“One of the big appealing features of the Bellrock business is this thing called The Wheel,” said Ben Gair (pictured above). “People ask: ‘What’s The Wheel?’”
This month Gair - part of a five-person brokerage called BG Risk Solutions headquartered in Melbourne - joined Bellrock Broking after spending a couple of years as one of the firm’s authorised representatives (ARs).
His mysterious reference intrigued Insurance Business. Gair, now a Bellrock director, said The Bellrock Wheel is part of his new firm’s “vision” to create “a forever business that really looked after its staff.”
Gair suggested this Wheel, conjuring The Roundtable of King Arthur’s knights, is a symbol of equality and unity.
“There’s no hierarchy to it, so everyone is equally valued,” he said.
Another benefit of The Wheel, said Gair, is that it stops the siloing of work between a brokerage’s teams or individuals.
“Each part of the wheel has its own level of expertise and thought leadership,” he said.
One of the benefits of joining Bellrock, he said, was access to The Wheel’s expertise.
“You call in each part of this wheel and everyone puts in their little part to get a really good outcome,” he said. “Yesterday I was working on a tender document and there were six people contributing towards it at the same time - it was quite impressive.”
Gair’s decision to merge into Bellrock is the latest example of an ongoing process of consolidation, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), across the insurance broking landscape. Arguably the most important recent M&A: global firm Marsh buying Honan Insurance Group earlier this year.
In any of the recent acquisitions, alignments of a cultural and philosophical nature are often referred to as important.
“We ended up realising that, philosophically, we were very aligned in what we like to do for our clients,” said Gair.
He said this involves “going the extra step” for these clients by providing risk advisory, advocacy services – including in claims advocacy – and “not doing things like a traditional insurance broker would.”
IB asked Gair for more details on what “going the extra step” actually means?
“The traditional insurance broker, in my experience, gets their head around a client’s risk and then goes away and buys as much insurance as they can for them at the cheapest price,” he said.
Gair suggested his process and Bellrock’s is more complex.
“What we like to do is understand where the client is going and then whether they’re risk mature, what they do about transferring risk or mitigating risk,” he said. “Then, off the back of that, the insurance piece comes in,” he said.
Gair said this deep dive – which often involves engaging external consultants – provides a better outcome for the client’s business.
“They [these experts] will be able to then help them bridge the gap from wherever they are to where they should be,” said Gair.
IB asked Gair if this offering of in-depth and often very specialised advice is becoming more important in insurance broking?
“Yes, absolutely it is,” he said. “I’ve found out along my career that you don’t know what you don’t know.”
Gair’s remark recalled a comment by the late, former US secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld about “known knowns” and “unknown unknowns.”
Gair said Bellrock’s ability to deploy experts, particularly in complex, industry specific legal areas, from construction to childcare services, was another attractive feature of joining the firm.
“Every single extra resource or capability that they had made them more attractive to partner with,” he said.
Another reason for becoming part of Bellrock was the realisation, he said, that “to step up to the next level” would require a significant investment in capital and a “better management structure” including “heavy hitting advisers.”
However, a challenge in upgrading the business in this way, he said, was making sure existing clients were willing to come along too.
“Effectively, we were a minnow in a big pond,” said Gair. “While I still wouldn’t suggest we’re a big fish, we certainly throw our weight around a hell of a lot more than other businesses our size, I think.”
He credits Bellrock with providing that capability.
“Jonathan [Jonathan Frost, director] and Marc [Marc Chiarella, CEO] are relatively young people in this industry and they’re really well respected,” said Gair.
He said he was “very honoured” they considered his firm up to task.
“If you can’t beat them, join them,” said Gair. “There’s no way we were ever going to catch up to them.”
What’s special or unique about how your brokerage goes about advising clients? Please tell us below
