Broker profile: 'choosing unconventional industries allows me to be a technical broker'

Joe Daley operates as MD and Accounts Manager for AJ Insurance Services, an authorised representative of the McCormick Harris group. Based in Western Sydney, AJ specialises in sectors that have a “shortfall in broker services, risk management and claims expertise”.

How did you get into broking?

I was about 19, working as an area manager for a fast-food restaurant, and I thought it was probably time I got a real job. I began working as a sales and service representative for a direct insurance call centre for NRMA. From there, I side-tracked towards broking, first working in a call centre role for Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT). After a few stints at a few other places, I eventually opened up my brokerage.

What did you learn from your early experiences?

I got into broking quite young, so there was a lot to learn, and all the roles taught me something new. I’ve been quite lucky in that I had worked in a few brokerages before I started my firm, so I got to see how different scales of businesses operate, whether it was an authorised representative, a large domestic broker or a multinational group.

When I went to JLT, I was a call centre staff member and eventually became a manager, which gave me a good insight into how big corporates work to maximise productivity and profitability, which is key now that I’m operating my own business.

What are some of your first memories as a broker?

I remember being thrown in the deep end big time, and this is not a criticism; it was a very valuable part of my learning. One of my roles was to look after one of the largest home warranty portfolios in NSW.

It led to me being incredibly busy and learning on the run. There was not a lot of advice or actual broking that went into it at that stage, but rather servicing a home warranty portfolio, which also meant supporting the account managers who were looking after the rest of the construction portfolio for those clients. So, my service was integral to retaining their accounts.

From there, I grew into a broking and account management role, which involved building my portfolio, managing my own clients, assisting businesses with development, and other things.

What was behind your choice to specialise in underrepresented industries?

I truly enjoy being able to be a broker in the sense that we are providing risk management advice and educating clients on what they are actually covered for.

Choosing unconventional industries allows me to be a technical broker and go into more detail, as well as providing my business with a different competitive advantage. They are still large industries, but are niche in the sense of what they do and the risks present in those industries.

We help many different forms of businesses, from trade through to some corporates, but I like to target a few niche industries that are underhanded and underrepresented because it allows us to be a real leader in the field.

How big is your team?

We have myself working full-time and three-part timers that assist me with administration work, which allows me to focus on providing advice and services directly to the client.

What unique challenges do you face in these niche industries?

The biggest challenge we face is from the underwriting side of things. Often, we represent high-risk or developing industries, such as car dealerships, solar groups and tech companies which are facing volatile risks at this moment.

The biggest hurdle we have is many underwriters are obviously quite risk-averse at the moment, given the hard insurance market. But it also means that when we find a solution, we’re seeing something that possibly other brokers haven’t been able to find or at the least, we’re building quality relationships that can help us find solutions for our customers.

What can higher-risk businesses do to get coverage?

There are more and more industries every day that are being hamstrung in their operations as a result of struggling to source suitable or adequate insurance to support their business.

To those customers, I believe it is absolutely critical that you work with a broker that has relationships outside of Australia, perhaps into Singapore or London, as an example, where there may be more capacity for risk or where you can negotiate excess layers and lead and follow property insurance arrangements.

Above all, you need a broker who will be attentive, to the point of annoying, to ensure they capture all the good, bad, and ugly about your business and work with you to improve your operations and risk management as well as grinding the best possible outcome from the underwriters who are supporting.

How can businesses combat the cyber threat?

With increased cyber threats, businesses are increasingly pressured to maintain minimum cybersecurity standards and protection over their operations. That can come through bringing in technical cyber professionals that can assist with their risk management and obligations under policies.

As brokers, we can tell our clients what to do, but they are the ones that need to implement what is necessary for a business to be insurable.

Given the hard market, what has it been like convincing clients to get insurance?

The main issue is that most clients don’t truly understand what they are insured for and what they’re paying for. For me, client education is at the forefront of what we do.

If we educate the clients on what they’re paying for, there is an inherent growth in the value of their insurance and it becomes less about the premiums and more about paying a certain amount of dollars for something that’s supporting the business in a meaningful way.

What do you do outside of broking?

I’m a big soccer fan, both playing it with my club all year round as well as watching it. I’ve also got a gaming setup in one of my rooms with four monitors where I play competitive racing games with my friends on a domestic and international level. Outside of those things, I also spend time with my wife and kids, which keeps me busy.