Gallagher acquires niche insurance product with record growth

“Our price hasn’t changed over an eight- or nine-year period,” said Maxwell. “So it’s been a good result for the insurer and for us.”

He said a $10 million policy per annum costs $149. For coverage worth $20 million, a stall holder pays $200.

“Once we gained a little bit of momentum – we’d obviously priced the product so that it was competitive for the stall holder – and we pitched it at the right mark,” he said, referring to the early years of his offering.

Momentum followed by great volume

Maxwell said MyMarketInsurance was able to achieve “great volume” for the insurer. “We exceeded all projections that we put to them in the first few years,” he said.

Maxwell said the product provides cover for many thousands of stallholders across Australia.

“Art and craft markets, any dollar market whatsoever where people are going there on a temporary basis,” he said. “It’s purely a public and products liability policy so they can buy a one-day product, or they can buy an annual policy, it’s the same deal.”

One month after the acquisition by Gallagher, things have only got better. Maxwell said market stall insurance sales are currently booming.

“My very small team [one employee] are now part of the Gallagher team and we’re already transitioning and doing business at record levels actually,” he said. “It’s been a fantastic month for the markets [market stalls].”

Maxwell, who started his insurance career in 1977, said meeting Gallagher Australia CEO Sarah Lyons helped seal the deal.

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“I could see there was an understanding of my business, which is a little bit unusual,” he said. “Two thirds of it is MyMarketInsurance and a third of it is more in the corporate space.”

Maxwell said an internet-based business is “pretty unusual” in the current broking market. It was even more unusual when he launched more than a decade ago.

“There were various alternatives around, but they hadn’t given that direct focus on to the markets – and that’s what we did,” he said. At that time, Maxwell already had 20 years’ experience in the market stall insurance sector.

“It was just opportune to put something together and it’s great to see what a success it’s been,” he said.

45 years in the industry

After 45 years in the industry and a 64th birthday coming up, Maxwell decided it was a good time to sell. There was another motive.

“I haven’t been able to travel for three years, and I have a bit of catching up to do,” he said.

This IB journalist suggested that on his travels he might find lots of market stalls in Florence or Barcelona that could use his online offering. Maxwell laughed but said there are no plans to go global at this stage.

“It’s not an easy product to move to another jurisdiction,” he said. “We’re happy with what’s happening in Australia, and we’ll be leaving it that way.”

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Maxwell, whose new title is account manager with Gallagher, said he will stay on with the firm through to 2024. “Then it will be exit stage left for me,” he said.