Belgian insurance consultancy Ensur plans to double by 2024

Belgian insurance consultancy Ensur has appointed a chief executive officer, in a first for the firm as it prepares for its next phase of growth. 

Ensur was launched in 2014 as a business consultancy dedicated to helping insurance companies design and implement change and improvement. Fast forward six years, and Ensur has grown to a team of 50 consultants and staff, operating with offices in Belgium and in the Netherlands.

But according to Reinold Vanhevel, co-founder and Ensur’s inaugural CEO, the past period is “only the beginning of the firm’s growth story.” In the coming three years, the privately-held consulting firm wants to accelerate its expansion and hit the 100 employees mark by the end of 2024.

Vanhevel (ex-PwC) was one of the five that split-off from Projective to launch their own venture, and has been with the firm in a leadership capacity since. His elevation to CEO coincides with a new organisational structure that sees the firm operate with four business lines (Business Consulting, Risk & Compliance, Technology Consulting and Digital) and two brands (Ensur for consulting services and The Wave for technology and digital).

At the core of its growth ambition are three pillars. For one, expanding its portfolio of services. Vanhevel: “Both Risk & Compliance and Digital are relatively new business lines, which we will focus on even more in the coming years and for which we have brought in the necessary expertise.”

This pillar also includes an ambition to expand within the financial services space. First stop: the brokers segment, which Vanhevel describes as a “very interesting target group that faces similar challenges as insurers.”

Second aim on the roadmap: international expansion. “We are determined to be more active outside Belgium’s borders. In addition to expanding our current Dutch office (which focuses mainly on the pensions and life insurance segment), we are looking at options to start working in other European countries as well,” said Vanhevel, without disclosing further details. 

The bustling insurance sector – and the resultant need for change – is the third driver of growth. Vanhevel outlines a number of pressing challenges: “Customers who demand a Spotify-like experience, the need for data driven working while having to overcome data fragmentation and legacy systems, privacy and cybersecurity concerns, mounting regulation, and growing competition from digital-first and bigtech companies, to name a few.” 

“It’s simply not realistic for insurers and brokers to have all the necessary expertise and capacity to meet these challenges. At Ensur, we are passionate about the insurance industry and understand better than anyone the business challenges insurers and brokers face. We can translate those challenges into solutions and bring these to life.” 

The other co-founders of Ensur are Moustapha Kharbouch, Peter Knaepkens, Stephan Podevyn and Niki Serruys – they all hold leadership roles within the firm. The business lines are led by: Niki Serruys (Insurance Business Consulting), Patricia Goddet (Risk & Compliance) and Kris Claessens (Technology Consulting & Digital).