In May, the global underwriting firm Everest Group received its license to operate as a local general insurer from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). Since then, the Australian insurance operation has grown local talent and established offices in Melbourne and Sydney.
“I think it's really about focusing on scaling up our operations here,” said Christian Colombera (pictured above, right side). Colombera is Everest Insurance (Everest) managing director for Australia and head of the Pacific Region.
This boots on the ground presence from a major US headquartered global insurer follows Markel Group’s move into Australia last year. In September 2023, Markel opened offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
“We saw an opportunity in the market resulting from a period of remediation where the needs of large corporate clients were not being met fully in terms of the coverage they required, the adequacy of limits and in certain cases, fairly dramatic premium increases” said Scott Leney (pictured above, left side).
Sydney-based Leney is Everest’s head of Asia-Pacific (APAC).
Some of the insurance challenges he was likely referring to were a result of the Lloyd’s of London ‘Decile 10’ initiative in 2018. The financial lines market was particularly hard hit and, according to market reports, only started returning to profitability early last year.
Which aligns with Leney’s comments.
“The feedback we received was that clients were hungry for a partner like Everest and all that we have to offer,” he said. “So there was an opportunity to serve the market with highly talented, solutions-oriented people operating with a complete customer focus.”
The firm’s media release in May referred to Everest aiming to fill “a crucial void for tailored risk solutions in the property, casualty, financial lines, professional lines, and energy and construction sectors.”
Colombera suggested that Everest’s breadth of coverage offerings, coupled with local expertise, is filling this void.
“At the end of the day it is about being close to our customers and our distribution partners and this really gives us access more broadly to business across Australia,” he said.
Leney also said Australia is “a very important part” of the firm’s international expansion.
“Since 2022, when the international insurance expansion was announced by our CEO, we've been strategically adding to existing international operations in various places where we see opportunity and can deliver optimal value,” said Leney.
He included the UK, Ireland, continental Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Their Singapore license was approved in June 2022.
“Australia was always an important part of that international expansion strategy because of the opportunities here in this marketplace,” said Leney.
Much like for Markel, local insurance brokers are a key part of the proposition.
“Brokers are instrumental in terms of us delivering our value proposition,” said Colombera. “They are our core partners.”
Leney said brokers are part of the relationship building with their corporate business.
Leney observed that over the last year the insurance market in the corporate space has stabilised. However, even with the “void” shrinking, he suggested his firm still has an advantage over much of the competition.
“However, we're getting feedback from brokers that one of the things that still sets us apart is our willingness to deploy capital across multiple product lines for a particular client and that's been landing really well with the broker community,” he said.
Leney pointed towards what could be another advantage over some local insurance heavyweights.
“The good news for Everest and for clients is that we are not laden with legacy issues and we can build the organization the right way, according to market need,” he said.
Leney also suggested that despite the market ups and downs, Australia’s insurance regulations make it easier for a big insurer to play the long game.
Compared to some other countries, Australia’s well-regulated insurance marketplace, he said, makes it “a more stable environment and this is important when it comes to our long-term commitment to the market.”
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