Melbourne authorised representative (AR) firm McLardy McShane Insurance & Financial Services has opted out of Insurance Advisernet Australia (IAA) after its directors considered their business had outgrown the network model.

The business will instead become part of the Steadfast group and operate under its own Australian financial services licence.

As part of the move, McLardy McShane MD Don McLardy has agreed to sell his 10% shareholding in IAA effective from August 31. IAA is partly owned by Austbrokers.

Mr McLardy told insuranceNEWS.com.au the business has grown to the point where it employs 20 staff and has a strong presence in the Melbourne community.

“IAA is really designed for the one, two or three-man brokerage,” he said. “We don’t need the [affiliate] services any more because we’ve got them in-house.”

The firm’s exit from the IAA network will be effective from December 31.

McLardy McShane was established following a merger three years ago and today has annual premium in excess of $15 million. It previously claimed to be the largest AR within the IAA network.

Mr McLardy departs the IAA network after 14 years’ involvement, including his appointment in 2003 as an IAA director and shareholder.

“We’ve got lots of work on, the business is going strongly and this just allows us to focus on that business,” he said.