Max Jones: A Year of Success and Insights in the World of Risk as Tribe's Client Executive

In the fast-paced world of insurance and risk management, our Client Executive, Max Jones, has spent a transformative year at the forefront of client interactions, orchestrating innovative solutions, and navigating the dynamic landscape of the industry.

In this exclusive interview, he shares insights into his role, drawing on experiences transitioning from a multinational broker client service advisor to a client executive manager. As the driving force behind Tribe's commitment to providing comprehensive and strategic risk management, Max reflects on lessons learned, the challenges of staying agile in a rapidly evolving industry, and offers a glimpse into his perspective on the future of insurance. Join us as we delve into the journey, lessons, and foresight of a dedicated professional contributing to Tribe Advisory's mission of delivering peace of mind through adaptive risk management.

Can you provide a brief introduction to your role as a Client Executive at Tribe-Advisory, and how your responsibilities contribute to the company's mission? 

“As a client executive my role is pivotal in fostering strong relationships with clients and ensuring that their insurance and risk management needs are aligned effectively. In essence I act as the internal insurance team for our clients, thinking and acting as they do and am constantly involved in policy negotiation and placement, risk and cost analysis and claims management. But we’re a very hands-on company and I like to get involved in as much as possible to contribute to the growth and success for the team.  
 
We’re always working with our company mission in mind being to provide peace of mind to our clients through comprehensive and strategic risk management and always adapting to the unique challenges that our clients face. “

 As someone who has transitioned from a multi-national broker client service advisor to a client executive manager with Tribe, could you share some key lessons or insights you've gained along the way? How has this journey shaped your perspective on the insurance industry? 

“Moving away from a more client service role to my current role has given me exposure to challenges that will help shape my career. Whilst certain elements are very similar, there has been a phase of adaptation to think as our clients think as opposed to a broker. The biggest lessons have probably been around effective communication and the importance of relationships. With us being entrusted by our clients to act within their best interests, it’s important for us to be totally transparent with the actions we’re taking to accomplish what’s needed. Similarly, a lot of what we’re able to achieve for our clients on cost and cover is down to strong industry relationships and tough negotiation.  
 
I wouldn’t say my view of the insurance industry has changed as such but more my own way of thinking. I’d always tried to put myself in my client’s shoes but think I had a subconscious tendency to understand where all parties were coming from if ever there was any pushback. Now acting as our client’s white labelled insurance team, we have an absolute responsibility to manage their interests as our own.”

In your current role as a client executive, you're at the forefront of finding insurance solutions for clients. How has your experience been navigating the challenges and opportunities of being directly involved in client interactions? Are there any specific industry learnings that stand out to you? 

“We’re fortunate enough to have some exciting clients that operate in different industries and across different countries, all of which brings their own challenges and keeps no two days the same. Forward thinking and ambitious companies are always looking to grow and adjust which is where we like to operate and gives me the most interest in what we do because it requires constant consideration. It’s my job to deal with the difficult which is why we’re valued but also to be constantly thinking about how we can make the day-to-day insurances simpler.  
 
We don’t particularly like easy, we take pride in solving problems and creating solutions that make it easy, which has probably been one of my biggest learnings since joining – if there isn’t a ready answer for one of our client’s problems, we’ll go out and make one.”

From your vantage point, how do you see the insurance industry evolving in the coming years? Are there trends that you anticipate, both in terms of consumer expectations and the way insurance brokers operate?  

“Staring into the future it’s hard to predict; I think with technology, all sectors are prone to fast movement and advances. Last year we helped change some outdated processes into market leading for our clients with the help of technology. Generally speaking, I think with centralised digital currencies possibly on the horizon, I imagine that we’ll soon see this as a method of payment for premiums and claims. There’s obviously a spotlight on cyber insurance, as there has been in recent times, and think that it’s made important the ownership of data and wonder if that will lead to a different way any confidential exposure data is shared between client, broker and insurer. The flipside being with the technology that advances a sector, so too creates a new risk to be considered as we’ve seen with mass adoption of AI recently.”

With the dynamic nature of the insurance industry, how do you stay agile and adapt to emerging trends? Are there specific strategies or approaches you find effective in ensuring that Tribe Advisory remains at the forefront of providing innovative insurance solutions? 

“I think we’re quite lucky to be exposed to any emerging trends from two sides – the insurance sector and our clients. With what we do, we deal with a lot of the big broking firms who issue reports on market insights they’ve seen over the last quarter, year or so on. That’s as good a source as any for us as they have the benefit of being huge corporate firms, with thousands of clients in every different sector and so the information is thorough. As well as personal connections, since joining Tribe I became a member of AIRMIC (Association of Insurance and Risk Managers) which gives me access to a network of industry peers to call on, as well as expert speaker seminars and weekly articles that aid my development but importantly keep me up to date with emerging risks and trends which we can then relate to our clients. The other source for us is direct from our clients, with some of being the pioneers of their industries or striving to be. This gives us the hands-on exposure as we then have to manage any new risks in the insurance market on their behalf.  
 
Tribe has the benefit of being extremely flexible as there isn’t a corporate chain of people to badger to get things moving. Everybody here acts towards the same goal making it easy for us to adapt to anything new, but especially those that would tend to be held up by a traditional insurance firm.”