Australian Unity has acquired Waratah Insurance Brokers in Sydney in its first step of an ambitious plan to be a significant player in the SME space.

The health insurer has a history of general insurance involvement, having had its own underwriting division until it was sold to Calliden in 2007.

It still has a sizeable general insurance business, serving about 20,000 customers, thanks to partnerships with Calliden, CGU and Allianz.

But the Waratah acquisition marks its first move into the broking sector.

“The missing service for us was general insurance broking,” Australian Unity Head of Finance Broking and General Insurance Chris Naughtin told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“We’ve been trying for two years but it is only now that businesses have become available for acquisition. We’re talking to others and want to become a major player in the SME space.

“We want to look after the mum-and-dad businesses of Australia.”

Waratah is a relatively small operation, with five staff based in one office in the western Sydney suburb of Bankstown.

It has been rebranded to become part of Australian Unity Personal Financial Services, but the operating model will be retained and MD Brett Thornthwaite will continue to manage the business.

Australian Unity Personal Financial Services CEO Steve Davis says their growth plans are ambitious but depend on finding suitable broking businesses.

“We are looking for like-minded owners who are strongly client-focused, with well-managed businesses, and who wish to become our business partner rather than an employee,” he said.

“We plan to retain acquired businesses in their current formats and let the previous business owners get on with growing the business, rather than operationally managing the business.”

Waratah is a Steadfast broker, an arrangement that Mr Thornthwaite says will effectively continue due to Australian Unity also being a Steadfast member.