AUB Group plans to appoint leaders to three new key positions in a reorganisation of its operating model following the landmark Tysers acquisition.

“We anticipate in future to coordinate the business across three global divisions, retail broking, wholesale broking, and agencies,” Group CEO Michael Emmett said at a results briefing on Tuesday.  “As a consequence, we will seek to appoint key leaders to each of these roles over the coming 12 to 18 months.”

Mr Emmett said he would be taking up the role of Tysers CEO on an interim basis from Clive Buesnel next month, with the intention to appoint a new global head of wholesale broking based in the UK this fiscal year.

Mr Buesnel has been Tysers CEO since 2020, joining from Deloitte where he advised multinational carriers and brokers and worked closely with Lloyd’s.

“When we acquired Tysers, Clive Buesnel and I agreed that he would assist with the transition to AUB ownership and delivering a set of key outcomes,” Mr Emmett said. “Given the excellent progress that we’ve made with this transition, Clive and I have agreed that he will step down as Tysers CEO and leave the business at the end of this month.”

Under the proposed AUB operating model changes, strategic coordination of AUB businesses will transition to the three global verticals while day-to-day operational leadership will continue to take place in countries and geographies, identified in the presentation as Australia, New Zealand, the UK and International.

Service companies supporting retail broking such as claims, loss adjustment and technology will report into Retail Broking.

AUB said its underlying net profit for the year to June 30 rose 74.4% to $129.1 million from $74 million, while revenue increased 61.2% to $1.11 billion, supported by a nine-month Tysers contribution and increased revenues and margin expansion across existing businesses.

“Particularly pleasing is the continued growth of agencies and the significant turnaround in New Zealand,” Mr Emmett said. “Early signs are that Tysers was an excellent acquisition and that our estimates of potential synergies and efficiencies were conservative.”

Mr Emmett said the result was achieved against a backdrop of rising interest rates, challenging weather events and the growing scarcity of insurance capacity.

“I just want to thank our teams. It is hard out there,” he said. “The fact is that insurers and the combination of losses they have faced, reinsurance costs etc means that placing insurance requires more work than ever, but the great thing is that also means that the need and the importance of a broker and a professional adviser increases rather than decreases.”

Underlying net profit is expected to rise to $154-164 million this financial year, representing growth of 19.3-27%, while AUB also upgraded medium-term margin targets.

Insurance News  | 24 Aug 2023| Read article