As the leading third party managing agent, Asta has made it its mission to deliver the highest quality standards in all its services to clients. To meet this commitment we need to employ and motivate the highest quality staff and, perhaps most important of all, ensure they remain appropriately skilled and well prepared to fulfil all aspects of their role.

As an employer there is no doubt that Asta offers one of the most interesting environments of any managing agency in the market, giving our team a unique opportunity to work across multiple syndicates, engaging in close client relationships with diverse classes of business, geographies and corporate cultures.

In a competitive market such as London, there can be little doubt that once we have recruited and sourced the best people, retaining them is of paramount importance. While this requires the obvious financial rewards, I believe our open and nurturing culture and commitment to training and personal development are also vital in retaining and motivating the team.

Naturally we encourage and support our team as they take up diverse professional qualifications, from insurance industry specific disciplines encompassing the CII and ACCA to specialist areas such as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

But our commitment extends beyond that, to participating in the LMA Academy and the Lloyd’s Leadership programmes. For example, Claire Arthur, who is a Compliance Analyst, last month completed the LMA Academy’s Syndicate Business Plan Programme in which 24 young professionals were divided into four fictional syndicates and asked to prepare and present syndicate business plans to a panel of market experts.

We also offer high quality in-house training programmes for both managers and other staff. These in-house programmes have been developed by Fiona Smith of Culture Matters with input from our senior management team. The management programme has three main strands; Myself, My Team and the Organisation which are designed to support Asta’s strategy, as well as organisational culture and company values.

Our first management programme kicked off on 24th May with very positive feedback from the participants and in the same week Asta started its new training programme, Lloyd’s and the LMA launched their annual Learning Week. Since Thursday 26th May all members of the market have been encouraged to sign up to a range of free training opportunities which will be available throughout the week of 4th July. Asta is fully supporting this initiative and we are encouraging our staff to participate in this interesting and relevant market training initiative.

Continuing to attract and invest in high calibre individuals improves retention and ensures that Asta can deliver the high quality service offering our syndicates and MGA clients have come to expect.