It is challenging to establish and grow a business in the Australian insurance industry, with many products and services taking the attention of customers.
Seasoned insurance leader Stephen McCarthy shared with Insurance Business Australia (IB) what helped him grow his business, Bellrock Broking.
McCarthy started his insurance career in the mailroom of a general insurer. In 2007, he founded Bellrock Broking.
Bellrock Broking’s business plan was built around the following objectives:
In an interview with IB TV, McCarthy explained that he was passionate about Bellrock Broking’s negotiation model when he set up the business.
“At that time, there was a trend in the industry where a lot of brokers were getting paid, overriding commission, and possibly profit share on their portfolio,” he said. “If they were a smaller broker, they were in a buying group. If they were a larger broker, they could do it themselves where they would have 20 million of premium and they’d say, ‘OK, we’ll share that at $5 million each to four main underwriters, and in return, we get higher commissions,’ but ultimately, [they] cut away the competitiveness of the negotiation.
“When we negotiate, we would only go in as the appointed broker, and they would choose one underwriter. This is an overview of the terms we’re seeking only at the time … and 80% of quotes that we obtained from underwriters were bound, in which the normal average was probably 18%. It was very effective, and clients liked it as well.”
Learn more about Bellrock Broking and McCarthy’s insights by watching the IB TV episode “Negotiation models and today’s broker challenges.”
