by Paul McBeth
The relationship will allow Tower, through the country's largest insurance broker, to offer its rural products to farmers, who tend to prefer being able to speak with their insurer face-to-face, said Mike Clapp, Tower's head of product and marketing. It draws on an existing relationship through Wrightson's.
"We're looking to strengthen our distribution in rural markets, and Aon have a strong presence across" this area, Clapp said. "The initial focus will be on rural products," but we expect to offer other products through Aon in the near future, he said.
With Aon focusing on offering Tower's products directly to rural clients, Clapp doesn't see any potential conflicts with his company's own financial advisory service.
Tower has been rolling out branches through the country's major centres, and expects the partnership to complement its existing 0800 phone service and website.
Aon operates 61 branches around the country in rural and suburban areas, and will give Tower the opportunity to enter markets that it has failed to effectively penetrate in the past.
"Many people living in rural and suburban New Zealand have suffered with the recent closures of insurance and bank branches," said Aon chief executive Geoff Blampied in a statement. "Many people prefer to do business face-to-face with real people."
Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.
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