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Oxbow Partners has delivery at its core. Our ambition is always to help clients deliver their strategies, not only to provide robust ideas or blueprints. We break down the barriers between design and delivery and ensure that momentum builds through each part of the strategic transformation lifecycle.

Our transformation practice is built on our strong strategy, operations and technology capabilities. Our sector specialism allows us to work closely and collaboratively with internal teams to support delivery.

Whether helping a reinsurer with an underwriting transformation or a retail carrier rethink their consumer proposition, our engagements are often continuous cycles of strategic decision-making and waves of practical delivery across the business.

We play a variety of roles including C-suite advisors, ‘intelligent PMO’ and workstream delivery. Our clients appreciate how we can both advise the senior leadership on how to deliver a major transformation and roll our sleeves up to help make it happen.

WE CONNECT C-SUITE DECISION-MAKING WITH PRACTICAL, STRATEGY-DRIVEN CHANGE

Strategy: We help management teams understand their options and trade-offs and make robust decisions.

Operations: We use our industry expertise to build detailed, bespoke operating models and processes aligned to the specific features of your strategy.

Technology: We recognise that technology is a fundamental shaper and enabler of modern strategy and support with architecture design and vendor selection.

Strategic transformation: We help organisations transform by connecting strategy to delivery, ensuring that delivery both aligns to strategy and shapes it.

WHAT WE DO IN TRANSFORMATION

Growth strategy

We help executive teams identify profitable and sustainable opportunities to grow both in their existing markets and more broadly

Digital strategy

We help executive teams find their edge in an increasingly digital market, and translate their strategic intent into business-aligned digital strategies and roadmaps

M&A strategy

We help executive teams identify how M&A can accelerate their strategy and build plausible approaches to executing on it

Operations strategy

We help executive teams translate their strategic intent into business-aligned operations strategies and roadmaps

Technology and data strategy

We help executive teams translate their strategic intent into business-aligned technology and data strategies and roadmaps

ESG strategy

We help executive teams understand the ESG landscape and identify how to seize new opportunities

OUR LATEST INSIGHTS

Underwriter Workbenches: Decoding the vendor landscape

Underwriter Workbenches: Decoding the vendor landscape

Discover which vendors could support you build your underwriter workbench

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Underwriter Workbenches: Lessons from the road

Underwriter Workbenches: Lessons from the road

Lessons learnt about designing and implementing underwriter workbenches in the market

Read more

Underwriter workbenches: More than just workflow

Underwriter workbenches: More than just workflow

Underwriter workbenches are gaining traction in London; we share our experience from implementing them

Read more

More insights

EXAMPLE ENGAGEMENTS

Created a ‘break-out’ growth strategy

A reinsurance client had a robust footprint in their home region but limited traction in other markets. We supported the CEO to identify where they could develop ‘edge’ and how to access those new sources of business.

Developed a follow-only strategy

A leading specialty (re)insurer wanted to define their approach to follow-only. We worked with the CEO and executive team to assess and prioritise business model options and develop a robust proposal for their board. 

Supported Tesco Bank’s strategic transformation

Tesco Bank originally entered the UK retail insurance market as a broker using a panel of carriers. Oxbow Partners supported the business through this multi-year transformation. You can read a case study here.

Developed an end-to-end ESG strategy

Our client was a European insurer. We worked with the CEO and his team to define their strategic options, agree on their priorities and to develop their longer-term roadmap.

Developed an InsurTech partnering approach

Our client was a top-tier reinsurer. We worked with the executive team to develop an operating model that enabled them to scale their InsurTech partnerships globally across the business.

Supported the strategy refresh for an Irish insurer

Our client is a leading Irish retail insurer. The incoming CEO asked Oxbow Partners to support with a strategy refresh. We have subsequently supported the client with topics ranging from ESG to claims strategy and ‘break-out’ strategy moves.

Oxbow Partners work helping us understand the likely impacts of GIPP on the home insurance market was key to our investment decision

Duncan Ramsay, Partner, ECI

We loved Oxbow Partners’ deep insurance expertise and collaborative approach as it resulted in a practical operating model with global buy-in. They challenged us to stretch our thinking and we now have greater confidence in execution.

Garance Wattez-Richard, CEO, AXA Emerging Customers

Working with Oxbow Partners felt like a partnership. The team are adept at balancing strategic thinking with a clear understanding of the content and can engage a senior team to gain consensus on a complex topic

Sean McGovern, CEO AXA XL UK & Lloyd’s

Oxbow Partners used their impressive knowledge of the UK retail insurance market to help us develop our strategy and create a detailed but pragmatic operating model. The team brought a strong, results-driven approach but also worked collaboratively and collegiately with our team.

Amir Goshtai, Financial Services Director, JLP

“Oxbow Partners’ extensive knowledge of the industry and vendor landscape allowed us to quickly identify a technology partner to support our growth ambitions.”

Marianne Harvey, COO, AEGIS London

Oxbow Partners supported us on the CDD of a fast-growing InsurTech. We really valued their deep sector knowledge and pragmatic approach. Over a two-week period, the team helped us to quickly understand the opportunity and competitor landscape, and the complexities of the target’s business model and potential risks.

Marco Cazzola, Investment Director, Kyron (Ardonagh)

We valued Oxbow Partners’ insight into the reinsurance industry and collaborative approach highly when we were defining our Group strategic initiatives.

Jean-Jacques Henchoz, Group CEO, Hannover Re

Oxbow Partners combines granular expertise and a truly global perspective of this rapidly evolving, complex set of issues. Most importantly, however, I found the Oxbow Partners to be good listeners, collaborative and open minded; in sum, ideal partners.

Stephen Weinstein, former Chair, Bermuda Business Development Agency

RELEVANT PRODUCTS

Magellan

Magellan is our insurance technology navigator. Magellan contains detailed information on over 4,000 technology vendors targeting the global (re)insurance market. Magellan is designed to help business and technology professionals find the right short-list of companies to help with their specific technology requirements. We offer both a self-service subscription and a ‘Curated Search’ service delivered by our dedicated team of experts.
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UK Market Intelligence

Our UK  Motor Market Model™ is a bottom-up forecast of the premium, combined ratio and operating profit in the market. Our model is updated regularly and provides Boards and management teams objective insight into the market allowing them to make better decisions about how to win.
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Lead contact

Chris Sandilands ACII, Partner

Chris leads engagements across strategy and transformation, focusing most of his time on global reinsurance and UK & Ireland retail insurance.

Chris started his career at Munich Re where he was a D&O underwriter. During this time, he gained his ACII qualification. He then moved into consulting, where he has spent 20 years advising (re)insurance management teams around the world on topics including strategy development, operating model redesign, governance optimisation, underwriting transformation and innovation. Chris lives in London and spends a lot of his time with clients in Bermuda and Continental Europe.

Chris frequently authors Oxbow Partners papers and articles. He was the lead author on our InsurTech Impact 25 series. He is a dual British and Austrian citizen and speaks fluent German.

Contact
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Lead contact

Greg Brown, Partner

Greg leads engagements on digital, operational, and technology strategy and transformation. He spends most of his time in the Lloyd’s and London Market and European retail insurance.

Graduating with a degree in Engineering and Computer Science, Greg has a strong technical background which allows him to give his clients confidence in the feasibility of their strategic choices. CEOs often rely on Greg to look through the hype and advise them on the relevance of technical trends. Topics where Greg’s range of experience comes together include digitisation in the London Market and the impact of Lloyd’s Blueprint 2, strategic choices available to syndicates around the bifurcation of lead/follow, and using technology as a vehicle to drive underwriting transformation.

Greg is a regular commentator on transformation and digital topic, and often speaks at industry events. He has authored many pieces on the Oxbow Partners blog.

Contact