Marsh UK brokerage hike helps boost ranking

Marsh has clinched the top spot in this year’s Top 50 Brokers list, up from third place last year.

The broker has changed places with Aon, which has slipped into third place after six years in the No.1 slot.

Marsh increased its UK brokerage by 12.3% to £678m in 2011, and with new UK and Ireland chief executive Mark Weil on board it has some big plans for the future.

Former Marsh UK and Ireland chief executive Martin South, who has stepped up to the role of Marsh Europe chief executive, told Insurance Times: “I was really pleased with the strong team culture we’ve had. It was not a dominate one-person-leader business. That’s not my style. I like to work with the team and paint a picture of what we need to do.”

IMAS, which provided the data for the Top 50, selected Miller, A-Plan and Aston Scott as its top three performers based on strong organic growth and EBITDA margin.

IMAS partner Olly Laughton-Scott said: “Marsh posted a creditable 12% growth on top of its 2010 acquisition of HSBC, allowing it to it win the photo finish with JLT by some 0.3%.”

The rest of the top 5 remained unchanged with JLT Group at No.2, Willis at No.4 and Saga/Automobile Association at No.6.

Other big movers included Hyperion Insurance Group, which climbed from 19th to 13th, and Hastings Insurance Services, which was up from 22nd to 14th.

New entrants were Xbridge, Direct Group, Be Wiser, Lycetts, Kerry London and Aston Scott.

For the full report read the Top 50 Brokers 2012 supplement with this week’s issue of Insurance Times.

Subscribers can view the supplement and full rankings online now by clicking here.