Aquarius partners with Hollard to meet mutual clients’ insurance needs

Stef Theofanidis, Managing Director of Hollard Corporate Markets says: "This truly represents a win-win situation for us and our customers. It is an exciting opportunity for us to further differentiate our personal lines offering and to support our broker networks with innovative risk solutions for high net worth customers. In addition, enhanced service levels and increased efficiency in delivery will provide further competitive advantage. Partnering with the widely respected team at Aquarius adds to our brokers’ established capabilities and will go a long way to dispelling the myth that personal lines insurance is so commoditised that it cannot accommodate the significant value-add provided by a superior personal lines UMA such as Aquarius.”

"We believe that a robust personal lines UMA can continue to hold its own despite current market trends. The secret lies in how the Insurer and Underwriting Manager do business together, in how we leverage our established relationships to mutual benefit and in our ability to think outside the box. In combination, we believe that we have a unique edge in offering value to our customers, regardless of their preferred channel.”

Francois Potgieter, Hollard’s Chief Operating Officer says: "Our partnership with Aquarius presents an opportunity to enhance our joint ability by sharing actuarial data and optimising administration and procurement processes; we are also excited about the way that our existing cultures align and complement each other. This partnership will not only benefit Aquarius and ourselves, but is also exciting for our brokers and our policyholders.”

Drew Schnehage, CEO of Aquarius says: "We are tremendously excited about our partnership with Hollard. The response from our brokers, clients and partners has been overwhelming and, for the Aquarius team, it feels as if we have come home.”

"By having Hollard’s bulk buying power behind us, we will be able to leverage and increase the profitability of our portfolio and the business. Hollard’s long-term partnerships with a number of underwriting managers demonstrate that they have a recipe for success.”

"The main drive now will be to get our pricing right through active management of cost savings to the benefit of our policyholders, brokers and insurance partner. We know that Hollard understands and appreciates the complexity and challenges that face underwriting managers and that we can succeed together.”

"We have already been working closely behind the scenes with the Hollard team to set the stage for 2014 and believe that the future holds some exciting opportunities. ” concludes Ms Schnehage.

All Aquarius clients have received written notification that their existing terms and conditions on their policies and benefits will be matched under the Hollard partnership. Aquarius welcomes any queries directly or through its broker network.

Hollard is one of the leading insurers in South Africa with over six million policyholders and has a reputation for delivering innovative insurance solutions to consumers. As testimony to its ongoing commitment to innovation and service, Hollard won both the Personal and Commercial Lines Insurer of the Year Award, from the FIA in 2013.

For more information about Hollard, visit their website at www.hollard.co.za. For policy documents and benefits (including important information about claim reporting procedures and about the benefits of the U-nique product) go to www.aum.co.za.