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While everyone has a different story on how they fell into the insurance industry, John O’Brien’s, co-founder and director of broking at Kobe Insurance, is truly unique.
An industry veteran, O’Brien has a special rugby coach to thank for his debut in the industry - none other than Robert Kelly, current CEO and MD of Steadfast.
“It is a bit random but as everyone will tell you when you fall into this industry you truly fall in,” O’Brien told Insurance Business.
“My situation was my brother was playing rugby union and Robert Kelly, now the CEO of Steadfast, was his rugby coach. I also went to school with Robert’s son Luke, and so did my younger brother, so Robert asked my brother ‘what’s John up to?’
“At the time I was studying marketing, and he asked if I’d be interested in a traineeship so that is how it came about.”
From that chance role, O’Brien has worked for some of the biggest names in the global industry including Aon, JLT and Suncorp. Just under 12 months ago, O’Brien and Aidan Kinder set out on their own with Kobe Insurance, and O’Brien highlighted three things to remember when beginning a new business: cash flow, IT platform and knowing a client.
“It is really just to understand the buying matrix of the client and why they purchase insurance really,” O’Brien said. “A lot of clients in today’s society just don’t care, all they want is the bottom line.”
Noting that these changes in buying habits have the potential to challenge the industry over the coming years, O’Brien said that he expects the rise of pay-as-you-go style cover to be an opportunity for the industry.
“There are certain market segments that will be solely and wholly transacted online,” O’Brien continued. “I believe in the next 10 years you won’t buy an annual policy for your motor insurance. You will pay for it as you require it.”
What these changes could mean for brokers remains to be seen, but O’Brien said that the industry will have to adapt to new technologies and understand the way clients want to transact business.
“The younger generation have no interest in meeting to go through their insurances,” O’Brien said.
“You look at the Ubers of the world and the way things are transacted and payment systems have gotten a lot smarter, a lot more people will rely on apps rather than talking to people.”
