Brokers give back

Brokers give back

A new report shows how brokers value their communities and go above and beyond when it comes to philanthropy

By Bernice Han

Brokers do more than just attend to the insurance needs of clients. They are extremely active in community work, raising not just funds for charities but also volunteering their time to help out the less fortunate in society.

A study commissioned by the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) finds the average brokerage gives away more than $25,000 annually to charitable and other social causes.

The Deloitte Access Economics report on broker value says each brokerage also spends an average of $20,000 sponsoring events or fundraisers in the local communities where they are present.

Monetary donations aside, many also help out at community or charity events. Brokerages clocked in an average of more than 400 staff hours supporting the work of charities and more than 150 additional hours for other causes, according to the report, which is based on responses from NIBA’s membership base.

And brokers have not wavered in their desire to give back to society despite months of business upheavals caused by the pandemic. Even as they worked longer than usual hours to guide clients out of the coronavirus recession, they have not forgotten about the many not-for-profits out there that are struggling just as much financially in the current economic climate.

“In my life, things are really simple,” Kim Gilbert, the founder of Zenith Insurance Services, a brokerage based in Perth, told Insurance News. “There is the right thing to do and the wrong thing to do and I believe, like a lot in the broking profession, that it is our responsibility to give back to the community that has been good to us over many years.”

In recent months he has been up before 5am, training intensively four or five times a week to build up his fitness for next year’s Red Sky Ride, an annual cycling event he co-founded in 2008 to raise funds for Solaris Cancer Care.

Doing the right thing: Zenith founder Kim Gilbert

Mr Gilbert had lost his niece to cancer the previous year and by chance, became aware of the charity and its work providing support to cancer patients in Western Australia. And over the years, he has helped to raise more than $3.5 million for the organisation.

The pre-dawn workout sessions do not come easy for Mr Gilbert, whose knees had total replacement surgeries in 2013. The March 3-6 donation drive, which will kick off in Perth and cover 600km, will be his first since the 2018 event, when he decided to retire his bicycle.

Mr Gilbert, the NIBA broker of the year in 2018, says he is taking on the challenge again in support of his office manager, Lynda Bowles, who was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year.

“While I have titanium knees and riding long distances can be a discomfort, I’m prepared to put up with it because there are lots of people in the community who are worse off than me and benefit from the services provided by Solaris Cancer Care,” Mr Gilbert said.

“So long as I’m looking down at the grass, not up at the grass, so long as I have the ability to help, I will continue to do it.”

Of course, Mr Gilbert is not the only broker leading by example when it comes to supporting philanthropic causes.

Steadfast Chief Executive and Managing Director Robert Kelly has not shied away from some unusual charity acts.

In October he took part in the CEO Dare to Cure event at the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, dipping in an ice bath to raise medical research funds for the Children’s Cancer Institute.

Mr Kelly drew in more than $117,000 for his effort, exceeding his target of $90,000 as his supporters donated generously. He also raised the most out of all the participants from the event. Many of those who chipped in are his business contacts from the insurance industry. One of his supporters, who kept his identity anonymous, gave $75,000 to the cancer institute.

Helping hands: from left, Steadfast Underwriting Agencies Chief Operations Officer Katrin Stoecker, Heavy Motor Insurance Australia CEO Michael Zaknic, UAA CEO Micheal Murphy, and Steadfast CEO and MD Robert Kelly

The Steadfast chief says supporting the work of charities is personally important to him.

“As a father and grandfather nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing my loved ones live life to the fullest every day, but I know there are many families in Australia and around the world for whom this is not the case.

“The work of the Children’s Cancer Institute has the potential to change the lives of so many families.”

Many brokerages have long embraced philanthropy, seeing the act of giving back as a key part of their corporate identity.

McLardy McShane, a national brokerage with its head office in Melbourne, has raised more than $1.2 million for the Reach Foundation youth charity since 2008 through its annual Reach Christmas Lunch. It has also helped set up a similar youth-focused support group in Ireland called Soar.

“If we could make a difference somewhere, we will do it,” Group Chief Executive Don McLardy told Insurance News.

“It’s a fundamental part of our culture. We want to give back to the communities. We’re thankful we’re in a good business and we have the ability to do it.”

Over the years the brokerage has also supported a number of other charities such as FightMND, raising funds for motor neurone disease research.

Fellow Melbourne-based brokerage Insurance House has taken a different approach in giving back to society. Instead of making financial contributions directly to its preferred charities, it has instead set up a program called I(H) CARE to support the charity work of its employees.

The program is made up of three initiatives. One involves encouraging employees to take annual leave to help out at their chosen charities, and the other sees Insurance House matching dollar for dollar what employees have raised for charities.

“We come at this from a staff perspective,” Insurance House Managing Director Jay Fereday told Insurance News. “For us it is about embracing our staff passion and supporting them to do some pretty amazing things.

“We find that some staff are really passionate about it and it tends to drive more activities.”