Podcast

Ellie Laidlaw, CFO of Ausure and one of the key brainstrust for the group! In this episode, Millsy & I deep dive on what Ellie is seeing in the Mergers & Acquisitions space of our industry, namely consolidation. We talk about the multiples for the sales of portfolios, the benefits of succession planning and the roles Ausure has played in Joint Ventures. We also talk about this ‘changing landscape’ of our industry is affecting decision making within the business.

Introducing Mike Edmonds, Executive General Manager Commercial, NTI. In this episode, Millsy & I deep dive on everything People, HR & Culture with a genuine leader in the industry, as Mike opens up on his own journey that helped him become a leader in managing people.

Hi all, for some context with this episode Millsy & I deep dive on….context, and how it’s never been more important. We talk about context for telling the client story to an insurer, context for advising the client about their policies, including endorsements or exclusions.

In this episode Millsy & I deep dive on some housekeeping issues that we see come across our desks recently. We shortlisted it to only 3 topics, which was hard to do with everything happening in the market. But we figured SCTP usage, Surveys & Training plans were the points to recap.

In this episode Millsy & I deep dive on all things Claims, with Ausure’s head Claims Manager, Darren Free. Darren took time out of his busy day of over 600 claims for his team, to give us a quick intro to what the Ausure Claims Department is all about, including some insight into the recent Floods & Storm claims, especially around cash settlements, and the information clients need to know.
We also learn about Ausure’s new Claims Credit Programme, completely exclusive to Ausure. If you like what you hear, look out for the flyer with more details, coming soon.

In this episode Millsy & I deep dive on all things Lloyds with the estimable Evan Ainslie. We get a layman’s explanation of what Lloyds do, including why they are not an insurer! Interesting no? Evan gave us probably the best summary we’ve heard in describing the massive beast that is Lloyds.

In this podcast we round out the trilogy by deep diving on nothing less than…remuneration via fees VS commissions. Beardy & Rolf from Coastsure Insurance Brokers, give us their insight about how they approach charging fees only for a portion of their business, and what they see are the benefits.

We didn’t get through everything we wanted to in the last podcast, so in this one we deep dive on how Beardy & Rolf approach the concept of Value Adding.  It’s a concept that make sense but Beardy & Rolf give us their own unique perspective on it, from how they ensure the client sees more advice to how they engage their team keep adding Value and Advice, which is especially hard in a hard market.

In this episode, Millsy and I spend time with two absolutes gents (and gems) of the industry, David Beard & Rolf Van Dulst, recent winners of Ausure’s major award, the Jim McIlveen Award of Excellence.  This award puts Coastsure in rarefied air with our very successful brokers from previous years.  Beardy & Rolf talk about the many layers of strategic planning they (and their team) have in their business.  It was really motivating to hear how much thought they put in for their business to run so well now.

In this episode, Millsy and I deep dive on all things about Operational Planning. We see the silver lining of a hard market is the quality of submissions from our reps to insurers. We discuss the benefits of contingency planning, like getting your work done in advance (as much as possible), especially for those tasks you can control, such as sending out Pre-Reviews to clients earlier. We also talk about using more platforms where possible to get more advice to our clients. Somehow the image of Millsy wrestling a bull by it’s horns creeps into the conversation, a la Ben Stiller in Dodgeball, which by the way is one of the greatest date night movies ever.

In this episode, Millsy and I deep dive on all things Leticia Rees, owner of Ausure Coastal and Ausure’s 2021 Young Achiever Award. Leticia seems to be that rare person who actually had a plan on getting into insurance, as opposed to most of us who fall into it. We get to understand how Leticia made her own luck by tapping other business owners on the shoulder. And it’s great to hear how Leticia runs her successful business. If you’re looking for some hot tips on how to manage a growing portfolio whilst maintaining a quality of life – in a year of lockdowns & catastrophes – then look no further than this poddy with Leticia.

In this episode, Millsy and I deep dive on all things Graeme Lilley, Ausure’s GM of Distribution and one of the nicest blokes we know in insurance. Graeme talks about fatigue in the industry (not his!) and gives his hot tips on relationship broking. We learn about his love of sci-fi and why he always packs his joggers when he travels. Unfortunately we don’t have cameras, but we spent too long talking about his now famous hair! …And is Graeme the new Tinder program for reps buying & selling their books???

In this episode, Millsy and I deep dive on all things Scott McCarthy, Ausure’s CEO and one of the smartest blokes we know in insurance. Scott gives his insight into this year and what next year might look like, including why January is so important for him. And maybe the most important surprise of all…it seems Scott has been bitten by the camping bug!

Hi all, in this episode, Millsy and I deep dive on…wait…it’s not a deep dive, we just skim the surface on how we can let go of pressure. Our witty riposte starts with a cracking joke (one of the best you’ll hear) and flows into some lively stories about how we cope with work/life balance. We use a lot of wellness terminology, some of it in the right context as well! We’re not solving world issues here, but I think we started a nice change of pace heading into the end of the year.

In this episode, Millsy and I deep dive on what could be the hottest topic of 2022….Remuneration Transparency. I’ll admit we are not providing a solution here…mainly because the regulatory bodies haven’t fixed their position yet. Millsy and I throw around some theories that we agree on…and others we don’t. But that’s ok, this isn’t just a black and white issue. We did agree that what brokers can control is our Advice to the client and how we keep showing what we do for our clients. The more of it, the better we will be positioned tomorrow…

In this episode, Millsy and I free dive into Faulty Workmanship. That’s right, no more legislation talk for a while as we’re back to the nuts & bolts of broking. This is another passion project for Millsy and you can pick up his enthusiasm for wanting brokers talk to their clients about it…preferably at the start of the policy period! We throw in a claims example for you and talk about how Contract Works can provide a solution as well.

In episode 7, Millsy and I deep dive on Ausure’s latest communication about Advice, where going forward it ain’t General, it ain’t Personal…it’s just all Advice to our clients. We feel pretty comfortable about it as we think all Ausure brokers give advice to clients, regardless of the product. If you want to hear about the many upsides of an Advice only model, then sit back and tune in.

In this episode, Millsy and I recap everything acronyms. From PDDO’s, TMD’s, MCR’s and everything in between. We talk about Ausure’s plans to make it easy for you in terms of training and reporting, and basically let you know it’s all going to be okay. We also talk about where we think our Advice model is heading.

In episode 5, Millsy and I wanted to get right on to this new little doozy that will affect us all, Product Design & Distribution Obligation…or P.D.D.O. We talk about what it is, how we think it came about and the impact it has for clients, brokers and insurers. Like most brokers, we’re unsure of the value it adds to the client but because it’s here to stay….we decided to chat about it.

In episode 4, Millsy (John Mills, Underwriting Manager of Ausure) is on the front foot for the topic of when you can’t place client’s insurance. He talks passionately (more so than usual!) about what brokers are facing, as it seems to occur more often lately. We talk about what brokers are doing for their client and we also talk about some possible solutions.

In this episode, we talk about where our relationships are with insurers and underwriters, the importance of having a good one in a hard market, and remembering who helped us when the market turns.

In this episode, we are joined by Adam Sloan (Head of Sales – Ausure) who talks all things digital, from the upcoming CRM (AKA Eco-experience) and how it can benefit you, to Ausure’s brand awareness strategy.

This podcast talks about the projected GWP in the world of $7 Trillion, and where do we think brokers will be positioned. So…. sit back, relax and give yourself a little “me time” with the dulcet tones of Millsy & Mick…