AUB Group has launched The Insurance Alliance – an initiative allowing brokerages to access an expanding range of services offered by the company without becoming equity members of Austbrokers.

CEO Mike Emmett says the alliance is a “natural next step” for the group and will enable a broader cross-section of Australian brokerages to benefit from the group’s services, which have been boosted by recent enhancements.

“AUB Group now has a full suite of services to assist a broking business to increase revenue, improve client service and enhance broker profitability,” he said. “We’ll work with each interested party to identify the specific benefits they’ll achieve by joining The Insurance Alliance”.

The company earlier this year established Austplacements, a dedicated unit to assist with complex risk placements in local and overseas markets. It has also introduced the ExpressCover technology platform and launched data and analytics services last year.

Membership of the alliance will allow brokers to access those services, insurance programs such as its professional indemnity offering, risk and compliance, training and legal services as well as claims preparation and loss adjustment services for complex claims.

Brokerages will also have access to data and analytics capability to identify opportunities to improve business performance and the ability to use IT, finance, payroll and human resources shared services.

AUB Chief Broking Officer Ben Bessell says the equity model in Austbrokers and Austagencies networks remains a core part of the group’s DNA, but a number of inquiries have been received over the past few years for the type of alternative offered through the alliance.

“Establishing The Insurance Alliance is an additional business opportunity that will leverage some of the services we already deliver, and for Australia complements the NZBrokers non-equity network we already own and operate in New Zealand,” he tells insuranceNEWS.com.au.

AUB says prospective members of The Insurance Alliance will be able to choose from several innovative approaches to pricing.

“These include an option to pay an amount based on a share of the cost and profit improvements we’ll enable for a member,” Mr Bessell said. “Alternatively, we will also offer options to charge a proportion of commercial services fees or a network fee linked to the size of the brokerage.”

Mr Bessell says AUB believes there will be strong demand for the alliance offering, and it is in discussion with several prospects that have previously expressed interest, but the company has not set a specific plan or target number for the number of members it wishes to attract.

Australian broking is the largest earnings driver for AUB Group, with the unit’s underlying pre-tax net profit rising 60.1% to $39.3 million in the December half. New Zealand contributed $5.2 million in the six-month period, while Australian agencies provided $5.3 million.