Hi Everyone and a belated Happy 2022!
I hope you all survived the festive season, and are ready for whatever 2022 might have in store for us? I hope you managed to get some down time and are feeling rejuvenated after a bit of a break – although the holiday probably already seems like a distant memory for most of you! If you are anything like me, I’m sure you are all hopefull that the Covid pandemic is going to fade away in to the faraway distance, really soon!
We have just been through yet another tough renewal. Although, having said that, our Treaty renewals went relatively smoothly for 1/1, and in fact, we were oversubscribed in most cases. The Reinsurance market is not showing any sign of softening anytime soon, and despite it being tough, we have again seen that clients who run a good operation with healthy underwriting margins, enable us to improve their terms for them.
We are committed to doing even more for you this year. We are hoping to offer at least 3 training days at different levels with various subjects of training on each, catering for your specific needs. Again we are hoping to attract good speakers, so make sure you get in early as space is limited!
On the social and marketing front, we are planning on rejuvenating the Oak Tree Golf Classic, probably on the Natal North coast in the second half of the year, and then the Oak Tree Fishing Challenge in Jozini in March and the Oak Tree Individual Classic in May, where we hope to catch some nice big tigerfish and form even stronger bonds with clients, and not forgetting our Annual Ladies Spa Day which the ladies look forward to getting pampered. We also want to reignite the Oak Tree Poker Classic, so watch this space! In addition to that, I truly hope that I get a chance to see more of all of you this year. The challenges that Covid presented us with, are seemingly easing, so we are hoping to do a bit more cross-border travel as well, to continue growing our African footprint, and to rekindle relationships with some of our old friends further afield too.
In the first quarter I will be embarking on a marketing strategy to try and create new business opportunities for the company, but I can assure you that with our whole team approach, we are here at your beck and call! I’d also like to ask that if you know of any opportunities where someone might need some help with their Reinsurance, that you consider putting our name forward to assist!
Internally, things are going well. Our team is solid and working like a well-oiled machine, and despite Werner (junior broker) leaving us towards the end of last year (for a career change) – all is well. We are looking to bring someone on board to help Andrew with the Fac side of things, so if you know of anyone that might be suited to that sort of a position, please reach out to me! Some experience would be a plus! On the promotion front, please join me in congratulating Terry Peters for her promotion to Team Leader – Broker Support. Terry has been with us since May 2017 and she has shown some real maturity and commitment in the broker support role she currently has, so much so, that we have decided to promote her for all her hard work and dedication – thanks Terry and well done!
Financial year end is upon us, so there is some financial work to be done before the end of February, but it is looking likely to be yet another positive year for us despite there being lots of challenges. We aim to pay bonuses and increases which should keep the team nicely motivated and ready to serve you with a smile as always
I hope to see you all really soon, and wish you all the very best for the year, and may your businesses prosper!
Onwards and upwards …
Best Regards
Gordy
Managing Director