3. Chubb’s Greenberg blasts brokers over commissions

Chubb Ltd. Chairman and CEO Evan Greenberg used his annual letter to shareholders in April to slam the brokerage community, and the London market in particular, for what he called “abusive” conduct including excessive commissions and “predatory behavior.”

According to Mr. Greenberg, “cloaked in the mantra of ‘customer best interest’ or ‘treating customers fairly,’ they seek the cheapest price and broadest coverage at commission terms that by any measure are excessive.” An article about Mr. Greenberg’s comments was the third most read Risk Management story on Business Insurance’s website in 2017.

Mr. Greenberg asserted that such tactics hurt brokers’ clients and the industry as a whole.

Whether or not it was listening, Britain’s Financial Services Authority later said it would look into the wholesale brokerage market, and in November said it would publish terms of reference for the review and consider “remedial actions.”

In a separate investigation during 2017, the FCA began examining alleged information sharing by aviation insurance brokers. In October, the European Commission took over the investigation.

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