Ron Bridges (pictured) was only 16 when he entered the world of insurance in 1979. More than four decades later, the Bridges Insurance managing director and senior insurance broker says the learning still doesn’t end, making the sector interesting and one that people tend to stick with.
Speaking with Insurance Business, Bridges said: “No two days are ever the same. You’re constantly learning. After 45 years in the industry, there are days you come to work and you still learn things. In that respect, it’s not a boring industry – that’s for sure.”
So, how did Bridges stumble upon what would become his lifelong career?
Recalling how it all started, he told Insurance Business: “Like a lot of people that I know, I finished high school, didn’t know what I wanted to do and thought I’d do insurance for a while – because that’s where the job was – until I worked out what I really wanted to do.
“Funnily enough, the guidance counsellor had said, ‘Insurance or banking would be right for you’, but I had to prove that myself. I thought, ‘They must surely be wrong’, but here I am.”
According to Bridges, the abovementioned “fit for you” assessment came after he took an hour-long personality test. The rest, as they say, is history.
“It was just an opportunity to earn some money at the time, and we’re talking in the 1970s here,” the Hamiltonian said. “I was only 16, going on 17, when I started… As so often happens about the age of 20, a bit of ambition kicked in, and I started to look around and see what great opportunities were in the industry, particularly on the broking side of things… One thing led to another, and here we are today.”
It was in 1990 that Bridges set up his Waikato-based brokerage, which is currently manned by 36 people including himself.
Like many who fell into the industry, Bridges found himself staying for the long haul.
“The thing about insurance is once you’ve been in insurance about 10 years, it’s very rare that people leave; they tend to stick with it,” he said. “I’ve met a lot of people in insurance over the years and worked with a lot, and I don't think any of them grew up thinking, ‘I do want to get into insurance when I grow up’. They sort of went there and found that they quite enjoyed it.”
Why broking, then, as opposed to him picking underwriting or claims?
“It was the relationships that you could form with people [that I liked],” Bridges said. “Parts of insurance can be a bit transactional, and the part of it that I didn’t like was the thought of just doing paperwork all day.
“The broking side allows you to interact with people and, to a large extent, interact with successful people. That’s what I really liked. As a young man in the industry, you can talk to some hugely successful people and learn from them as you advise them on their insurance. The conversations are more wide-ranging than just what the insurance is – you really need to get to know people.”
As for the decision to establish his own broking business, which is an NZbrokers member, Bridges highlighted the importance of hard work.
“I would be lying if I said it was easy,” he said. “The first 10 years was the hardest of the last 30 by far, because I started the business from scratch with no clients. I didn’t buy anything; I didn’t inherit anything… That was really, really hard work, just getting to a point where it was financially viable.
“The advice I’d give people is that there is no shortcut. There is no substitute for hard work in insurance to get to the top. The young people here – a lot of them are looking for a get-rich-quick scheme. This is a get-rich-slow scheme.”
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