Ms Karine Cherfan, Premium Broking House’s Executive Director, discussed how they were able to effectivel respond to the developments imposed by COVID-19 and Beirut Blast, with their dedicated team, who worked intensively to help the company grow with its Clients, business partners and Insurance Companies.
* How do you summarize the most important Insurance lessons learned from the catastrophic bombing in Beirut on the Fourth of August? How did you deal with it as a Company?
This is surely a sad event that we will never forget.
Lebanese Insurance sector is very well reinsured, strong and mature in their Reinsurance support and proved their strong competency with First Class Securities and Top 10 Reinsurers in the World currently covering the market.
Although, we have realized that some of the Medium size Companies lack Catastrophe Cover support as such for their Portfolio.
We at “Premium Broking House”, have followed the strategy imposed by our Lead Reinsurers on the Beirut Port Explosion and were alert as from day one and are still working very closely with our Ceding Companies, Local and International Loss Adjusters and Reinsurers to assist in the best way possible.
* What will be the prices and services trends in the renewal?
Definitely, the market hardened the conditions and prices for this renewal 2020/2021 due to mainly Covid-19, Natural Catastrophes all over the world and Exceptional Catastrophes like the Beirut Port Explosion in Lebanon.
The tough market started already in the beginning of 2020 and the big players will surely be back on the Leading role on the International Market and therefore less competition and the consequences of 2020 will certainly generate a tough market and perhaps an upcoming even tougher market for the next years.
Most certainly, the soft market is already way behind us.
* Some of the Arab markets are witnessing a flow or mergers between Companies? Do you have any comments in this regard? Do you support such an approach?
Obviously, tough market will generate mergers and acquisitions and the consequences of the year 2020 losses will be in the upcoming years that would most certainly generate mergers and acquisitions within our markets and the international markets.
We are certainly not against mergers and acquisitions, as this will create more solid Insurance & Reinsurance Companies for the benefit of our markets.
* How do you summarize your business flow and results in 2020?
Actually and as you would expect, we haven’t yet closed our figures for the Year 2020; however, we are glad that we have reached as at the 3rd Quarter 2020 already our total 2019 figures and anything new would be a growth in our Portfolio. Therefore, we do believe that our 2020 results will be profitable.
This growth is the reflection of the hard work of the Team of “Premium Broking House” in Lebanon, the Mena Region and Europe. Although this year was hard on all of us and on all levels, we were ready to face it with positivity and the business flow was more than acceptable and we succeeded to grow slowly but surely, on all lines of business and on both Facultative and Treaty.
* Your preparations, projects and plans for 2021?
We finalized our New License of our French Company “PREMIUM FRANCE” in Cyprus. The Cyprus office is to cater for the MENA Market and part of Eastern Europe and facilitate the transactions for other clients in the region.
We are empowering our office in France on both direct and Reinsurance Business in order to service the French and the European market.
We will definitely keep our office in Beirut because we are strong believers of this Country and we are sure that the current crisis will end sooner or later. Surely we are here to stay.
There are opportunities even during crisis and being a Boutique Reinsurance Brokerage Firm, our presence in the market is growing with selected Clients, business partners and Insurance Companies that we certainly enjoy working with for the long term business relationship.
