Phillip Donnelly.
BIDVEST Insurance is poised to build long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with South Africa’s commercial brokers as it focuses on growing its commercial insurance product offerings, recently appointed Bidvest Insurance Group MD Phillip Donnelly says.
The Bidvest subsidiary has recently been developing the internal systems required to sustain the expanded focus after recognising the market gap for a mid-sized flexible underwriting partner with whom brokers could negotiate.
The initiative comes on the back of the motor insurance product suite that has long been the insurance company’s anchor.
The move also comes as Donnelly, who has 25 years experience with the group, was officially appointed to the senior position. Donnelly originally joined the business in 1992 when he moved to South Africa from the UK.
“We are excited about this opportunity for developing commercial insurance products and are now poised to deliver the initiative to the market. The next year will see Bidvest Insurance build relationships with selective partners who share our values and have an appetite to drive risk management and new products,” he says.
During 2017 the Insurance group undertook a road show to its motor dealer partners that Donnelly says highlighted the success the company already enjoys in this space.
While he has worked in various roles throughout the organisation, Donnelly says his most significant contributions to the success of Bidvest Insurance – and previously McCarthy Insurance Services before Bidvest acquired the Durban-based motor retailing group in 2004 – came via system and process innovation, product development and sales as well as expansion strategies. This was particularly relevant in the insurance arena.
“It’s an honour to lead a team with whom I have worked with for many years. Bidvest Insurance offers an exciting mix of experience, maturity and in-depth industry knowledge as well as innovation, passion and youth,” he says indicating he will harness both sets of strengths to benefit brokers, dealers and clients.
In the next three years Bidvest Insurance will focus on four key areas – creativity, agility and speed to market, accountability, and technology – as the means by which to build a sound platform for business and deliver in line with stakeholders’ expectations.
“This implies harnessing the skills within our team to create products and services answering clients’ specific needs; eliminating bureaucratic layers to have access to the key decision makers and swiftly deliver to our clients; building a culture of accountability among team members, both individually and as a collective, and investing in technology to build efficiencies and enhance our products and services,” Donnelly says.
He says the past year was spent building key relationships with commercial brokers and is now excited about capitalising on this new venture.
In an environment of renewed optimism in South Africa, this proudly South African insurance company promises to deliver a bright future.
**Bidvest Insurance has a Global Credit Rating of A.
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