Jim O'Mahoney, Coyle Hamilton Willis:THE NAMES Coyle and Hamilton are among the oldest in Irish business. The insurance broker started life as Coyle Co in 1903 and added the name Hamilton in 1970 following a merger.
Some 34 years later, in its 101st year, Coyle Hamilton added another name, Willis, when it joined forces with the world's third largest broker.
Now, four years on, the broker is dropping Coyle Hamilton from its name and will become known simply as Willis from next month.
After 105 years in business, another Irish name is being taken down from above the doors of a business and will be replaced by a global brand as its shareholding switches fully into international ownership.
Chief executive Jim O'Mahoney says the renaming is sad but inevitable, as the Willis brand is "a much better place for us to be".
He says the broker wants international distribution for its Irish customers and to attract large multinational clients in Ireland - and Willis achieves both.
"It is a bit nostalgic and a bit emotional to leave behind the name Coyle Hamilton because it has been around for so long, but it is a new world out there.
"A lot of Irish CEOs are looking outside Ireland to see what is the best practice and best service. That is where we want to be," says O'Mahoney.
Coyle Hamilton Willis, as it has been known since it sold a majority stake in 2004, employs 320 people in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. It has annual revenues of just over €40 million.
The bulk of its business is in insurance broking for commercial clients - from a local corner-shop to large semi-state companies such as RTÉ and CIÉ.
The broker was born of three businesses - Coyle Co, Hamilton Hamilton and VP Phillips.
O'Mahoney says the brokers were quite visionary in 1970 when they decided to merge and appoint non-executive directors to their board - something then rare for brokers and private companies in corporate Ireland.
About 10 years ago, O'Mahoney says, Coyle Hamilton looked at its business again and decided it needed an international partner to develop its business outwards and attract international customers looking inwards.
In 2004, the broker sold 51 per cent of its shareholding to Willis, which had its origins in the UK but which is now based in Bermuda.
The deal is worth a reputed €100 million and the earn-out part of the transaction is nearing completion. Willis owns just over 75 per cent of the broker but will own the entire shareholding when the earn-out process is complete.
"It has been our decision locally to move to the Willis name. We have probably moved quicker than we would have thought a couple of years ago," O'Mahoney says.
"It adds value and it has certainly brought value to our existing clients in terms of opening up expertise and distribution, and access to other markets."
Coyle Hamilton has grown over its time in business from a family background into the arms of a multinational. The last family member related to the original owners left in 1995 when the broker was purchased in a management buy-out.
Now, in Willis, the broker has a major global player as the dominant name on its share register.
The company, which is listed in New York, doubled the size of its North American business by purchasing Chicago-based broker HRH in June in a $2.1 billion deal - the largest acquisition to date in the insurance broking market.
Back in Ireland, a summer of unprecedented rain and flooding will leave insurers facing claims worth tens of millions of euros.
O'Mahoney says the insurance industry has not paid out for any significant storms for six or seven years and the figure this time around will be "a very substantial amount". However, he says it won't affect the cost of insurance because the industry has "the capacity to absorb it".
"If it were to recur next year and the same areas were to be hit again, clearly from the insurers' perspective they will start to look at those areas and either try to identify what needs to be done to improve it or else start restricting the cover in some way, charge a bit extra or apply a higher self-insured element of it," he says.
Mortgage brokers have come under pressure as lenders seek to cut out the more expensive middle-man route and sell directly to customers. O'Mahoney says that insurance broking is different.
While insurers have targeted customers directly on motor and household insurance, the commercial end is still broker-focused.
"Brokers still have an awful lot to bring to the party, even at the commercial end of the business. For a shopkeeper, brokers have a huge amount to contribute there. That is not going to move to a direct basis with insurers."
Coyle Hamilton Willis found itself at loggerheads with Quinn Direct, the insurer owned by Fermanagh entrepreneur Seán Quinn, in 2006 when the company - together with the State's other biggest brokers, Marsh and Aon - stopped offering Quinn products.
Coyle Hamilton refused to place business insurance with Quinn because it did not have a credit rating with an international agency, meaning its financial strength and its capacity to meet its liabilities was not measured.
Quinn withdrew its Moody's rating last month because the company was unlikely to be upgraded amid the financial market turmoil.
O'Mahoney is reluctant to reopen old wounds, although he says: "All of our larger commercial clients would look for credit ratings for their insurers."
The insurance broker says premiums have "shrunk" about 50 per cent since the industry changed radically with a series of political reforms including the establishment of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board.
This, combined with a change in society's attitude towards claims, led to lower claims, greater competition and falling premiums, he says. "It is a combination of a whole series of things rather than any one particular source but certainly the reduction in claims costs has been dramatic."
O'Mahoney believes premiums are unlikely to fall further as the industry is close to break even.
ON THE RECORD:Name: Jim O'Mahoney (58)
Position:Chief executive Coyle Hamilton Willis, to be known as Willis from next month.
Lives:Carrickmines, Dublin.
Family:Married to June. They have a son and a daughter.
Background:Worked in Sun Alliance (now Royal Sun Alliance) for 17 years, joined Coyle Hamilton in 1985. He became managing director of corporate broking division in 1999 and chief executive company in 2005.
Interests:Sport, particularly the Waterford hurling team as they prepare to take on Kilkenny in the All Ireland final on September 7th.
Something you might expect:Has worked in insurance industry since he was 19.
Something that might surprise:Studied chemical technology in Cork for four years from 1978 to understand better risk management as well as health and safety.
