Eames Consulting are presently mandated on a number of assignments within the M&A Underwriting Market. This market is rapidly growing and typically executed by Corporate or Real Estate Solicitors. Whilst an over-simplification, the product insures against breaches in reps & warranties, in addition some firms will cover tax liability, contingent and environmental.
The process for underwriting a policy is very similar to that which solicitors will go through when carrying out due diligence on these transactions, there will be access to the same data-rooms and DD reports, as well as some external counsel as support.
The reason why solicitors are moving into the insurance segment and away from practice is multi-faceted, briefly covered below:
- Commercial decision making power - rather than simply reporting back to a client, you make the decisions on whether the transaction is solid and one you wish to back, you’re also involved in meetings with some of the most senior people in the market rather than always being represented by partners.
- More opportunity to develop your softer skills rather than just technical, you’ll have to negotiate, you’ll have to pitch and present, you’ll need to build a network, you’ll have a lot of contact with people at all levels, you can develop a profile in the market.
- Control over your own workload - not being relentlessly demanded upon by Partners, instead you’ll generally manage your own workflows and your own deals.
- Variety of transactions you will see, both in nature and geography, will often be greater than that in a niche team within a legal firm
- Total Compensation is often greater in insurance, depending on the firm and their reward structure you would generally expect a 20 – 50% growth in total compensation when moving from practice to insurance.
- Due to the rapidly expanding nature of the class, progression opportunities are abound and you could be leading a team or entire division within half the time it would take to do so in practice.
- Lastly, Underwriters tend not to work the highly demanding hours expected in practice.
Due to the expanding nature of the class, high quality talent is in demand and this looks unlikely to decrease over the next few years.
Therefore, if you’re considering a path outside of practice, or want to achieve a more rewarding working environment. Feel free to contact me for a confidential discussion, even if it is just to understand this path a little better.
