Steadfast’s decision to acquire a 50% stake in the former Australian & New Zealand reinsurance broking business of Beach & Associates Limited (‘Beach’) will “allow a more intimate relationship between reinsurance and brokers”, said the
Steadfast CEO.
Discussing Steadfast’s 2014 full year results, CEO and managing director pf Steadfast,
Robert Kelly, said the acquisition of the renamed Steadfast Re will benefit brokers and their schemes.
“[In doing a lot things] you need a reinsurance broker to help and that has been a gap in our operation," he said.
"This move will allow a more intimate relationship between reinsurance and brokers. Quite often, you will get a scheme which will have a limit on it. The insurer will want to keep that limit whereas, if you have a reinsurance broker working with you on that scheme, they can put a layer of extra coverage in there, support and expand the scheme.”
He added: “There have already been opportunities in the group where Steadfast Re has been able to elongate some of the offerings the broker has.”
Kelly said the acquisition was “part of baking the whole cake”. “Reinsurance is integral to the way insurance works. [This deal] completes a section of our business where we would have to go outside the group to get that.
Kelly said Steadfast had approached Beach regarding a deal: “We approached Beach at a time when they were looking to do something with their assets and we were not interested in taking the worldwide programme. We were interested in what was happening in Asia.
"Simon Cloney [CEO of Steadfast Re] was a specialist in Asia and they saw that with him and us it was a good opportunity and they [got] into discussions with us and it finally turned into a deal.”
