Headquarters: Level 14, 141 Walker Street North, Sydney, New South Wales 2060, Australia
Year established: 1979
Size (employees): About 300
Office locations: Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth
Annual premium: $600 million
Underwriting expertise: Bus and coach, energy risks, hard-to-place liability, motor dealers, professional indemnity, SME, and strata insurance
About Austagencies
Austagencies is a division of insurance giant AUB Group consisting of several specialist underwriting agencies. These companies distribute and manage niche insurance products on behalf of domestic and international licensed insurers, including Lloyd’s. Austagencies operates on what it calls its “three pillars:”
- Commercial general underwriting – under 360 Underwriting
- Specialty products – under the SURA brand
- Strata insurance – under Longitude Insurance
Collectively, these firms have underwritten more than 100,000 policies worth $600 million in premiums, while accounting for about 15% of AUB Group’s overall revenue. They also boast centralised specialist claim capabilities.
The three pillars
Austagencies operates on three pillars – general commercial underwriting, specialty, and strata – built on several major brands in the region. These are:
1. 360 Underwriting
AUB Group’s general insurance products are marketed primarily under the 360 Underwriting Solutions brand. This specialist underwriting agency provides a range of products tailored for insurance brokers and their SME clients. Its portfolio includes the following, with expansion plans already in the works.
- Commercial: Comprehensive cover designed for small and medium Australian businesses
- Accident & health: Personalised accident and sickness cover for groups and individuals, as well as voluntary workers
- Commercial motor: Vehicle coverage for small and medium-sized businesses
- Aviation: Specialist aviation insurance products for clients in Australia, New Zealand, and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region
- Cyber: Tailored cyber protection for small and medium-sized businesses
- Construction & engineering: A suite of online insurance products powered by eSentry that bind contract works, machinery, and electronic equipment coverage
- Farm & regional: Protection for farm, liability, bed and breakfast, and domestic property risks
- Landlords: “Electronically delivered” insurance policies designed for landlords
- Quick construct: Affordable coverage that binds annual, project-specific, and owner-builder insurance
- Complex risks: A range of niche property insurance products
- Plant & equipment: Coverage tailored for contractors and their mobile plant and machinery
360 Underwriting holds partnerships with some prominent names in the industry, including:
Key people at 360 Underwriting
These are the people behind 360 Underwriting’s leadership:
- Denis Morrissey – Director
- Chris Lynch – Director
- Jason Clarke – CEO of Australia and Director
- Catherine Whitaker – Chief Financial Officer
- James Lawrence – Head of Legal, Compliance & Corporate Secretariat
- Leanne Angell – Chief Technical Officer
- Maree Thompson – Chief Information Officer
- Sarah Moltzen – Head of Strategic Partnerships & Engagement
- Stefani Johnson – National Sales Operations & Marketing Manager
360 Underwriting gives back
360 Underwriting also gives back to the communities that it serves by supporting various charitable causes. These include:
- St. Edmund’s School: A Wahroonga-based co-educational secondary school for teenagers with vision impairment and other disabilities, including autism.
- The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute: A Darlinghurst-headquartered non-profit medical research facility dedicated to finding cures for cardiovascular disease.
- Insurance Advisernet Foundation: Established by Insurance Advisernet – another AUB company – the foundation supports various local Australian and New Zealand organisations that work to improve the lives of individuals, families, and communities.
- The Charity Challenge: A community organisation capital grant developed by Geelong Community Foundation and Adroit Insurance & Risk.
2. SURA Specialty
SURA consists of specialist underwriters that offer a range of niche insurance products. These include:
- Bus & coach: Designed for owners and operators of buses and coaches, these policies provide cover for vehicles, depots, and businesses
- Bloodstock insurance: Specialist cover for thoroughbred horses and the bloodstock industry
- Construction: Purpose-built insurance for the construction industry
- Engineering: Coverage designed for fixed plant and equipment risks
- Film & entertainment: Insurance policies catering to the movie, television, and entertainment industry
- Labour hire: Personalised products for the labour hire and recruitment industries
- Liability: Cover for complex or higher exposed liability risks across a wide range of occupations
- Marine: Insurance protection for marine cargo, general property, and carriers load
- Motor dealers: Comprehensive cover for new and used car, truck, motorcycle, caravan, and machinery dealerships
- Professional risks: Professional liability insurance for a range of occupations
- Technology risks: Caters to the unique risks and contractual requirements of technology and life science companies
Tasman Underwriting
Tasman Underwriting is one of the companies under the SURA brand. It provides professional indemnity cover for the following occupations:
- Accountants/auditors
- Advertising agents
- AFS licensees & authorised representatives
- Archaeologists
- Consulting engineers
- Corporate advisors
- Customs & forwarding agents & brokers
- Design & construct builders
- Environmental consultants
- Health insurance intermediaries
- Insolvency practitioners
- Insurance brokers
- Interior designers
- Legal title & property searchers
- Loss assessors & adjusters
- Management consultants
- Marine surveyors
- Personnel consultants, excluding people-placed professionals
- Project & construction managers
- Surveyors (land & engineering)
- Town or urban planners
Key people at SURA Specialty
SURA’s management team consists of:
- Angie Zissis – CEO and Group Head of Underwriting & Placement
- Steve Burnett – CIO and Divisional Executive
- Brett Jackson – National Sales Manager
- Simon Grant – Head of Claims
3. Longitude Insurance
Longitude Insurance is a Chubb-backed strata insurance specialist underwriting agency. It provides cover for residential, commercial, and mixed-use strata, with several optional covers. Among the key features of the company’s policies are:
- Market value cover
- Debris removal in addition to the sum insured
- Equipment breakdown cover for the full value of the building, capped at $20 million
- Office bearers cover, with optional benefits such as statutory fines and penalties protection
Clients who have been with Longitude for three consecutive years are also eligible for its Loyalty Bonus programme, subject to qualifying criteria. Among the benefits they can avail of are free floating floorboards and free additional defence costs and statutory fines and penalties cover for office bearers policyholders.
