Source: Hollard Broker Markets MDs Nash Omar and Pierre Geyer.
South Africa’s political machinations, the spectre of our country being downgraded to junk status, the US presidential election, Brexit, #FeesMustFall and the drought, even the Springboks’ disastrous recent overseas tour, have made our world an ever more uncertain place.
But not when it comes to Hollard Broker Markets and insurance. It’s been full steam ahead all year for us (and our parent company, Hollard Insurance) – and you – with innovative product launches, awards, thought leadership, competitions, first-class thinkers, fantastic events and social responsibility.
One just needs to trawl through Hollard Broker Markets’ blogs for the past year to see what we’ve been up to. But that’s a lot to get through, so we’ve picked out some highlights for you.
Early in the year, Hollard Broker Markets joint MDs Pierre Geyer and Nash Omar spoke on their outlook for 2016, and their assessment was blunt: it’s a tougher market out there, the value of advice is a differentiator to hard-pressed customers and those considering the direct insurance route, and new ideas are required.
Hollard Broker Markets was there with novel solutions: for example, our new Trade Credit Insurance Centre of Excellence (CoE) brings a unique approach to debtor cover, and we’ve established ourselves as market leaders in cyber liability and drone cover.
We’ve also added niche UMAs to the Hollard Broker Markets offering, expanding our horizons to include specialist insurance solutions around art, travel and tax risk.
And we spoke about many of Hollard Broker Markets’ specialist CoEs, which offer market-leading, expert insurance solutions. These included Risk Finance, Trucking, Trade and Construction Guarantees, Construction and Engineering, and Hospitality and Tourism.
Hollard is a supporter (and sponsor) of the insurance industry’s very popular reality show-style competition for young professionals, The Insurance Apprentice. Two Hollard Broker Markets people, Karabo Kopeka and Celina Bhima made it into the finals of the 2016 competition but missed out on top honours. For the 2017 competition, we have three contenders: Palesa Bolofo, Lisa Foster and Keith Bester.
Hollard Broker Markets won awards, too, taking the FIA Awards for Best Corporate and Best Commercial Short-term Insurer of the Year – for the second year running! And in the Sunday Times Top Brands Awards, a critical barometer of consumer sentiment, Hollard Insurance made great strides: in the short-term insurance category Hollard moved up seven places since the 2015 results to come in second, and in the long-term insurance category the company moved up from sixth to third.
Hollard Broker Markets’ senior people have provided thought leadership and service to the insurance industry. For example, Nash joined the South African Insurance Association Board, he and Pierre shared insights with Commercial Risk AFRICA, Hollard Broker Markets exco member Justin Naylor spoke on the future of brokers, and legal and compliance expert Danny Joffe warned that generalist loss adjusters face a bleak future. Hollard chief marketing officer Heidi Brauer also shared her never-flop branding “cake recipe”.
Khanyi Dhlomo speaks at Villa Arcadia.
We’ve also enjoyed the insights of external thought leaders. Journalist, model, business leader and media mogul Khanyi Dhlomo, at the behest of Gauteng Women in Insurance, spoke at Villa Arcadia on her six principles of leadership. And world-famous cold-water swimmer (and insurance guy) Lewis Pugh, a guest of the Insurance Institute of Gauteng, shared his seven secrets for unlocking the impossible.
We celebrated brokers, too. Marx Insurance Brokers, a third-generation family business, celebrated a whopping 50th anniversary. It’s a tale that starts with a motor policy – and a love story.
The BASA Awards.
Hollard International has continued on its path to global domination, with (among other activities) the establishment of Hollard Ghana.
Hollard also took a bold step with its quarterly reporting, issuing reports in digital format to both save on paper usage and make the reports more widely accessible. So far, part 1 and part 2 have been released.
A staunch corporate culture vulture, Hollard sponsored the 2016 Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) Awards, in which those companies that made the biggest difference in the arts were honoured.
Getting some air at JUMA.
Hollard’s a sporty kind of company, too (we believe in a healthy work-life balance), and we were involved in all kinds of action – from our support for classic car racing at Zwartkops to our own JUMA/JURA cycling and running events in Johannesburg and Team Purple Tides’ second place overall in the annual RISKAFRICA Regatta.
We also got involved in supporting various communities, both with our own and others’ initiatives. These included helping schoolchildren deliver water to drought-stricken communities, welcoming young women on Take a Girl Child to Work Day, building food towers for Mandela Day, handling liability cover for a community clean-up in Fourways, helping the disabled on Casual Day and – lest we forget – leading the fight against male cancers with our own, madcap Daredevil Run.
Showing ballsiness at the Daredevil Run.
Whew! What a year it’s been, filled with incredible news for us and our broker friends, and we loved sharing it all with you. We can hardly wait to see what 2017 has in store for all of us!
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