The FTSE-listed business, which has its international life assurance company, Hansard International, based in the Isle of Man, has faced a number of significant obstacles in recent years.
Last year was particularly painful, with the company forced to settle a litigation case in Norway for €1.5m and seeing a 25% fall in profits for the year.
Hansard said at the time, the profit slump was, in part, caused by the cancellation of a key distribution agreement with a company in “the Far East”, although it did not disclose any further details.
In March last year, the company also quietly stopped accepting new business into its Dublin domiciled European business, Hansard Europe, having decided that it is in the “long term interests of the group” to reduce exposure to the region.
However, the company is plotting a comeback, and has refreshed its product range and made a new commitment to establish and build long term relationships with distributors in its key markets, namely: the Far East, Latin America and the Middle East.
Leading the charge is a Zurich veteran of 25 years, Graham Morrall, operating under the guidance of chief executive Gordon Marr.
Morrall, who is global sales & marketing director for the company, said Hansard has a significant opportunity within its chosen markets as it enters this new growth phase, and that it wants to achieve “growth with no surprises” by bolstering its staff and planning thoroughly.
Building market share
Speaking exclusively to International Adviser, Morrall explained that, at the moment, Hansard had very little of its potential market share.
In the Far East, it has a current market share of around 7%, in Latin America, Brazil in particular, where it has remained more visible and active, it has 15%, and the in the Middle East, the largest offshore market, the company commands only 0.14% of market share.
One of the ways Hansard plans to turnaround the business is by building stronger relationships with distributors and said, in this regard, it has already begun signing new agreements with expatriate IFA firms, insurance companies and high net worth banks. It also plans to build relationships with private banks “at some point in the future”.
In Asia, Hansard said it is planning to use its Labuan branch licence to build out into Malaysia, while it is also currently risk and “business case” assessing a further six countries in its chosen regions to decide where to push into next.
In addition to building new relationships and entering new territories, the company has refreshed its product range, giving it is first “re-price” since 1986. Last month the company launched a range of improved savings products, with increased fund choice and price competitiveness and in June it is due to re-launch its flexible lump sum products.
Running beneath the improved products and tighter focus on distributor relationships is the company’s technology, which Morrall said is the “best in the market”.
“Having enjoyed a long and successful career at Zurich, it had to be something big which took me away from the company and the thing which attracted me to the job at Hansard is the IT systems, which really are second to none,” said Morrall.
He explained the systems not only mean the adviser and client experience is high, but also means the company can react quickly by, for example, making new funds available in a few days.
