Hiscox’s Dye sidesteps takeover talk by emphasising insurer’s ‘brilliant organic growth story’

Jon Dye, chief executive at Hiscox UK – the specialty insurer’s UK retail arm – has declined to comment on industry chatter that the insurer is subject to takeover talks, instead emphasising that Hiscox has an ongoing “brilliant organic growth story”.

In July 2024, Insurance Insider reported that Japan’s Sompo Holdings and European insurer Generali were considering acquiring Hiscox.

Sompo focuses on property and casualty insurance, while Generali is a general insurer.

Speaking exclusively to Insurance Times this month (September 2024), Dye maintained Hiscox’s “party line” to date when being quizzed on the potential acquisition: “We don’t comment on market rumour.”

However, Dye added that Hiscox has “a brilliant organic growth story” that it is striving to build upon through its current long-term business strategy, which is centred on delivering “profitable growth”.

This strategy, which was refreshed 18 months ago, will run until 2027, Dye explained. The ambition is for Hiscox’s retail business to grow between 5% and 15% “at the right level of profit” over the strategy duration.

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Dye continued: “We think we’ve got a brilliant organic growth story.

“If you look at the history of the business, it’s grown superbly well organically over the last 20 years and we’ve got a strategy to do that some more.”

Hiscox UK has 850 staff across seven operating sites, including Glasgow, Manchester, York, Birmingham, Colchester, London and Maidenhead. It also has a support function in Lisbon.