Mr Bryan, who is director of distribution and marketing at The Exeter, said it was now much easier to make decisions, and he could move much more quickly when an opportunity presented itself.
He said: "One of the things that I've seen is the agility of The Exeter and the ability to respond to things very quickly. It's been very quick with the entry into the impaired life cover market." Just announced it was departing the market in September, and The Exeter decided to move into that business straight away.
Mr Bryan said: "They just announced that there's a departure on impaired life term assurance, so we saw an opportunity, and we thought it appropriate to offer that cover to an audience that clearly needs it.
"This market is a group of people who have conditions that need to be managed, such as diabetes or heart conditions that are more difficult to underwrite, and that many companies may be more reluctant to insure.
"The Exeter, being a specialist insurer, felt it was the right opportunity for it to move into, allowing more people to be covered and the option to reduce one's premiums if they control their condition.
"A company the size of L&G would not have been able to move into that area as quickly as The Exeter," said Mr Bryan.
"At L&G you're not all in the same building, whereas at The Exeter you can just get together and have a chat to see what to do. It's like a family business, compared to a FTSE 100 organisation."
Protection has been viewed as the poor relation of the financial services sector, with people being reminded to buy it and having to be told that they need it, through being warned that the worst can happen.
However, Mr Bryan said: "Income protection is a market that's growing, and rightly so. It's probably been undersold, but I would suggest it's a very, very good solution for people when they feel they are unable to work."
Both long-term and short-term protection are seeing growth opportunities, but the working environment is changing, and Mr Bryan said providers need to reflect that. He said: "We need to adapt to the changing fact that in the UK people change jobs, and more often they're doing the job they weren't doing 10 years ago. That change is being reflected in the products we're bringing to market. I would like to see The Exeter at the forefront of that.
"If you go back 20 or 30 years, people were employed and didn't change jobs very often. Now we're seeing the rise of the gig economy, and it's people doing transient jobs on a short-term basis; there are more people self-employed and the company-provided benefits are less prevalent."
However, this is starting to change with the decision by Deliveroo to offer income protection to their delivery riders, risking their health by riding motorbikes. Mr Bryan said: "They're not a traditional employer, and the fact that they're trying to look after their employees is testament to the commitment about the changing needs of the workforce."
The Exeter offers a short-term income protection product (IP) that has been cited as one way to get more people to buy protection as it is a less onerous commitment than long-term IP. Mr Bryan said: "If you sprained your ankle and couldn't drive for a week, we'll cover you for a short-term basis; a lot of people aren't in the position of being helped if they're off work, so that flexibility in the way the product works is really helpful as we progress into 2020.
"Protection is still something that needs to be sold, and this is something that the industry has struggled with for a long time. Income protection is probably a better solution for a lot of people than critical illness cover.
"I don't know what the answer is to get more people thinking about it, they're great products and they do what they say on the tin; more and more advisers are selling IP, and all the networks are more focused on IP. The prime issue is to carry on with their standard of living if they're unable to work, and keep that income stream going."
The Exeter is primarily an adviser-based business, so Mr Bryan's sole focus is on the adviser community, a role he had at L&G, where he was director of intermediary, focusing on protection and general insurance.
"The adviser still plays an important role; they have the opportunity to at least start the conversation."
Melanie Tringham is features editor of Financial Adviser
Steve Bryan's career highlights
July 2017 Director of distribution and marketing, The Exeter
2014 – 2017 Director, intermediary insurance, L&G
2011 – 2013 Head of intermediary partnerships, L&G
2004 – 2011 Head of network development, L&G
2002 – 2004 Head of healthcare development, L&G
1999 – 2002 Head of marketing, L&G
1996 – 1999 Business development manager, L&G
1988 – 1996 Lloyds Bank, various roles
