Since coming to life in 2015, Perth-based Grace Insurance has made somewhere between five and 10 acquisitions, and Insurance Business recently sat down with owner Frans du Plessis (pictured) to discuss the latest one and what’s ahead for the growing brokerage.
Grace Insurance, a corporate authorised representative (AR) of Community Broker Network (CBN), has snapped up the portfolio of retiring broker Steven Nelson, a “lovely guy” for whom du Plessis has an enormous amount of respect.
“The whole acquisition actually came about because he was my competitor,” said du Plessis, who was one of the two winners of the individual authorised broker of the year prize at the 2021 CBN Broker Awards. “Steven was my main competitor in the market we both targeted. So, he went to somebody [to sell his portfolio] who knows the market and understands the risk.”
The Grace Insurance boss noted: “We were competitors, but we were always friendly and we weren’t aggressive towards each other. We were always respectful towards each other. And that’s the key in this business.
“You have to be nice and kind to everybody so when something like this happens, people remember, ‘Hey, this guy’s not really a bad person to deal with, and he could actually look after my clients because he’s always looked after his’. That’s basically where it came from.”
Nelson, while he’s retiring, isn’t leaving his clients entirely. In fact, the four-decade industry veteran is staying on in a consulting capacity.
“He will be helping us with new business as well,” added du Plessis, “as he’s been getting a lot of new business inquiries. It’s a win-win situation to keep him on. I’ve got a lot of respect for Steven. He’s got so much experience, so it’s good to count on somebody like himself if I need anyone to bounce things off.”
Aside from the sizable portfolio that Grace Insurance has now merged into its own, the company has also absorbed Karen Hughes as part of the deal, financial terms of which were not disclosed.
“What I’ve done is I’ve retained Steven Nelson’s staff, and I brought them over to Grace,” said du Plessis, who previously struggled hiring-wise. “So that’s solved one of my staffing issues.
“And then I put on a new broker by the name of Denise Cummins. I was very fortunate in getting her. She’s basically now taking over from Steve and meeting with all the clients and making sure they’re happy with us.”
Meanwhile, the business is likely to get a further two people via the acquisition route, in Melbourne. Back home in Western Australia, another transaction is slated to wrap up in February 2022.
“We are buying very strategically because they need to be the right fit for our business and our model,” declared the Grace Insurance director, who is now actively looking in Brisbane, Sydney, and Adelaide.
He told Insurance Business: “Our intention was to expand into the other states, but that was slightly put on hold due to COVID and all the lockdowns that had been going on. Now I have to travel, and Aimee Henderson will sort of look after the operations in WA so I can engage the rest of the states.
“That’s why I’m trying to upskill my staff as well. And you need to do [the acquisitions] in a controlled manner, as well, so you don’t fail. There’s a lot of opportunities in the current market. You need to have the right team and the right support around you. Otherwise, you can’t take it up.”
On that front, du Plessis has his AR network to thank.
“The support I’ve received from CBN in growing my business has been exceptional,” he highlighted. “Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to expand to where I am today. CBN and Steven Kidd, who is my state manager, have been very instrumental in my growth and where we’re going.”
“Yes, we’ve got capacity to grow,” du Plessis went on to state. “The new portfolio - what it gives us is expansion capabilities. It’s a strategic step to increase the size of my business and to take it to the next level. Wherever I get the opportunity, that’s where I’ll move to next.”
