The future is all we’ve got – at least that was the message from industry consultant Ted Hogg at last week’s CIBNZ conference on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. In his address Mr Hogg warned smaller brokers with limited markets that they need to find some sort of alliance in order to survive.

With many brokers selling up in the face of legislative and licensing change Mr Hogg said any merger or acquisition must be thought out and planned. “Not doing a deal is safer than doing a bad deal,” he said.

Mr Hogg also spoke about the hard market, reminding the audience that almost a whole generation of brokers has lived under soft market conditions. But whether the arrival of the hard market signals good news or bad news, he said it is important to be proactive rather than reactive.