EVERY CLIENT IS UNIQUE
says Jim Purkiss, Director, Islands Insurance. F
or 30 years Jim Purkiss has been building trusted relationships with many of Jersey’s wealthy individuals and their families. Jim believes privacy and confidentiality is of the utmost importance and understanding their lifestyles and their varied complex insurance needs. In his current role as Group Sales and Marketing Director, Head of Private Clients at Islands, the leading insurance provider in the Channel Islands, Jim has recognised an opportunity in the marketplace in developing a new Private Client division across the group, launching this summer.
The company’s focus is on creating a team of highly qualified and knowledgeable professionals, who will be able to offer bespoke insurance solutions
through a boutique, sharply focused service which is sensitive to the personal insurance needs of wealthy individuals and their families. “Every client is unique” is a phrase you often hear but, for Islands, it is really in the heart of everything that they do.
Why do you think this service is needed in Jersey?
The world is changing at a dramatic pace and it is right that we deliver a service that anticipates not just the current but also the future needs of our clients. There are many wealthy individuals and families living here, so to help protect their assets, we have to really understand the complexity of their lives and the external influences that can affect them. Many of our private clients have multiple homes or businesses, for example, in different jurisdictions. This often means they and their families are traveling a great deal and they want peace of mind that they are personally protected, and that their assets are adequately insured. Until now there hasn’t been a service like ours, which is tailored exactly to the specific needs of the client and
Page 40 Beyond 20/20 - Finance delivered through a personal point of contact.
What sort of risks are you insuring? You would be amazed at what we insure – from homes, personal jewellery, fine art and custom-made furniture to supercars, private aircraft and luxury yachts. But it’s not just these high value and prized items that we are asked to protect. Increasingly high net worth individuals are becoming concerned for their personal safety, with the risk of kid- nap and ransom a major concern and we offer tailored travel insurance solutions to help give peace of mind. We are also seeing a demand for cyber-protection: as our lives and personal information become ever more digital, defending against the risk of data breaches or theft has taken on a new priority for wealthy islanders.
What is different about your team?
Attention to detail and knowing the individual needs of every private client. This is a very personal service, and our private clients’ lives never stand still for long, so our team will speak to them on a regular basis to find out what is changing and how we can consistently add value. For example, we have built up a trusted network of independent experts who can advise on the value of everything from property to diamonds. Some individuals collect art, classic cars, fine wine, watches, antiques and designer handbags as a passion, while others purchase them as an investment. It is important to have these assets valued frequently and to ensure the insured values are up to date. Recently, for example, we have seen a substantial increase in the value of fine art, classic and high value supercars, and items of personal jewellery such as Rolex watches; however, we have also witnessed a decline in value for some items such as antique furniture. It’s this market insight and our relationships with acknowledged industry specialists that sets us apart when advising our private clients about protecting their possessions.
If you had to insure one prized possession, what would it be? That’s a really difficult question to answer! Working in insurance all my life I probably understand the value of making sure every aspect of my life is properly protected. But if I had to pick one thing, I have a soft spot for classic or iconic vehicles. I love and own an original Landrover Discovery 90, which has been custom bespoked in the UK. It is a simply beautiful piece of engineering and a joy to drive but also highly desirable, so it is definitely going to be well insured!
Sum up your Private Client Service in one sentence. We offer a sharply focused, totally confidential, completely bespoke and consistently personal service to cover all the insurance needs of both Jersey & Guernsey’s wealthy residents giving them absolute peace of mind.
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