Today’s guest is a rare breed of broker looking to build a sophisticated new intermediary operating at the higher end of the market.

In the past two years the business he leads has gone from a standing start to handling around $1.6bn in premiums.

Andrew Matson and Augment Risk have done this by being very targeted and very progressive, breaking insurance and reinsurance down to its core element – capital.

At a fundamental level insurance is a tool for capital protection and capital management. If designed and executed well this is a tool that produces better outcomes for clients and these benefits are ultimately measurable in improved return on equity.

Of course, what I have just described is about as far removed from the traditional broker model as it is possible to be.

This model might not be for everyone, but that is beside the point. Augment is already demonstrating that there is an eager community of sophisticated global buyers keen to discover what a holistic client- and capital-focused broker might be able to do for them.

And that’s what makes this encounter so interesting. Andrew has a singular vision for what he wants to achieve and after this podcast you’ll be in on the act too.

But we don’t just talk about Augment’s plans: legacy, parametric insurance, the future of insurance securitisation and the long-term effects of the digitisation of the insurance value chain are all examined in depth.

Andrew is ultra-smart and highly passionate and his ambition sears through this episode.

For anyone disillusioned with siloed, product-focused and constrained broking, here is someone with a genuinely attractive and genuinely original proposition to put to you.