Welcome to TimesTwo - the first in a new series of monthly magazines published free with Insurance Times.

TimesTwo supersedes our IT2 supplements. The idea is to produce a rounded monthly magazine that focuses on helping you do business better. So we will retain an in-depth, month-by-month focus on different areas of the industry. This will be combined with a series of features that were prompted by you at our Strategy 2002 conference.

"We don't shout about the good things we do," was a point made time and again by delegates.

So TimesTwo will feature an example of good or best practice every month (see page 33). Sharing this kind of information is common in most other industries. Why does general insurance have to be different?

And to help keep your records up to date on rivals, partners and prospects, Times Two will feature monthly profiles of brokers, insurers and clients (see pages 27-31). Are there any companies you would like to know more about? Why not get in touch - we'll do the research for you.

This month we take an in-depth look at personal lines. Commoditisation of personal lines products stimulated a ferocious debate at the Strategy conference. On page 11, Michael Faulkner picks up the baton and finds out that the industry is starting to think about selling on more than just price.

Statistics are the bedrock of decision-making. That's why Insurance Times has commissioned leading analyst Defaqto to produce regular tables of up-to-date statistics to help you do your job. The series kicks off with a round-up of travel and pet policies.

Want to know what industry leaders are thinking? Well we've thought of that too. A monthly series of big name interviews starts on page 22 with Jon Pain, the managing director of Lloyds TSB Insurance, one of Britain's biggest personal lines intermediaries and, uniquely, a significant risk carrier too.

We hope you enjoy the new magazine. If you think you can help us make it better, or just want to contribute, we'd be delighted to hear from you. A list of our forthcoming in-depth investigations is available on
www.insurancetimes.co.uk .

Andy Cook
Editor

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