A YEAR since its launch as a do it differently cargo risk management company, Eikos has bedded down its product range, added several blue chip companies to its client list, and is ready for an aggressive marketing drive.
That's according to UK-based chairman Dr Anthony Valsamakis who was in Johannesburg last week to mark the company's first year in business.
The market made it quite clear that they did not want to see risk management as a function of insurance but rather as an independent element that adds value to the bottom line. In response we established ourselves as consultants in various areas of risk, one of these being transport.
We have studied transportation risk, we understand all the elements to do with it, and we tackle it from a client's perspective, says Valsamakis. It's an integrative approach which harnesses the diverse expertise within the company.
Not only do we provide consultancy on how to reduce risk in the logistics chain, but we also know how to better finance the residual risk.
The products which have been developed for the transport industry have focused on putting facilities together to capture certain segments of the market, says transportation risk specialist Hugh Reimers.
These fall into three broad categories: Navigate is structured for the cargo owner across the board, while Navlos and Universe are designed for the freight forwarding industry. Universe caters for the top end of the market providing multi-segmented solutions to trade risk which encompass amongst others marine insurance, liability risk, credit risk, forex risk and trade finance.
Navlos is a smaller version of the same.
Risk is something that has to be looked at across the whole supply chain, says Reimers, and it's something that hasn't been seen by the industry until now.
Conflict and inefficiency were previously a feature of risk management. The insurance industry was in conflict with the forwarding industry because a liability was created and dupliccreated of processes brought with it massive inefficiency, says Reimers. Eikos has changed that with its holistic approach. When you start to align interests and remove conflictual relationships, you actually do business together and there's a huge advantage in that paradigm shift which translates into a reduction of costs.
And it's a point which Valsamakis stresses. Not only are we giving the client a practical product that is a one-stop buy, we're also doing it cost-effectively.
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