Insurance Times Brexit Forum
 

Speakers

Huw Evans
director general
Association of British Insurers
Huw Evans is Director General of the Association of British Insurers, having taken up the position on 1 February 2015. He was previously Deputy Director General and Policy Director, having joined the ABI as Operations Director in 2008.

Most recently Huw has been at the heart of the industry's preparations for the Government's pension reforms and led the ABI's work on the negotiations with the Government on thefuture of flood insurance.

He is the author of the ABI’s future policy blueprint ‘Identifying the Challenges of a Changing World' and is committed to developing the role of healthy insurance and long-term savings markets in meeting the future needs of customers and the economy.

Previously he was a senior manager in the Group Strategy team of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. He served as a special adviser to the Prime Minister, Tony Blair from 2005-6 and to the Home Secretary, David Blunkett from 2001-4. Before this he worked in politics and journalism, having read Modern History at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.

Huw sits on the Executive Committee ofInsurance Europe,is a member ofTheCityUK Advisory Council, and a non-executive director ofFlood Re.
 
Steve White
chief executive
BIBA
Steve was appointed chief executive of BIBA in May 2013. He has spent over 35 years in the insurance industry, working for the Orion Insurance Company, the General Insurance Standards Council and the Financial Services Authority, prior to joining BIBA in March 2004, as head of compliance and training. Steve sits on the Directors’ Committee of BIPAR (the European Federation of Insurance Intermediaries). In 2010, Steve was awarded the Compliance Personality of the Year award at the prestigious Complinet Compliance Awards. Steve is married, lives on the Kent coast, has two children and is an Arsenal season ticket holder.
 
Mark Littlewood
director general
Institute of Economic Affairs
Mark Littlewood is the Director General of the Institute of Economic Affairs and the IEA’s Ralph Harris Fellow. Under his leadership, the IEA has continued to communicate the benefits of free markets to an even wider audience around the world. In 2014, Mark was ranked 38th on The Times’ ‘Right-wing Power List’, and in 2011 was named ‘Liberal Voice of the Year’ by the Liberal Democrat Voice. Mark frequently comments on political and economic issues on television and radio including BBC Question Time, Any Questions, Newsnight, Channel 4 News, Sky News, Radio 4's Today Programme and LBC. Prior to the IEA, Mark was Head of Media for the Liberal Democrats before going on to found Progressive Vision, a classical liberal think tank. He was also Campaigns Director for the human rights group, Liberty, and founder of NO2ID, the campaign against the introduction of identity cards. Mark was educated at Balliol College, Oxford.
 
Thomas Sampson
assistant professor, department of economics
London School of Economics
Thomas Sampson is an assistant professor in economics at the London School of Economics and an associate at the Centre for Economic Performance. His research studies how global integration affects growth and inequality. He is a lead author of the Centre for Economic Performance’s Brexit Analysis series of reports on the economic consequences of Brexit. The Brexit Analysis series studies how leaving the EU would affect living standards in the UK through changes in trade, investment and immigration. He was educated at the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics, before taking a PhD in economics at Harvard University. Prior to studying for a PhD he also worked as an overseas development institute fellow at the Bank of Papua New Guinea.
 
Barrie Cornes
insurance analyst
Panmure Gordon
Barrie is managing director and head of research at one of London’s oldest stockbroking firms, Panmure Gordon & Co. He is also the insurance analyst responsible for producing institutional research on both life and general insurance companies. He started an underwriting career at Royal Insurance in 1985 becoming an underwriting manager in its City office. Following a period as investor relations manager at Royal Sun Alliance (RSA) he became an insurance analyst firstly at stockbrokers Charterhouse Securities before moving to Cheuvreux. He has regularly been ranked top 5 in the Extel small/mid cap survey for insurance including #1 and is currently #2 ranked and has numerous Starmine awards including #1 for earnings accuracy. He is a fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and spends too much time and money on classic cars and Arsenal.
 
Mark Nicholson
director, insurance ratings
S&P Global
Mark Nicholson is a director in the European insurance developed markets team. He focuses chiefly on non-life companies in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. Mark has worked in S&P Ratings Services since 2009. He was previously an equity analyst with S&P, following non-life, reinsurance and Nordic insurers. Before that, he was a credit ratings analyst with Fitch Ratings for six years where he covered a range of insurance companies in Europe and Asia. Mark is a chartered accountant, having qualified with KPMG while working as an auditor covering the financial sector. He also holds a BA in History from the University of Cambridge.