Chris Macpherson became a broker out of necessity, but the appeal of being able to help people guided him to becoming the National Accounts Partner at Community Broker Network (CBN).

How’d you get your start in the industry?

I was up in Darwin working as a sports bookmaker. A friend of mine who I played rugby with was an AR of Westcourt at the time, he was looking for a staff member, and I was made redundant, so it aligned. I came from a sales background, so the skills overlapped quite well in the general insurance world.

I started with Able Insurance back in December 2014, which was an AR of Westcourt. It was a move of necessity at the time, but it became something that grew on me – having the opportunity to help people by protecting their assets, and the fact it is very much a people-minded business.

There was a bit of a shift up in the NT when Allianz came and purchased the Territory Insurance Office (TIO), and I saw a lot of clients who only ever dealt with TIO, whether it was directly or through a broker, and many of them didn’t necessarily understand the angles of the market. Once TIO became a privately-owned entity instead of a subsidised government-run organisation, premiums changed. So, that required us to sit down with clients and provide that advice to support them in protecting their valued assets, such as their homes and business.

What made you to want to stay in the industry?

What appealed to me is that I think insurance is misunderstood by a lot of people, and in my role, I was able to explain the complex world of insurance to them. It was also through that process that I got to learn and understand a lot as well.

It resonated with me to be able to deliver value to the client by differentiating between available products to ensure the best available outcomes for them.

Insurance has become an excellent career path where there is constant learning and an opportunity to help people by providing quality advice so that they can protect themselves, their businesses, their assets, whatever it might be.

What’s it been like at CBN?

One of the things that I enjoyed as I've grown in my broking career, is the ability to partner with businesses to assist them to grow, where insurance and risk management becomes a key enabler. If we can help clients protect against risks and they become more educated in the process, we tend to see a better outcome.

Throughout my time at CBN, my primary focus has been about helping our AR businesses achieve their goals, so it's a direct translation for me. There could be any number of roles that I'm performing, including business development assistance, guidance on risk placements or support with challenging claims.

As the National Accounts Partner, I look after some of CBN’s largest and more strategic accounts. Predominantly I am guiding brokerages from a strategic or growth point of view, and much of this stems from engaging in conversations to help CBN brokers discover their goals and what they're looking to get out of the general insurance industry.

Education is also a big piece ensuring ARs have got the best information to hand or the best people to speak to so they can continue to achieve their business goals and succeed in what they're doing.

What are some key issues you’ve seen in recent times?

A common thing our brokers are having to explain to clients, is why premiums are going up exponentially. Because you can’t just tell the client that “it’s the market”. We’re making an effort to assist our ARs and, more broadly, the industry to convey that. It’s not just the issues themselves; it’s also about being able to explain these in plain speak for everyone to comprehend.

We’re also focusing on informing industry regulators, and I’ll be working with our ARs to sit down and try to get time with their MPs to advocate for our industry about what we do as insurance brokers and the immense value ARs provide their clients.

What more can be done to help solve the issue of underinsurance?

I think education is the big piece. Our focus needs to be squarely on the customer, to simplify the language with relatively easy-to-understand terminology and remove legalese from it as much as we can when we’re having these conversations, which can be challenging.

It is a difficult conversation because plenty of businesses are under financial pressure off the back of everything that transpired through covid. The role of brokers is to demonstrate their added value versus price and help clients understand that the cheapest isn’t necessarily the best. Because at the end of the day, we’re selling a piece of paper and a promise, and if it’s just the cheapest, not the best solution for the client, it can put them in an adverse situation in the future.

What are some things you do outside of work?

I’ve been doing sports media work covering several competitions. I come from a rugby league, rugby union and AFL sports background. My friends tell me I can talk with a mouth full of marbles underwater, so putting those two things together seemed like a natural transition.

I’ve also officiated international rugby league games, and let’s say that 20 years of refereeing certainly developed my dispute resolution skills. This has been of great value on more than one occasion to support brokers that may be encountering some bumpy client situations.