There and back again: acquired broker's AR journey

To have started your own insurance business from scratch and sold it to an international giant, all by the age of 38, isn’t bad going – and Chris Park puts it down to an industry full of opportunity, the authorised representative (AR) model, and bucket-loads of hard work.

As previously reported, Gallagher has acquired Torquay-based National Insurance Group, which was founded by Mr Park in 2015.

He started his career with Marsh, working in schemes & affinity and corporate, before becoming a Marsh AR a few years later.

Then he decided to set up National Insurance Group, which was for many years an AR of PSC Connect before switching 18 months ago to McLardy McShane.

“I decided to step out on my own, have my own brand and make my own decisions rather than being part of a corporate business where there is a lot of red tape,” he tells insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“I made the leap and started from scratch with zero clients. It was painful but it taught me how to build a business from the ground up

“It involved a lot of cold calling, a lot of networking. But we grew a business from zero to where we are today.

“Being an AR means you don’t have to do your own auditing and compliance and for a small business like myself it makes perfect sense to be an AR of a licence holder.”

But he says the time is now right for his business – which has a team of four split between Torquay and Tasmania – to become part of a larger brokerage. And for him this means a return to the world of corporate broking.

“Gallagher doesn’t have a presence down the Surf Coast, so this is a good fit,” he says.

“To have a good brand behind me and a lot of backing and support – a marketing team, a claims team, an operations team – will free me up to grow the business.

“Being a business owner, a lot of stresses are involved especially when it comes to claims. Having a claims team behind us is fantastic from my point of view, and an operations team as well.

“And we’ll have more buying power in a hardening market. Having the backing of a global organisation with significantly more power should assist clients with that.

Mr Park says he wasn’t looking to sell the business until he was contacted by Gallagher.

“If you told me six months ago this was going to happen, I would have laughed. It didn’t even cross my mind to sell my business.

“I was called by [Gallagher Head of Mergers & Acquisitions] Michael Lewin about a year and a half ago. I said we were not ready at that time but call us back in 12 months. He called back 12 months to the day and I said wouldn’t mind seeing what it looked like on paper, and it was a very attractive offering.

“I wouldn’t have sold my business to any brokerage. Gallagher has a good reputation in the market and is well respected.”

To anyone looking to build their own insurance business through the AR model, Mr Park says “go for it”

“The AR model is fantastic for someone that is entrepreneurial and wants to make a name for themselves in the industry and have their own brand, be in charge of their own destiny,” he says.

“But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s also hard work and sacrifice.”