would be “fit for the future needs of our members”.
Outlining the benefits of the merger, Jennings said: “On the economic financial side, the two clubs coming together will create a larger operation [with] the benefit of scale.
“We will be able to remove some of the volatility and uncertainty that exists with any insurance company. That will allow us to buy reinsurance in a more tactical and strategic manner, and that will allow us to take risk in areas where there is less volatility.”
In a separate YouTube video, Standard Club chief executive Jeremy Grose said members had already been “very, very positive” about the proposed merger.
Even stronger
“Overall, I think this gives us an opportunity to have an organisation which is even stronger than we are at the moment,” he said.
“My message to members would be to support this merger.
“The opportunities which derive from coming together with the North are going to be immense. There will be a lot of opportunities for our members to benefit from additional support from a larger organisation, which will have an even stronger financial footing.”
There has also been criticism of the merger. Some brokers and shipowners are worried that it will trigger a series of mergers among members of the International Group of P&I Clubs, which will limit competition in the market.
