ICMIF member Gore Mutual (Canada) has completely transformed its business in under three years through its “Next Horizon” strategy. By investing in top talent and leading technology, Gore says it has redefined what it means to be a modern mutual that’s sustainable and profitable – to ensure the business is here for the long-term. Now, Gore says it is well on its way to becoming a purpose-driven, digitally led national insurer.

In 2023, Gore Mutual announced that it has created a new business unit for broker engagement and performance which merges its marketing, distribution, and digital teams. The aim of the new unit is to help the mutual insurer to expand its work and efforts working with broker partnerships and to bring greater alignment for the various teams that work on Gore Mutual’s key relationships such as brokers. The unit will be led by Kate Hogan, formerly Head of Distribution.

“Broker engagement and performance is pulling together the marketing and distribution teams to create alignment in how we engage with our brokers and to find more opportunities to drive the right conversations with our key partners,” said Hogan.

Gore Mutual’s 2023 strategy is entitled “Built for success” and the aim is to capitalise on the work done over recent years to increase both agility and the technological capabilities as part of the previous “Next Horizon” transformation strategy. The “Next Horizon” strategy saw the introduction of new technology, operating models and new staff to help it truly modernise the business.

Now, this year, Gore Mutual says it is ready to reap the benefits of the hard work of the last few years and it is hoped that this will also help brokers as well as the mutual itself. This should be seen in terms of improved service in commercial and personal lines, better understanding of appetite from brokers, and increased flexibility when launching new products.

Speaking to Insurance Business Canada about the launch of the new unit, Kate Hogan said: “Our broker partners have been very patient with us through the natural hiccups that you experience as you go through a technology transformation. We hear from brokers often that they find our new model much more efficient and a very effective way to do business with us.

“We are coming out the other end of our transformation journey and that is no longer our focus. Now we’re looking ahead towards the opportunities this work has created, and how we can better serve our broker partners in this new model.” Hogan concluded.

Gore Mutual was keen to increase its engagement with the broker community in recognition of the way that these partners had supported the organisation through the changes of recent years. Ensuring greater transparency with brokers is also a key focus for Hogan’s new business unit after feedback from them suggested that this would help the relationships. Now, information on day-to-day changes at Gore Mutual are shared with the brokers, who then understand Gore Mutual’s goal to be a relevant player in the marketplace better.

Hogan said: “By having the business development team work very closely with the communications team and the teams rolling out our social media and campaign marketing, we hope that we’ll start to have more consistent transparency.”

This year has already seen a number of shifts in Canada’s broker community with mergers and acquisitions taking place. Gore Mutual saw that these changes required a different way of engaging with brokers. Speaking about these changes, Hogan said: “We see a continued evolution of the broker landscape and emergence of consolidators, so the broker landscape represents everything from large national brokers to smaller regional brokers. All those brokers require our attention.

“We wanted a team that could ensure we were meeting everyone’s needs across that spectrum. It’s still the same people that have been doing the work behind the scenes but making sure that we’re tackling challenges together is going to create a much better experience for brokers,” she concluded.

Gore Mutual recognises that the headwinds of the current market will challenge the insurance industry, but says it is confident that the new “Built for success” strategy positions it well for the future to ensure a long-term, profitable partnership with its brokers.

“There are a lot of challenges facing the insurance industry at the moment – including the macroeconomic environment, capital markets, inflation, and reinsurance costs – all of those things are driving change in our business, and we need to be able to respond,” said Hogan.

“The evolution of our broker engagement operating model was an important shift because, at the end of the day, we want to create a model that best serves our broker partners through an ever-changing environment,” she concluded.