Regional smarts Adroit has spread its wings after starting as a small country brokerage, and Fabian Pasquini sees plenty of opportunity ahead By Wendy Pugh
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abian Pasquini has traded in the corporate frequent flyer commute between Australia’s largest cities for a role where the rubber hits the road in regional communities. Executive positions at AUB Group over two decades meant countless trips between his Melbourne home, the Sydney head office and member companies around the country. But time spent as regional operations manager representing Austbrokers on the boards of partner firms, including Geelong-based Adroit, also opened the doorway to his current role. Mr Pasquini became Adroit Insurance & Risk Managing Director in December 2018 after putting up his hand to lead a business he was familiar with from an arms-length perspective. “There was a change in shareholding at Adroit and it required a new MD and I got challenged by the guy in the mirror, at the tender age of mid-50s,” he tells Insurance News. “I’d had many years working as a non-executive director and, I believe, adding value to a number of businesses, but I had never had the coal-face opportunity to be part of the leadership of a business like this.” Mr Pasquini has worked in insurance since he was 18, after following his brother into the industry. He was a motor claims clerk for Federation Insurance, worked as a broker and held management positions with NZI Insurance, which became part of CGU. Recent roles at Austbrokers and AUB have included chief distribution officer and acquisitions and mergers general manager. Since joining Adroit he has focused on understanding the business, its clients and their local communities at a deeper level as he moves to set priorities for the future. “In my previous role, there I was, QF410, seven o’clock, up to the big smoke in Sydney three days a week, and I think at times we lose sight of the real Australia. One of the attractions for me was that Adroit was regionally based. “This business is steeped in the strong DNA of
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community involvement, is strongly values-based and is a little bit different to a normal broking business in many ways.” Adroit’s roots date back to 1978 when it started as Verrell Insurance Brokers in Geelong. AUB took up a shareholding during the 1990s and the brokerage has expanded its regional footprint to include branches in Albury, Ballarat, Bendigo, Maryborough, Drouin, Hawthorn (Melbourne), Traralgon (Gippsland) and Torquay. Geelong Mayor Bruce Harwood cut the ribbon on a new head office in the city last September and Adroit is this year celebrating the 20th anniversary of its formation. The owner-driver strategy AUB favours for its broker network is reflected within the Adroit group as it has partnered with principals, while avoiding a “cookie-cutter” template to arrangements. “AUB is a majority shareholder in the business, and it works in partnership with us to ensure we maintain that ‘skin in the game’ structure, because our experience shows us that structure provides the best results,” Mr Pasquini says. Adroit has more than 25,000 clients, transacts close to 60,000 policies annually and handles some $120 million in gross written premium. The group’s scale allows it to have business services teams in human resources, marketing, finance, IT and learning and development, and it has a claims handling joint venture arrangement with Austbrokers Countrywide. Mr Pasquini says Adroit has expertise in such areas as professional indemnity and trade credit that can be tapped by advisers, giving them an advantage relative to competitors as they work with a diverse client base. The business assists firms with workers’ compensation and has a strong income stream in life insurance. Looking ahead, the focus is on ensuring Adroit maintains and builds strong relationships with clients as a trusted risk adviser, while the group will also expand and offer additional value through further partnerships and joint ventures.
