It’s official. Well-known Sydney broker Wilburtins has bought CE McDonald’s Sydney operations. The new entity will be known as “Wilburtins McDonald” with a combined gross written premium of $30 million.

Wilburtins is 100%-owned by Austbrokers, with MD Ray Willis becoming the MD of the new company. CE McDonald chief Trevor McWhirter will be a director of the new company with a focus on business development.

The merger of the two strong niche players recognises that survival in the future will have a lot to do with size and dominance. Both Mr Willis and Mr McWhirter said that all brokers need to reassess the position of their businesses as FSRA-inspired changes continue to sweep through the intermediary sector.

Mr McWhirter said that with the FSRA literally rewriting the rule books, every broker needs to examine his or her business direction. “By combining our resources we now have the economies of scale to better manage the major changes on the doorstep.”

Austbrokers CEO Lach McKeough said this type of “group/partnership approach” is one of the most effective ways of managing change “with the impact of the FSRA yet to be realised”.

Mr Willis said the merger was acknowledgement of the fact that the industry “is in for quite an upheaval when the FSRA comes into play. We believe the best way to prepare for this is to develop economies of scale, and approach change from a position of strength.

Mr McWhirter agreed. “In the face of such enormous change in the industry, the concept of partnerships with groups such as Austbrokers is vital,” he said.