For (U)HNW individuals, the role of an insurance adviser extends far beyond policy recommendations.
Spear’s ranking of the best insurance advisers showcases specialists who excel in creating bespoke solutions tailored to the unique and varied needs of wealthy clients. These experts address everything from asset protection and liability management to legacy planning and tax strategy, offering much more than basic coverage.
The advisers chosen for the 2025 edition of the index are highly skilled at guiding clients through the complexities of insurance. They keep clients informed on emerging risks, tax law changes and market trends, while providing services like risk assessments and in-house underwriting. Many, such as Rachel Gilliam of Lockton Private Clients, also provide specialist advice on protecting luxury assets such as yachts, private jets, fine art, antiques and prime property.
Insurance in 2025
A key trend in 2025, according to the top experts, is the growing use of life insurance as a strategic tool in tax and estate planning. Several advisers spoke of leveraging it as a vehicle within broader wealth transfer strategies.
Another focus has been on basement insurance for London’s super-prime properties, where concerns about flooding and improper construction have led to an uptick in claims. Experts like Rachel Ewing of Brown & Brown (a new addition to this year’s rankings) emphasise the importance of better education around proper waterproofing and sump pump systems to avoid costly surprises that can’t often be covered by insurance. ‘It’s essential that clients are educated on how to look after their goods,’ she tells Spear’s.
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Liability insurance is also on the rise, with experts such as Dean Andrews of BMS Group noting its growing importance for private equity firms in managing portfolio acquisitions. As the needs of UHNW individuals become more complex, the role of the insurance adviser has evolved into a strategic partner in preserving and transferring wealth.
In a world where the unexpected is the only certainty, the best insurance advisers don’t just protect what’s at risk as much as they need to anticipate what’s coming next, ensuring clients are not only covered, but positioned to thrive regardless of any inevitable bumps in the road.
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- Methodology
- The best insurance advisers: some names to know
- The best insurance advisers: the complete list
- Contact us
Methodology
Each year, the Spear’s Research Unit reassesses and refreshes its rankings of the leading providers in each sector by gathering data from and about the advisers and firms themselves, assessing submission forms, collating nominations, carrying out peer reviews, reviewing data from third-party sources, gathering references and recommendations, canvassing experts and conducting hundreds of interviews.
Advisers are evaluated using a proprietary scoring system that assigns different weightings to certain attributes. These scores feed directly into each new set of rankings in the Spear’s Indices. Each of these indices are published first online (according to the research calendar) and then in print. Print publication takes the form of the annual Spear’s 500 directory, which includes the top advisers in every index.
[See also: A guide to The Spear’s 500: Everything you need to know]
Each featured adviser is profiled on spears500.com. The site allows users to search the Spear’s database of more than 4,000 entities to find one (or more) to meet their specific requirements by filtering for specific attributes such as an adviser’s location, their specialist expertise and information about their client base.
The best insurance advisers: some names to know
Paul Thompson
- Focus: Insurance and wealth solutions
- Ranking: Senior Statesperson
- Firm: Utmost International
Paul Thompson is the CEO of Utmost International, a leading provider of insurance and wealth solutions. He tells Spear’s that the firm’s products can be accessed via regulated advisers and that they aim ‘to help preserve the wealth of our HNW client base and safeguard it for future generations’.
His team had £58 billion in assets under administration (AuA) as of end-2024, with a clientele that includes entrepreneurs, UK non-doms and business owners, as well as family offices and private offices.
Read Paul Thompson’s full profile on Spears500.com
Paul Huntley
- Focus: Luxury assets and property protection
- Ranking: Recommended
- Firm: PIB Insurance Brokers
A new addition to the index, Paul Huntley is a managing director at PIB Insurance Brokers and heads up the private client division.
Huntley, who joined the firm in 2021, has vast experience in providing tailored insurance solutions for HNWs. He is known for offering a highly personal service because, as he tells Spear’s, ‘people want to deal with people’. With some client relationships spanning over 25 years, his approach is rooted in trust, continuity and ‘building a rapport’ with a client to ensure each policy remains relevant over time.
Read Paul Huntley’s full profile on Spears500.com
Alexa Owen
- Focus: Tailored HNW insurance
- Ranking: Top Recommended
- Firm: Aon
Alexa Owen is the Leeds-based head of private clients for Aon, having joined the insurance giant in 2022. She has more than 20 years’ experience in private client insurance and has held roles at companies such as Bluefin, Bartlett Group and Towergate Insurance, where she specialised in personalised cover for HNW families.
Owen takes pride in looking beyond ‘simply facts and figures’, and instead focuses on the individual passions of HNWs and the personal risks they are concerned about.
Read Alexa Owen’s full profile on Spears500.com
Paula Steele
- Focus: Landed estates
- Ranking: Top Recommended
- Firm: John Lamb Hill Oldridge
Paula Steele is a broking director at John Lamb Hill Oldridge, with a focus on inheritance planning for landed estates, life assurance and later-life planning.
‘We take out significant life insurance programmes for estates to enable clients to pay their inheritance tax. Let’s assume that you have an estate in which you’ve got £50 million of assets you’re going to have to pay tax on. It’s a £20 million liability that will be triggered on your death. You can give the assets away, or take out insurance that will trigger on your death or the death of your spouse,’ she tells Spear’s.
Read Paula Steele’s full profile on Spears500.com
The best insurance advisers: the complete list
Click on the individual names to be directed to more detailed profiles of each adviser on The Spear’s 500 website. The table is ordered by ranking and then alphabetically by surname.
Contact us
- To apply for inclusion in The Spear’s 500, complete our submission form.
- For further information about rankings, please email research@spearswms.com; we aim to respond to all queries within two working days.
- For commercial enquiries and questions relating to enhanced profiles, please contact Commercial Director Shady Elkholy: shady.elkholy@spearswms.com
- To keep up to date with the Spear’s 500, subscribe to our magazine, newsletter and follow Spear’s on Linkedin and Instagram.
- If you have missed calendar deadlines for our research cycles in 2025, you can still register your interest for updates about upcoming research and rankings.
- Click here to order a print copy of The Spear’s 500.
