Day-one policy issuance was unthinkable when I started: Paul Hopkin reflects on his time at Airmic

Outgoing technical director, Paul Hopkin, talks to Jessica Titherington about the achievements and challenges of the past nine years.

Nearly nine years ago, Paul Hopkin accepted the newly-created role of Airmic's technical director. This month, he is calling it a day and moving on to ventures anew. "I only started on a six-month contract so I think I've more than outstayed my original plan," he jokes.

But he's not leaving without a significant legacy. It's hard to imagine Airmic without its technical programme which is responsible for the dozens of research and guidance papers Airmic produces each year on topics ranging from broker remuneration to basis clauses. Hopkin built this programme from scratch, and over the years it has produced some genuinely ground-breaking research and contributed to Airmic's reputation as a thought leader in risk and insurance.

"The technical output from Airmic is extremely important," he says. "It raises the profile of Airmic, and more importantly gives recognition to the work our members do in risk and insurance."

Hopkin credits being able to think like a journalist with his ability to produce so much research each year. "I'm able to gain a broad understanding quickly.  To be able to cut through a huge amount of data and give it some structure is key."

But he's quick to stress that Airmic's technical output couldn't happen without the depth of expertise among Airmic members, nor without the "excellent" support of the association’s research and development managers Georgina Wainwright and Katie Moore.

Hopkin thinks his biggest achievements have been the Roads to Resilience report and the efficacy guide, both of which were published last year. "Roads to Resilience was an excellent research project. Our members know about disasters - that's their day job - but this report really drew out the upside of risk management." The efficacy guide, meanwhile, was the "culmination of all the work we'd done previously on how to make an insurance policy work and perform. It was a real challenge."

One of the most enjoyable aspects of his job, he says, has been taking part in industry consultation - representing members' interests to, for example, the Financial Reporting Council, the Law Commission and the Financial Conduct Authority. He says this is the result of Airmic’s growing success in recent years. “In many ways, Airmic now has a seat at the table, more so than in the past.”

Unsurprisingly, Hopkin has seen the risk and insurance industries change “in many and varied ways” during his time in the role. “Companies now really recognise that they need to do risk management properly, and more and more roles are gaining a risk element to them.”

During that time, the relationship between risk managers and the insurance community has undoubtedly improved for the better, Hopkin notes. “It is a much more cooperative relationship now.” For example, the idea of starting the renewal process two months before the deadline – as Airmic is promoting with its campaign for day-one policy issuance – would have been “unthinkable” in the past. “In general, the insurance market is less volatile now, which helps. The cycle of hard and soft markets is less of an issue which makes for better negotiating.”

Looking ahead, Hopkin plans to build up his own portfolio of work over the coming months. And if he has a little more spare time in the meantime, he’s not worried. “With a daughter in Scotland and a son and two grandchildren in Australia, I’m looking forward to a few more holidays!”  

Paul Hopkin