“Culturally and from a lifestyle perspective, it has been amazing – beaches, sun, and the relaxed Australian style is something I have embraced.”
Those were the words of ARAG Services Australia chief executive Antoinette von Wendt (pictured), who travelled halfway across the world in 2019 to bring the ARAG Group subsidiary to life as an underwriting agency specialising in legal expense insurance, in partnership with insurer HDI Global Specialty SE – Australia. With different legal requirements and rules, von Wendt was taking on quite a task.
Insurance Business caught up with the CEO, whose challenge at the time was to roll out a product in a new country as efficiently and to the same high-quality standard while simultaneously adapting to the local market. She conceded there were many aspects that needed attending to when starting from scratch – from compliance and regulation to brand and distribution.
“Coming from a large organisation based in Dusseldorf, Germany, to a start-up in Australia was challenging to say the least – in a good way, though,” recalled von Wendt. “ARAG and its products are well-established in Europe. Starting with just an empty office, the small things seemed to be the big things – including the very basics like ordering a printer and getting technology set up in Australia.”
She said the hard work of setting up a foundation for an internationally ambitious company in Australia has been “very rewarding” despite the challenges, adding that legal expense insurance is a relatively new product in the country and that the goal is to establish ARAG’s global identity locally as a quality provider giving access to justice for individuals and businesses.
Von Wendt shared: “As the daughter of a lawyer, I was drawn to the fundamental core values of the ARAG Group. Accessing justice should be attainable to all areas of the community, despite their financial circumstances, and ARAG enables affordable legal coverage for those who need it most.”
Meanwhile the chief executive also acknowledged that an integral part of her role is providing equal opportunity for race, gender, and abilities. Von Wendt believes it will be equally important for the underwriting agency’s growth to ensure that it provides an environment that values all backgrounds to create a safe and inclusive workplace.
Moving forward, ARAG’s priorities Down Under remain – to establish legal expense insurance as a necessary risk management tool for the Australian business market and provide individuals inexpensive access to the legal environment.
