Insurance Age

Insurance Age: "With increasing amounts of disposable income and expensive assets, typical personal lines insurance no longer satisfies many people's needs, so they are turning to high net worth (HNW) cover. In response, Chambers & Newman (Manchester) launched an Executive Potfolio service in 2000 to cater for these needs. Insurance Age talked to Julie Clarey, Chambers & Newman's (Manchester) personal lines manager, to discover how to be a broker in a HNW environment.
Why did Chambers & Newman (Manchester) decide to specialise in HNW?
We recognised there was a need for this type of business, because we're predominantly a commercial lines broker, but our clients needed it on top of the usual policies they were buying. The company was being asked about home insurance and the like, and so we decided to open up the Executive Portfolio. We did a lot of homework before we started doing business and looked at what everyone else was doing. After six months of research we put a plan in place to accommodate the business. Once we had started supplying our existing clients they liked what they were receiving and we started to get recommendations, which meant we were then introduced to new clients. The Executive Portfolio has opened up opportunities for other business cross-selling because it gets us to the main man in companies, who can be very hard to reach.
How did you get started?
Initially we had clients who were on inadequate policies, and so we put together a plan to open agencies with two main carriers, and said to them 'this is what we would like to introduce to you'. We built on top of what we had, because with something like this you have to start at home. People appreciated what we were doing because it was for their benefit.
What is the typical profile of a HNW client? What do you insure for them?
Our typ"