Kiwi insurance and risk advisory business Donaldson Brown is looking set for next-level growth, with new capital aimed at providing the team – including the broker’s new chief executive – the support and tools needed to succeed.
“We’ve got a strong stable business as it is, but for us it’s really about investing back into the business, which then in turn helps our people and helps them succeed and be better – investing into our training, in our growth, and in our opportunities within the business,” Donaldson Brown co-founder Dan Donaldson (pictured) said in an interview with Insurance Business.
“Our focus is building the platform we need to grow to the next level. We’ve been growing very fast, doubling/tripling year on year for quite a few years now. And when a business gets to a certain size, you need to invest back into that stability to make sure you’ve got a strong foundation for the next phase. So, for us that’s where the investment is going.”
As previously announced, the investment arm of Insurance Advisernet New Zealand (IANZ) has taken 10% ownership of Donaldson Brown for an undisclosed sum. For Donaldson, IA Equity Partners New Zealand’s investment is an endorsement of the advisory firm’s “great relationship” with IANZ. Established in 2014, Donaldson Brown has had the backing of the authorised representative group since day one.
According to Donaldson, raising capital for the business has long been part of the strategy, in the same way that installing CEO Stefan Azzopardi earlier this year was well thought out.
“It was part of the plan all along that we were doing this,” Donaldson told Insurance Business. “You’ve got to provide your CEO with tools to succeed, so that was definitely part of it. We were raising some capital to set him up for success and to help realise that vision that we have.
“We’ve got a very strong vision of how we can move forward in this new compliant world and really create not only a super-compliant business but also something that is really efficient and delivers a great customer experience at the same time.”
Manned by more than 70 colleagues, Donaldson Brown operates on a ‘no hidden commissions’ and full transparency basis – a model that the co-founder said has 100% buy-in from the staff. With the investment, the goal is to improve and not to overhaul the brokerage.
Donaldson, who set up the company with Alex Brown nine years ago, stated: “The pathway we’re on is the right pathway. We don’t have to make wholesale changes to the business – we’re not looking to. We don’t want to create massive disruption for our people. We want to make their lives better. It’s about sustained and incremental improvements to the way that we do business.
“Our people really want to spend more time with their customers and add value and provide great advice, and it’s about providing the support, the structures, the tools, and the training to allow them to do that… High growth opens up a lot of opportunities for our people. We want to be able to create an environment where they can take advantage of that.”
The new capital will help in growing Donaldson Brown’s capabilities, both in terms of support staff and the frontline, as well as in investing in systems and processes. “Always looking for really good people,” the business is hiring, Donaldson said.
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