Dear friend,
I keep saying this, but I really do have the best job in the world.
Being one of the outward-facing members of The Insurance Insider's teams opens doors and gives industry access that many others can only dream of.
In the following pages I have the opportunity to show you the sort of people we get to mix with in our day-to-day work. I suppose that is what the job of a journalist is - to let the reader in on the information they have uncovered as well as the thoughts that have been going through their heads.
So welcome to my world and a chance to be to a fly on the wall of the Naiade C meeting room at the Fairmont Hotel at 8am Monday 9 September 2013.
It being Monte Carlo, the quality and density per square inch of attendees was multiplied and concentrated to extraordinarily high levels.
The day after this memorable roundtable I quipped that I almost felt I should have alerted the global competition authorities, such was the financial and intellectual firepower in the room.
Many of our roundtables are generalist and very wide-ranging in their focus. This can sometimes be frustrating for the chairman because we have to cut short many interesting discussions to get around all the topics in the allotted time.
When we were approached by Guy Carpenter to organise this get-together it was great to be able to concentrate on a single topic - and happily one at which this publication has historically excelled at covering in great detail.
Given the tremendous granular experience of the group of executives we had gathered together, we took no time in getting very deeply into our subject matter.
Of course, whilst it may on the face of it be but a single topic, the great thing about M&A is that to analyse it in depth requires a detailed understanding of how the market is working and reacting to the global forces attempting to shape it.
This almost universal subject encompasses strategy, growth, capital, people and future industry trends and prospects.
I had a very easy time of it - sipping coffee, taking notes and laughing at some great wisecracks.
I only hope our all-too-brief edit of a lively morning's proceedings can even begin to do it justice.
Enjoy the read,
Mark Geoghegan
Editor
The Insurance Insider
To view the roundtable please click here