Taking the helm- Greg Fisher, CEO Club Marine

by Jeni Bone on 8 Mar 2010 Australia’s largest pleasurecraft insurance provider, Club Marine, recently appointed Greg Fisher to the role of CEO, taking over from Mark Bradley, heading a team with Australasia-wide coverage via more than 400 insurance service centres and over 700 brokers, serving nearly 140,000 members, as well as the role of Publisher of Club Marine magazine.

In this exclusive with MarineBusiness-World.com, Greg Fisher shares some insight into the brand and plan for Club Marine.

What is your interest/background in the marine industry and boating?
I am a keen boatie and own a trailer boat and PWC. I grew up around skiing and fishing and am particularly attracted to the lifestyle culture of Club Marine and, of course, have used Club Marine as my own insurer.
I have come to the position of CEO at Club Marine after over 30 years experience in the insurance industry, holding senior management positions with NZI Insurance, Fortis Group and, since 2002, Allianz, which is Club Marine’s parent company.

How do you see the Club Marine brand in the industry?
Club Marine is an icon and industry leader in the marine insurance sphere with a dedicated and professional crew who keep us at the forefront of recreational boating in Australasia. We are very proud of our strong Club Marine brand in the industry and see Club as a trusted partner to the industry.

What can we expect from the company during 2010 – any initiatives or changes with you at the helm?
I plan to reinforce Club Marine as an intrinsic part of the Australasian boating industry and as a strong promoter of safety on the water. With over 750 intermediaries, such as boat dealers and insurance brokers, serving 140,000 members, Club Marine will continue to maintain a strong presence.

Going forward, I intend to maintain Club Marine’s respected position within the Australasian boating industry and lifestyle. I’m also committed to maintaining our strong and growing membership base. The company, through the efforts of its hardworking team across Australia and New Zealand, has rightly earned its reputation for professionalism and commitment to service.

Regarding the magazine, how do you think it serves the boating public and industry? As Publisher, are you planning to make innovations to content or direction?
The magazine is such a great part of the company and I look forward to working with the editorial team to maintain the quality and content that has made it such an industry leader.

During November/December 2009, Club Marine has conducted a reader survey of our magazine readers and the response has been greater than expected. The survey has highlighted areas for new initiatives and changes which we are currently reviewing for consideration and implementation in 2010.

What are the main issues in recreational boating insurance?
The overwhelming issue facing recreational boating insurance is safety, and associated with that are the linked issues of education, awareness and training. Safety encompasses a range of issues, from boat preparation and maintenance to on-water handling and behaviour.

As Australia’s largest provider of recreational boating insurance, Club Marine sees examples daily of damaged boats and injured people that could have been avoided and it fundamentally comes down to people thinking before they act.
We fully support any efforts by authorities to educate boat users to make safety on the water paramount and Club Marine also supports training initiatives that result in improved boating skills.

Also, via Club Marine Magazine, we regularly run educational pieces for our members to try and inform them on aspects of their boating that they can improve on from a safety point of view.

Another issue that is impacting more and more on the industry is a lack of experienced mechanical tradespeople to effect repairs. It is certainly having an impact on repair costs, with a trend now more towards replacement rather than repair because of a shortage of good tradespeople. This will only get worse unless there are moves to increase the number of apprenticeships throughout the marine industry.

Theft has always been a big issue, of course, but we believe we won’t see any serious improvement in national boat theft statistics until state authorities agree to adopt some form of national registry for boat hulls. As it stands at the moment, it is relatively easy to steal a boat – and we’re primarily talking here about trailer boats – and ‘rebirth’ it in another state.

In fact, it is generally harder to register a boat trailer than a hull. What is needed is some form of uniform national registration system that will identify stolen boats and counterfeited hulls. Our National Claims Manager, Phil Johnson has done a lot of good work on the issue and is dealing with authorities to try and come up with a workable solution.

We believe it is a fundamental part of Club Marine’s role within the marine sphere to advocate in areas where we believe our members’ boating lifestyles and experiences can be improved. Reducing boat theft is an obvious area where we know we can play a part and work constructively with authorities to achieve a positive outcome for our members and Australian boaties in general.

Another issue that we are monitoring at the moment is the use of ethanol-blended fuels. From an insurance and boat safety point of view, the jury is still out on the issue in Australia, although we are aware of problems associated with fuel supply and storage systems on boats in the US. It’s something we’re monitoring, but so far doesn’t appear to have impacted here in Australia.

How is silting in our waterways contributing to the rate of claims each year? Is it a worsening problem from your observations?
Groundings are our most common claims segment and our information is that there has been no definite trend either way from a national perspective in recent times. However, if we look at a broader time scale, we know that there are a lot more people on the water now than 10 years ago and many of them are on larger boats, that have deeper draughts.

In areas like the Broadwater on the Gold Coast, Queensland that require regular dredging to maintain navigable waterways, silting is a concern due to the sheer number of boats on the water. We believe that more could be more done by local authorities in some areas, particularly considering that boat registration fees in some states have risen considerably, but not necessarily commensurate with boating support services, such as dredging.

Having said that, while silting can be a problem, it is still a matter of skippers taking due care when they are in an area prone to shallow water and shifting sands.

How is Club Marine responding to increasing number of competitors in the marketplace?
Club Marine has been providing recreational boating insurance for more than 40 years and while we welcome competition, we believe Australian boaties recognise quality and value for money. There are a number of features of the Club Marine ‘experience’ that set us apart from our competitors.

A good example is our Club Marine Assist product, which is a recent innovation in the marine sector that we are particularly proud of. It’s a service that is exclusively for Club Marine members and offers 24-hour assistance to any members covering everything from on-water assistance, to a trailer breakdown service and advisory service for local marinas and berthing. No one else offers anything like it.

In addition, I’d point out that we offer a 24-7 claims service, we have offices in every mainland state and in New Zealand and we have a National Service Centre Repair Network that is unrivalled in the marine insurance industry. And, of course, we also have the strength of the worldwide Allianz network behind us.

So, to answer your question, I guess we respond to our competitors by pointing out our commitment to superior customer service and close working relationships with all segments of the boating industry.

How have you changed your offering and positioning to compete?
By value-adding with features like Club Marine Assist and continuing to strive to improve the claims experience for our members.

What is your annual marketing budget and choice of media for campaigns?
Rather than be specific, I’d just point out that we conduct much of our marketing via our many sponsorships of boating events around Australia and New Zealand. From small local events, to major fishing competitions, boat shows, ski races and premier sailing events, Club Marine has a policy of investing our marketing budget back into the boating lifestyle. We believe that’s where we do the most good and it means that ultimately Australasian boaties and Club Marine members benefit.

Specifically with regard to our choice of media, we primarily rely on print, especially via Club Marine Magazine, to spread the Club Marine message, but also have a strong electronic presence where we believe that it delivers the best value to us.

The message I’d like to convey primarily is that Club Marine is much more than a marine insurance provider – it’s a national support structure for, and a proud participant in the Australian marine lifestyle and industry.

Visit www.clubmarine.com.au for more information.