This post gives insight into one of the largest insurance companies in Australia. Suncorp Group Limited engages in the provision of banking, wealth, and insurance products and services. See also the History of Suncorp Group Limited, Recent Events in Suncorp, their interests, and business ventures.
Suncorp Group Limited is an Australian finance insurance and banking corporation. It is one of the largest general insurance groups in Australia as well as one of its mid-size banks. Suncorp Group Limited was formed on the 1st of December, 1996 by merging Suncorp, Metway Bank and the QIDC. The Group is a public company with its headquarters located in Brisbane, Australia. Suncorp Group Limited spans Australia as well as New Zealand.
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History of Suncorp Group Limited
Metway Bank
Metway Bank which was founded in 1959 started as the Metropolitan Permanent Building Society. In the late 1980s, Metropolitan expanded into being a full-scale bank. Metropolitan eventually abandoned its status as a Building Society and reincorporated as a bank in 1988. The new bank was called Metway and soon enough, they had a number of rival banks and building societies. Subsequently, Metway became the largest Queensland-based bank by the mid-1990s and extended into Eastern states. The assets of Metway bank were more than $7 billion.
Queensland Industry Development Corporation
QIDC originated from Agbank which at the time was a State government farming financer started in 1902. New Queensland legislation was passed to incorporate and regulate the bank in 1986. The new legislation made it become the Queensland Industry Development Corporation. By the mid-1990s, QIDC had assets of about $3 billion.
The Merger: Suncorp-Metway (1996-1999)
As a result of the growing changes in Australia’s financial and insurance industries, the state-owned QIDC and Suncorp were amalgamated with Metway bank in 1996. Suncorp-Metway became one of the largest insurance and finance groups in Australia thereby ranking 5th in National Market. In 1998, the company’s combined assets exceeded $22 billion.
More so, in 1999 Suncorp-Metway completed the integration of the Metway, QIDC, and Suncorp operations thereby launching a single unified Suncorp-Metway brand. As a result of this, the company also had to trim its retail network, shutting down a number of redundant branches.
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Further Conglomeration (2000-2006)
Suncorp-Metway began putting into place a new strategy right after its integration phase. The company wanted to expand preferably in its more profitable insurance division. They took over GIO General Ltd in 2001 which was then part of AMP; this was its first acquisition. The purchase made Suncorp-Metway the second-ranked insurance company in Australia in terms of income from general insurance in annual premiums.
In 2002, the company carried out another rebranding exercise thereby adopting the Suncorp name for all of its Queensland operations. As well as for non-insurance operations outside of the state. The company’s insurance operations took on the GIO name except for Queensland.
Suncorp acquired 50 percent of the Queensland-based RACQ Insurance, a joint venture originally formed between AMP and RACQ. They also purchased half of RAA Insurance from RAA in 2004. Furthermore, they purchased Tasmania’s RACT insurance from RACT.
Recent Events in Suncorp Group Limited
Suncorp was granted a MySuper authority in January 2014 thus enabling it to continue to receive default superannuation contributions. Suncorp Business Services appointed its new CEO, Matt Pancino on June 13, 2014. Pancino formerly worked as the Chief Information Officer for the group. It was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame in 2016.
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Suncorp Business Interests.
Suncorp basically covers almost all aspects of wealth and banking as well as life insurance, general insurance, commercial insurance, CTP, banking, finance, etc. It is the parent company of GIO which is majorly used as a general insurance company thus representing Suncorp outside Queensland. They offer similar products to the Suncorp branded insurance product in Queensland.
Suncorp trades under a number of brands such as AAMI, Apia, Shannon’s, InsureMyRide, Veri, Terri Scheer, etc. in Australia. As well as Vero, Asteron, Guardian Trust, Tyndall, Vero Liability, AA Insurance, etc. in New Zealand.
Suncorp Joint Ventures
In 2001, Suncorp acquired insurance joint Ventures with motoring clubs RACQ and RAA however they divested them in 2010. They also entered into a Joint Venture agreement with RACT Insurance in Tasmania in 2007. However, they sold 50% interest back to RACT in July 2021.
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What naming rights does Suncorp Hold?
Suncorp holds the naming rights of Lang Park, currently known as Suncorp Stadium. It is located in the Brisbane suburb of Milton and is the home of the Brisbane Broncos and Queensland Reds. Suncorp is also the title sponsor of the Suncorp Super Netball competition in Australia. They also own naming rights to Suncorp Place in Sydney and Suncorp Plaza in Brisbane.
What kinds of services does Suncorp offer?
Suncorp offers customers a range of financial products and services. These include;
1. Superannuation accounts
2. Self-managed super funds
3. Financial planning
4. Share trading
5. Home loans and personal loans
6. Commercial and Personal insurance lines
Key People in Suncorp Group Limited
1. Steve Johnston: Group CEO and Managing Director
2. Jeremy Robson: Group chief financial officer
3. Lisa Harrison: CEO of insurance product and portfolio
4. Paul Smeaton: Chief operating officer of insurance
5. Clive Van Horen: CEO of banking and wealth
6. Jimmy Higgins: CEO of Suncorp New Zealand
7. Fiona Thompson: Group Executive, people, culture and advocacy
8. Belinda Speirs: Group General Counsel
9. Adam Bennett: Chief information officer
10. Bridget Messer: Group Chief risk officer
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Suncorp reaching its 3-year plan
After several planning, the group is finally reaching its final stages of laying down a 3-year strategic plan. This plan is aimed at mitigating inflation costs and their pressures. Suncorp’s half-year 2023 results showed a net profit of up to 44.3% to $560 million without taxes. Its cash earnings however were up to 62.9% to $588 million. Coincidentally, Suncorp Bank’s profit after tax increased 28% to $256 million driven by solid volume growth and higher margins.
Steve Johnston, CEO of Suncorp Group confirms that the FY23 plan is delivering. He claims that in its half-year 2023 results, Suncorp Group’s strategy has reached its last delivery stages despite working against global events.
ANZ seeks to acquire Suncorp Bank
ANZ and Suncorp Bank offer retail and commercial banking products and services in Australia. Some of these services include home loans, deposit products (including transactions and saving accounts), business loans, etc.
Suncorp Group, however, owns and operates through other entities. Thus having an insurance business in Australia as well as a separate insurance business in New Zealand. These insurance businesses do not form part of the proposed acquisition and thus will continue to be run by Suncorp Group.
The ACC had received the application from ANZ for the merger. However, the ACC had 90 days from the date of the application to make its decision. They can still postpone their decision-making if the applicants agree and in this case, ANZ has agreed to extend until 12 June 2023.
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Is Suncorp and AAMI the same?
AAMI is part of the Suncorp Network which brings financial services as well as products from certain brands together. With AAMI, you get to access simple Suncorp Banking products that help you spend and save better. You should also note that Products and services are provided by separate companies in Suncorp Network.
When did Suncorp take over AAMI?
AAMI has been a Subsidiary of Suncorp since 2007. With Suncorp as its parent company, it has since then blossomed and grown.
Who is Suncorp’s biggest shareholder?
Suncorp’s biggest shareholder at the moment is ARCH Capital Group Limited. They hold a considerably large percentage of Suncorp group limited.
How many customers does Suncorp have?
Suncorp is basically one of the country’s largest insurance companies thus serving over 9 million customers. Their customers span wide across Australia and New Zealand. They hold a whooping sum of $96 billion in assets.
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Who is the underwriter for Suncorp Insurance?
Suncorp health insurance is issued by NIB health funds limited. It is a registered private insurer and is marketed by platform CoVentures which is a subset of Suncorp Group company.
Conclusion
We have studied extensively the operations of Suncorp Group Limited. Follow our website for more information on Insurance companies around you.
See Also: https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/nz/companies/suncorp/119325/