It’s official. Ferrari Academy driver Ollie Bearman will move to FIA Formula 2 in the 2023 racing season.
As we celebrated the 27th birthday of our company on 23 January, I am delighted to share our continued expansion and growth. In recent months, we have added several new teams to the family, most recently including the development of the ProEx team, and new leadership of Consilium with the appointment of James Baird and Paul Richards as Co-CEOs.
Our investment in the business in 2022 will enable to us to continue to exploit market opportunities throughout 2023. Mulberry are launching the market’s first AI driven actuarial platform with ADA and we continue to attract the best talent to join our family.
Aventum remains independent and debt-free, which enables us to make decisions that are in the best interests of our clients and our organisation. As we look to 2023 and beyond, we will remain growth-focused and driven by our commitment to excellence with a passion for what we do.
David BearmanThe seeds of effort and determination planted in the past few years are now starting to bloom, laying solid foundations for the future.
It’s that time of year again when many of us decide to set new fitness goals for ourselves. We double down on what we want to achieve and come hell or high water we push through, with new determination ignited within… …and then we get about 11 and a half days into kicking our own butts in the gym on cold January evenings and we are hit with new struggles, difficult choices and fresh deflation.
When we set goals for ourselves (especially fitness ones), it is easy to be over-ambitious - if only we had a personal trainer to help us set (and smash) realistic expectations. Enter, Aventum’s very own James Fewtrell.
You don’t have to be an established fitness buff to work with a personal trainer. Starting your fitness journey with a PT can help you set more achievable targets and meet your goals faster, more safely and more effectively. So what do you get with a personal trainer?
From wanting to get in shape for a special occasion or getting back into exercise after injury to training for a marathon and pre and postnatal fitness planning, a PT can help you to make the most of the time you can dedicate to fitness.
PTs can help you to better understand the role nutrition plays in your journey. It runs deeper than existing purely on lettuce for months too!
Achieve a better work-life balance and start to dedicate time to yourself, creating a ‘fit-body, fit mindset’ mentality. Personal trainers can help hold you accountable to yourself and shape your motivation into cold, hard results.
Many people that stop working out after a New Year fitness spree do so because they aren’t seeing immediate results or simply get bored with their workout. A PT injects variety into your routine and will help you avoid a progression plateau.
With the correct posture and technique, a personal trainer will help ensure your exercise is targeting the right place, maximising your results. 20 perfect reps pack more of a punch than 50 poorly executed ones.
We have all heard of the benefits exercise has on our mental health. Providing a friendly face in your support network, personal trainers can help you to safely decompress and view exercise in a positive light.
Whether you can’t wait to get started or simply have a few questions, drop James an email: at james.fewtrell@aventumgroup.com and start your fitness journey today.
James Fewtrell
As a PT, I have the tools to extract that and the knowledge to use the motivation for a positive cause.
It’s official. Ferrari Academy driver Ollie Bearman will move to FIA Formula 2 in the 2023 racing season.
After a show-stopping 2022 rookie season in Formula 3, which featured an impressive 8 podiums, Ollie finished the 2022 season in third place, with just seven points dividing the top three drivers.
Ollie’s maiden win in Spa-Francorchamps helped Prema to take the lead in the Team championship battle - with Prema finishing the season a stunning 54 points clear of any competition.
Team Principal René Rosin said in a statement how impressed the team had been with Ollie’s continued hard work and dedication to driving. Acknowledging the considerable step forward, Rosin is confident in Ollie’s potential for the season ahead. He said,
“We were amazed by how quickly and successfully Ollie transitioned from F4 to Formula 3 racing. He is
a really talented driver, and while he will be making his first steps in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, we are confident he will improve race by race with the support of our team and the Ferrari Driver Academy.”
Getting his first flavour of F2 in the post-season testing in Abu Dhabi towards the end of last year, Ollie expressed excitement at spending another year with the Prema family. He said,
“I’m really happy with how my first season went in F3. It was a nice introduction and I felt like the team coached me well throughout the year.”
With a long winter of hard work behind him and the new season just around the corner, 17 year old Ollie is determined to make his mark in Formula 2 in 2023. Already equipped with an impressive CV, it’s hard to believe that this season will be only his fourth season in single-seater motor racing. Even before driving in Formula 3, Ollie had built a solid reputation for himself. Racing into the record books, Ollie was the first driver to win two successive Formula 4 titles in the same season - taking the ADAC and Italian F4 titles in 2021.
Looking to the future, we are optimistic about Ollie’s continued success. Aventum Group said in a statement; “As a newly established brand in the (re)insurance market, Aventum has benefited from enhanced global exposure thanks to our association with Ollie. It has been an amazing journey with him, from a record breaking F4 season to a superb maiden F3 season and now F2.”
The FIA Formula 2 calendar comprises 14 rounds in 2023, including a race on the streets of Melbourne for the first time in F2. The season gets underway at the Bahrain International Circuit on 3 March 2023.
One of the first building blocks to the working week is how we will spend our time. However, shockingly little attention is paid to designing our schedules. When are you most productive? Do you lose time responding to notifications you know could wait? Are you being crushed by the demands of your calendar? It’s time to kick off your new year in style and start by designing your week and reclaiming lost hours.
Hard to create but invaluable once established, setting up these time boundaries can help us make the best of our time. Every time-journey starts with a single second and they’re all too precious to let them slide away.
Take a snapshot into your life - look at your calendar for the next two weeks and reflect on the findings. Think about; how you spend your time, the structure of your days and how much time is dedicated to each project. Do you have days where you know you are more productive?
Turn off email notifications and dedicate blocks of time to check and respond to them in the day. Aside from the allocated time - keep them closed. Create ‘deep work zones’ in your schedule to maximise productivity and in this time, you’ve guessed it, turn off your notifications.
Don’t try to design your whole month. Start with planning one day each week and see how it works. It will be an adjustment and it may require modifications but that’s OK. Making a handful of changes will allow you to gradually see what works and what doesn’t.
You will have recently witnessed the launch of BASE, our brand-new intranet platform to unite people and affirm our commitment to positive communication across the Group.
As a global business with an ever-increasing number of offices, people and opportunities, the launch of BASE gives everyone access to a central place to connect, discover and stay updated on developments throughout Aventum.
When you think of a base, you think of a main encampment, providing supplies, shelter and communications for people, maybe climbing a mountain or taking part in wide-ranging activities. ‘Base’ was chosen because of its strong associations with exploring and discovery.
We wanted to create a resource for the whole family to use. BASE will continue to be developed in the coming months, with new zones to add already in the works. If you have any ideas of what you would like to get from BASE and how to maximise the resource most effectively, we would love to know. Put your ideas in an email to marketing@aventumgroup.com
The final quarter of 2022 saw an operational review within Consilium and a new staffing structure announced - going live on 1st January 2023. To align with this change, new job descriptions will be issued on 1st February 2023 as part of the ongoing planning and restructuring process.
The recent Consilium Heads Away Day on 30th November resulted in more cross-selling opportunities as the team is now better connected. Additionally, we are currently reviewing the staff required for secondment to Rokstone Europe to trade EEA business compliantly.
We are also engaged more with Compliance, gaining clarification around Brexit and are working with Projects for an improved understanding of the systems used for DUA business. To fill any gaps in the team, we are currently in the process of hiring eight new team members in the coming weeks and months.
Focusing on several key areas to improve our broking functions, one priority is to ensure senior colleagues have access to accurate data that they can use to prove budgets and run reports as needed.
Aura ended 2022 having written $18.5m in GWP through various classes and products. To highlight the strength of Aura’s underwriting and as a direct reflection of the quality portfolio, Aura incurred no claims from Hurricane Fiona after hitting our two main islands in Turks & Caicos and Puerto Rico. Furthermore, we are proud to continue our special claims performance with an attritional loss ratio of 0.5%.
The global (re)insurance market faces the most testing environments in recent history. Persistent, outsized catastrophes and major economic and geopolitical events have led to substantial uncertainty and volatility in the market. Aura has successfully renewed its CAT Caribbean binder, despite an erosion of capital in the market and at a time when many have been non-renewed.
In the face of difficult conditions and capacity constraints imposed on us in 2022, there is a significant opportunity for an established book such as Aura to capitalise on momentous price increases for 2023.
Securus enjoyed the best six months to date with an increase in gross profit of an impressive 67%. Embarking on voyages to Europe, Australia and the United States, 2022 was all about taking Aventum Group surveying around the world.
Bridget Slade undertook her CAAV examinations and passed with flying colours. This cements our offering of reinstatement valuations to the Group and wider clientele.
The new Securus portal also launched, enabling all Group companies to monitor their risks in real-time. It allows autonomy of risk requirement monitoring and automated chasing systems, saving time for both Securus and insurers.
The final few months of 2022 were productively jam-packed for the Novus team. As the majority of Covid restrictions were now lifted, the team was able to meet with clients face-to-face for the first time in three years. In addition to this, the team enjoyed being able to welcome office visits by our capacity providers.
In 2022, Novus wrote more than 1.8m policies in the UK alone. As a result, we have engaged Jonathan Thorpe to help with Novus Product Governance. Developing and improving upon what we already have in place, Grant has worked closely with Jonathan to ensure Novus will be fully compliant.
We continue to develop both our team and their skills, encouraging each team member to participate in training courses that the Group has to offer. We also welcomed the youngest edition to the Novus team in 2022 as Freddy and his girlfriend welcomed their baby daughter, Emily, into the world.
Our Finance and Claims teams completed a large reconciliation project, best positioning us for the next phase of our operational transformation. As a result, our underwriting performance is stronger than ever, despite Hurricane Ian (excuse the name) hitting Florida as one of the most powerful storms of the past century. Our initial claims estimates from this storm validate our underwriting strategy, faring very well relative to our London market counterparts.
Simon Harrison has made incredible progress in developing a market-leading claims infrastructure. Q4 witnessed the completion of Phase 1 of the enterprise data warehouse, immediately significantly enhancing our ability to process, manage and report claims activity internally and to partner carriers.
As our platform matures, we are in an optimum position to attract more leading underwriting talent to our business. We welcomed many new faces to the business in 2022, in addition to entering new lines of business such as Surety and Credit Treaty, UK Professional Indemnity and US Farm Agriculture.
We are a unique and compelling proposition to the best underwriting talent in the global market. As we enter a new year, the reinsurance market has rarely been as promising for underwriting businesses. This all equates to an extremely positive outlook for Rokstone as we continue on our journey to build the best insurance business in the world.
We kicked off 2023 by welcoming Farm product capacity providers Accelerant to our Northallerton office for a two-day, interactive meeting with our underwriters. This was extremely beneficial and provided participants with a fantastic opportunity for collaboration. Our new Claims TPA, Reserv, is now fully live and handling all claims on our behalf. So far, the feedback we have received has been excellent.
Work has begun on the re-architecture of our online customer journey. The project is scheduled for completion in July 2023 and will bring all of our products under one offering - following market research with our key strategic brokers.
Recent months have also seen an array of promotions and new recruits for iFarm. These include: Kelly Shutt, promoted to Head of Propositions and Distribution, Mark Hughes, promoted to Business Development Manager and Joanne Partridge, promoted to Senior Underwriter. Jade Henry also joined the business in December as Farm Team Leader.
Maintaining a strong underwriting performance YTD, iSure Ireland is on target to write over €19 million by Year End in June 2023, following €9.4 million GWP for the first six months of the year, versus a target of €9.5 million. The last quarter witnessed the launch of iFarm Ireland, including Agricultural Vehicles which secured over €30,000 of premium in November. Kevin Kiely will head this product in 2023. Finishing the year on a high, the iSure Christmas Jumper Day in December raised money for Cuan Cancer charity.
iSure Ireland welcomed Shauna Murray to the team as a new Insurance Apprentice. An ideal way to recruit new staff, apprenticeships combine on-the-job training with the complexities of theory through online learning. At the end of the three-year programme, Shauna will be awarded BA Honours in Insurance Practice, fully trained as an Underwriter for iSure.
Looking ahead to 2023, iSure will launch Self Build and Professional Indemnity Insurance into the Irish Market in February. This will further strengthen the already strong brand reputation in the Irish insurance market.
Reflecting on 2022, iSure UK welcomed Rachel Griffiths to the team as an Underwriting Assistant. Joining Katie, Rita and Simon, Rachel will assist specifically with Medical Malpractice and Allied Health renewals.
Sports and Leisure continues a steady growth trajectory in line with the Group and inflation, looking for significant rate increases on the product. Like many other UK Property Schemes, Sports and Leisure endured claims in December due to burst pipes and excess water following the sudden change in temperatures from below-freezing to very mild in a short period.
Getting straight back to work after the festive period, we launched a Chiropractor scheme under our Medical Malpractice product, in partnership with Towergate - from 1st January 2023. iSure UK is excited about a selection of significant opportunities for growth in 2023so watch this space!
In a relatively quiet quarter for Rokstone CRU, the team is looking forward to opening the new office in Downtown Fort Lauderdale - hoping to be all moved in by the end of January 2023.
In addition, Rokstone welcomes Maximilian Freitag to the team in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, joining the family as a Risk Analyst. Continuing on our growth journey, Rokstone is actively seeking a Senior Underwriter to join the business.
Finishing 2022 on a high, Rokstone Agriculture achieved GWP 60% over plan through November. The penultimate month of the year also saw an expansion of the Farm team in the form of Josh Lauth and Mike Thiebert. The team ended a successful 2022 with a celebratory holiday party in Lexington, Kentucky in December.
Looking ahead to 2023, Rokstone Agriculture will attend the National Cattlemen’s Beef Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana as well as the IRMI AgriCon Insurance conference in Sacramento, California - both in February.
10.02.2023 THE BARBICAN
What will you DISCOVER?
A large reconciliation project was underway in Q4 of 2022 and has been successfully completed by Pearly Ng and James Donohoe. The quarter also saw the implementation of the new finance system, Netsuite, which is now in its UAT phase and being led by Tim Green.
There were promotions for Alex Curme - promoted to Group Finance Director and Mark Gibson, promoted to Group Financial Controller. With new additions joining the family, we also welcomed; Luke Barrow, Nimrah Ahmed, Zara Mehmet, Tashinga Gutu, Siobhan Prescott and Aylam Khan to the team.
In the last quarter of 2022, HR onboarded 31 new Group joiners. Of these, Ella Peters joined the HR team in December as HR Business Partner and will work with the team, providing dedicated support to Rokstone Group. Further to this, Elsie Wilsmore joined the team in late September 2022 as Human Resources Assistant following the completion of her A-levels. Elise will support the HR team across all functions as she begins her professional development journey to becoming an HR Business Partner.
In addition to the Cycle to Work scheme, we launched the Tech Scheme. You can find more information on this and lots more by visiting Aventum Advantagea benefits portal exclusively designed for all Aventum Group members. Focusing on you, Advantage offers savings on many top brands, from supermarket shopping to family holidays.
The marketing team has been on a journey of achievement and growth in recent months. The team shone brightly at the Insurance Times Awards, taking home the coveted B2B Marketing Campaign of the Year award and beating out industry heavy hitters like Markel and Aviva. This was a night to truly celebrate the hard work and dedication of the team.
In addition to this triumph, the team also welcomed two new members to their ranks in the form of Ellen Montgomery, a talented Content Writer and Abbie Moakes, a Senior Designer. Ellen has a passion for creative storytelling and works to bring to life how we express ourselves as a group. Abbie brings her design prowess to the team, extending our geographical footprint even further, from her base in Leeds - producing some
With the increasing growth of the business, we continue to prioritise and focus on the requirements to ensure success for all those in the Group.
We welcome Ashley Watson as a Compliance Officer, joining our Group Advisory Team, and Bethany Conlon as a Compliance Monitoring Assistant, who joined our Group Monitoring Team in Q1 2023. We are grateful to have Stuart Blackhouse transition to a compliance-focused role, helping us meet the ever-increasing demands of the FCA.
With the release of BASE comes a dedicated space for Compliance - instant access to guidance, templates, policies and tools you may need. BASE: Compliance will be the home of several initiatives we will introduce to improve the accessibility and visibility of Compliance within the Group. Some things to look out for include: weekly regulatory bulletins, one-minute guides, notification forms and much more.
Implementation of new regulatory initiatives such as the Consumer Duty, the enhanced Appointed Representative Regime and Fair Value requirements are among our key projects.
At the end of a sensational summer of growth, it was time to celebrate in style. It was time for Amplify. As Aventum family members from near and far poured into the Century Club in London’s beating heart, the sun was shining on the late summer afternoon. Oh, how far away it all feels now.
Kicking things off on the largest rooftop terrace in Soho, CEO and Mr Aventum himself, David Bearman took to the stage to welcome everyone. Addressing those not only in the room but our international family around the world (via the magic of Zoom), David took the time to shine the light on every member of the Aventum family.
Reflecting on the humble beginnings of the company and always striving to be better, David said,
As David encouraged everyone to take ownership of this idea, many people took this to heart right away - jumping into the photo booth and grabbing props to see who could make the best pictures.
The Amplified evening continued with a live band injecting energy into the room that resulted in a company-wide conga line. Next, Ollie Bearman took to the stage for a quick Q&A before celebrity DJ Tom Zanetti topped off the evening.
With Amplified views of London’s theatrical heartland, good music and fantastic company, the Aventum family danced like there was no tomorrow.
From day one, we had the mentality of ‘we cannot fail’ and we simply had to make it work.
A huge Aventum congratulations to everyone at Rokstone, after they won the MGA of the Year at the British Insurance Awards in July. Hosted by Insurance Post at the Royal Albert Hall in London, this recognised an incredible year for the team which included the launch of new Energy, Marine Cargo and US Agriculture lines. Fast forward a few months and Rokstone went on to collect the MGA of the Year award in September at the Insurance Insider’s annual awards ceremony, Insider Honours. This time celebrating the best of (re)insurance market talent, the early September event held at the Hilton Park Lane, saw Rokstone crowned MGA of the Year for the second time in three months.
In December, it was the Insurance Times Awardswhere gold, silver and bronze awards were handed out across 36 categories. The black-tie event saw
900 insurance professionals don their finest attire at the ceremony held inside Park Lane’s prestigious Grosvenor House Hotel.
Aventum was crowned winner of the B2B Marketing Campaign of the Year. Our rebranding campaign from Direct Insurance Group to Aventum was based on a strong central theme of exploration and was unlike anything else in the industry.
Striving to launch a new brand identity designed to leave a lasting impression, the rebrand needed to unveil who we really are; explorers. Matt Field, Chief Marketing Officer at Aventum said, “We are known for our culture, entrepreneurial spirit and fearless endeavour to push boundaries.”
The ITAs are designed to recognise and celebrate excellence and innovation across the breadth of UKGI. Judged by independent panels of experts
from across the sector, the awards shine lights on outstanding achievements and honour the best and brightest of the year.
Building on a year of awards success for the Group
As the 1,000 days of January ticked tirelessly by, it seemed like it would never end and the festivities of Christmas never felt further away. However, looking back on our Christmas campaign, it’s hard not to get Santa-mental about it.
For Christmas 2022, we called upon Santa’s Little Helpers from within the Aventum family to find who had made it onto Santa’s nice list this year. From explaining how Santa gets around all the houses in one night to naming his reindeer and having a Christmas sing-song, it was a truly tree-mendous time.
A huge thank you once again to everyone who took part!
MGA Rokstone, who walked away with top prizes at both the British Insurance Awards and Insider Honours Awards, we are certain it’s just the beginning for the Aventum marketing team. We are certainly looking forward to what 2023 has in store.
Our London office recently held our first-ever Onboarding Day, where we welcomed new joiners from the last few months well and truly into the Aventum family.
At the CitizenM Tower of London Hotel, the day gave our newest family members the opportunity to get to know one another. New team members received a thorough overview of the business and our all-important vision for the future. With a chance to network with our Executive Committee, highlights of the day included discussions of compliance, company benefits and finance onboarding.
The award is important to Aventum Group as an organisation because it is our employees who ‘vote’ in the survey. It serves as a great accreditation in terms of recruiting new team members and allows us to showcase why (and how) we are a Best Workplace.
We will continue to seek your feedback so please look out for more information and new initiatives throughout 2023. We will also be looking to extend the accreditation outside of the UK for all geographies where Aventum operates.
2022 was the year Consilium sought to strengthen their senior leadership team bringing on board over 60 years of prestigious experience. With not one, not two but three new additions to the team, they are now perfectly positioned to dive right into 2023. Who’s who?
Joined as Broking CEO and Managing Partner, bringing over 25 years of industry experience to Consilium. With a background in Professional and Executive Risk and a strong consulting approach, James will drive this forward within Consilium. For Brokers, this means more speciality products, richer investment in the top talent and wider growth opportunities.
Joined as Head of Claims, bringing almost two decades of experience to the table. Nicola’s appointment is part of the continued investment into the dedicated Claims team. As this team develops, it will enable Consilium to further supportour brokers through the complexities of the claims process. By anticipating broker needs, Consilium can advance an exceptional service for both broker and client.
Joined as Chief Operating Officer, also bringing 20 years of industry experience to the team. Suzanne will lead Consilium operations across all of its people and processes. Working to standardise processes across multiple divisions, Suzanne will help to prime Consilium for future growth plans, implementing and maintaining a robust yet scalable infrastructure.
Joined as co-CEO and managing partner of Consilium, bringing almost 35 years of experience to the Group. Responsible for overseeing all functions within Consilium, including product development and market relationships, Paul will work closely with internal stakeholders, strategically and operationally, to meet growth targets while ensuring clients get the best solutions to their needs.
2023 is certain to be nothing short of transformational for Consilium as they strive to establish themselves in new territories and product lines globally. In real terms, this is only the start of what promises to be a thrilling journey.
Plans are in the works for London City charity fight night, supported by Fitness First and Aventum. We are looking for a pool of boxers who would like to throw their hat into the ring for consideration and join Fight Camp 2023.
Citynet has a lot of fighters going into this event (not that pummeling a rival insurance company should be any cause for motivation) so hopefully, we can prove a good match.
A fantastic evening is planned for both fighters and spectators, including a DJ, light show, table service and a choice of seating options.
For more information on this, contact James Fewtrell at james.fewtrell@aventumgroup.com
The biggest Nuclear experience day of 2022 is BACK. That’s right, the 2023 Nuclear Races are almost upon us. Offering a brilliant range of outdoor activities onsite, challenges can be mental and physical.
For all levels and abilities of fitness, the day is a great opportunity to get to know your Family members outside the office.
Applications are still very much open (until the end of February). To sign up, contact James Fewtrell at james.fewtrell@aventumgroup.com
AVENTUM’S FIRST WELL-BEING EVENT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED FOR THE WEEKEND OF 14TH / 15TH MAY.
GET READY TO SCALE OBSTACLES, GET MUDDY AND JOIN AN AVENTUM TEAM OVER A TRAIL RUN IN BRENTWOOD, ESSEX .
TO SIGN UP EMAIL JAMES.FEWTRELL@AVENTUMGROUP.COM BEFORE END OF FEB
NUCLEAR-RACES.CO.UK
