Premium Funding and St George Bank have teamed up on a product that enables brokers of all sizes to borrow more for acquisitions, succession planning and refinancing, with “generous” repayment terms.

Premium Funding director Ross Hayward told insuranceNEWS.com.au the Acquisition Finance product is a response to requests from brokers for greater borrowing capacity.

“In the past two years there has been an enormous amount of consolidation in the industry,” he said. “Our product allows us to lend more money and give greater capacity to the borrower.”

An online calculator shows how much brokers can borrow.

Mr Hayward says there have been acquisition finance products in the past, but they are geared towards the “high end of town”.

“Our product is for brokers of all sizes,” he said.

He told insuranceNEWS.com.au that among the many banks Premium Funding spoke to, St George understood the industry best.

The partnership is the perfect combination of banking acumen and insurance industry knowledge and networks, Mr Hayward says.

“Because we will be putting up funding alongside St George, brokers will be able to get a more generous offering and payment terms than if they had just gone to a bank.

“This is the first of a number of products we will be releasing over the next six months outside of our core premium funding offering. We see great opportunity to fill a void and continue to diversify and innovate within the insurance industry.”

It is the first time two unique businesses have partnered to provide acquisition finance, he says.

Last year Premium Funding wrote about 40,000 premium-funding contracts, placing it in the Australian market’s top three by volume. It works with more than 1000 brokers annually, providing more than 100,000 quotes for about 300,000 insurance policies.

“We want to be more than a premium funder – we want to be a business partner,” Mr Hayward said.