Mactavish

This will be held at 10am on January 6 at 1 Cornhill, The Dome Room. If you wish to attend please email gemmaavey@mactavishgroup.com.

Companies have been forced to respond to rapid and overwhelming changes in trading conditions causing a major shift in commercial risk. Mactavish has undertaken a unique, major research programme to analyse how different sectors of the UK economy have been affected by the downturn.

At the briefing we will present the findings of the first Mactavish Cross-Sector Research Programme. It has involved in-depth interviews with senior executives at more than 250 major UK companies (7.5% of the market) with turnovers between £50m and £5bn in the retail, manufacturing, construction and financial services sectors, as well as consultations with senior underwriters and policy setters in the London insurance market.

The briefing will highlight major changes in the UK corporate risk landscape, with wide-ranging implications for companies, insurers and investors.

Outlining the results and answering questions on the research will be Bruce Hepburn, Chief Executive of Mactavish. He will also be joined by Achim Bauer, a partner in financial services advisory/strategy at PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP, and James Quin, Insurance sector analyst at Citi.

Achim Bauer and James Quin will be commenting on the report’s wide-ranging implications for both UK companies and the insurance industry.

The briefing will be followed by a question and answer session.

To attend the press briefing or, if you are unable to attend, to arrange interviews, please contact Gemma Avey on 020 7643 0636 or email: gemmaavey@mactavishgroup.com.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Mactavish would like to send Season’s Greetings to all clients, customers, colleagues and visitors to this website. We hope you enjoy festive period and wish you the very best for 2010.

Mactavish has decided not to send Christmas cards this year. Instead we have made donations to two charities, Help for Heroes and Children in Need.

As a result of the unprecedented degree of economic turmoil unleashed upon most sectors of the economy through the course of this year, Mactavish has undertaken a major new study looking at the myriad impacts on risk and risk management in particular in some of the most critically affected parts of the economy.

As widespread, rapid operational change in response to changed market conditions has become the norm, the consequences for both operational and risk management personnel have been, and will continue to be, severe. Mactavish will commence the publication of a series of sector based findings in January 2010, with a particular initial focus on UK manufacturing, financial services, construction and retail. The initial cross-sector findings report will be available from early January 2010 – if you would like to purchase this report, please contact us.

The programme of underlying research remains ongoing, and if you are interested in either finding out more or taking part, again please contact us.

Mactavish is delighted to announce that Michel Yarhi will serve as Chairman of its International Advisory Board. Michel Yarhi is the former head of the insurance risk management at Société Générale where he served for 31 years. In his role at Société Générale Michel transformed the insurance management of the group into a profit centre. His activities included all insurance risk management and the purchase of coverage as well as being involved in auditing the insurance arrangements of major French industrial clients and being the Chairman of its internal brokerage unit. In addition Michel served as Vice-President of a reinsurance company.

Michel is the former President of AMRAE (the French Risk Management Association with 350 companies and over 600 individuals as members). He leaves the presidency after completing the two year mandate and will remain active on its management committee and in charge of the next Annual Congress. Michel also serves as the Chief Executive of CEFAREA (French Arbitration Centre of Reinsurance and Insurance) and is the former Chairman of the EFIRM (European Financial Institutions’ Risk Managers, a group comprising 18 of the largest European banks).

On announcing the appointment, Bruce Hepburn, CEO of Mactavish said: ‘I am delighted to have secured the services of a professional of Michel Yarhi’s calibre who shares our interest in the continuous improvement in the quality of the entire corporate underwriting process. Michel Yarhi will be a valuable addition to the senior team at Mactavish and contribute to the future direction and strategic growth of the group.’

John Coomber, Chairman of Mactavish Group commented: ‘Michel Yarhi’s distinguished career at the heart of France’s risk management industry underpins his ability to guide and support the Mactavish Group through its next phase of growth. I am delighted Michel has agreed to join the Mactavish business.’

Michel Yarhi responded: ‘The opportunity to work with a team of international risk professionals to further excellence in corporate risk insurance is very exciting. Having worked with a range of corporate clients in France during the course of my career I am certain that the Mactavish due diligence capability will be an attractive proposition to those businesses seeking to enhance their level of dialogue with the insurance markets. With Mactavish’s support, French corporates will be able to secure more accurate premiums, improved stability of cover through the typical insurance cycle and more robust policy wordings that will minimise the risk of any payment delays in the event of a large loss.’