In an industry where legacy and innovation often collide, one family-run brokerage is proving that resilience and reinvention are the true keys to survival. From escaping political turmoil in South Africa to weathering financial ruin in New Zealand and finally thriving in Australia, this brokerage’s journey is a masterclass in adaptation – and a possible blueprint for brokers navigating today’s challenging market.
“It all started with my mom,” said Schalk Van Der Merwe (pictured above), managing director of Omnisure. “She started as a broker pretty much straight out of school in Pretoria.”
From there, said Van Der Merwe, his mum went on to run her own business. “She effectively became the in-house insurance broker for the Pretoria Bar Association, so she looked after all the barristers’ personal insurance in South Africa,” he said. “That was where the whole thing started.”
Meanwhile, Van Der Merwe’s dad had studied electrical engineering, then accounting and became an auditor. He ended up buying a meat wholesaling business with a national footprint. That effectively set the stage for Van Der Merwe and his younger brother, infusing the family with the entrepreneurial spirit that now drives their Sydney headquartered insurance brokerage.
Political instability and violence in South Africa prompted a family move to New Zealand, leaving friends and their old businesses behind.
“I think most of what they had, they had to leave there in an effort to get out of the country,” said Van Der Merwe. “It just wasn't something you could do easily.”
They started a cafe and restaurant in Auckland. But that all came to an end in 1998 when there was a five week power outage. “They didn’t have a lot of money at that particular time,” said Van Der Merwe. “That essentially destroyed them financially - so they had to restart their lives.”
This time in Australia – leading to the founding of Omnisure. That willingness to uproot and rebuild across three countries wasn’t just a matter of necessity, but a lesson in the kind of grit required to survive in both life and business.
“They're probably still the hardest working people that I know. To reset themselves up three times in different countries – it's not for the faint of heart, I'd say.”
But growth hasn’t come without its challenges. As the business transitioned from a tight-knit family operation to a mid-sized player with 25 staff and $40 million in gross written premium, the next generation faced tough questions about risk and reward. “Me wanting to expand and put my own mark on the business obviously meant growth unfortunately cost money. Putting bums on seats and getting good brokers in and getting good young brokers in unfortunately cost money. Sometimes, given my inexperience in the business at that stage, there were question marks over whether some of these ideas were the right ideas, whether they were sensible, and whether they made financial sense for the business.”
The realities of today’s market have only sharpened that focus. “It might seem like it's easy from the outside, but the suburban sort of family-run brokerage that's happy to run a small team and run a lifestyle business, I think unfortunately is kind of a thing of the past. Keeping staff happy is hard. Keeping up with all the compliance is really difficult. Trying to make a decent margin so they can actually take some money home to their families is hard. A lot of them are authorized reps, so their licensees are taking a portion of income. It might seem like it's easy from the outside, but the suburban sort of family-run brokerage that's happy to run a small team and run a lifestyle business, I think unfortunately is kind of a thing of the past.”
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Yet, even as the business grows, its core mission remains unchanged. “We're not trying to become a multinational," said Van Der Merwe. "We're trying to build a business based around our expertise and customer service."
He expects to grow the business to about 60 or 70 people and be satisfied with that scale.
"It's not so much the size, it's can we keep delivering the quality at the level that we are now? And I think the bigger you get, every business has that challenge to keep that quality at the coalface," said Van Der Merwe.
For brokers across Australia facing similar pressures, this story could be a timely reminder: success is about staying true to your roots and having the courage to evolve.
