Headhunters move in at Insurance Council

Illustration: Rod Clement

Rather unfortunate timing after the black summer, but the Insurance Council of Australia has lost its chief underwriter Rob Whelan. He was closing in on a decade at the peak body.

ICA president Gary Dransfield has commissioned headhunters Omera Partners to find the next chief executive while Whelan continues to serve until the replacement arrives.

There’s no indication on Whelan’s plans apart from “exploring new roles and opportunities”, but he came from insurance players including AAMI and later Suncorp.

Recent Australian Prudential Regulation Authority statistics show that the general insurance industry generates gross written premiums of $49bn. The industry, which employs about 60,000 people, on average pays out $155m in claims every working day (including more than $1.65bn for the recent bushfires).

The new CEO will quickly need answers for the questions arising in any bushfire royal commission.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has written to the state premiers, and is still awaiting their feedback before the formal commission announcement.

The new chief executive might also need to formulate a view on “the role of climate change affecting Australia’s ability to prevent, mitigate and respond to natural disasters”, which is understood to be one of the draft terms of reference.

Sharma’s a busy bee

The Member for Wentworth Dave Sharma has quietly slipped from the chairman’s seat of Israeli tech company Shekel Brainweigh, blaming the increasing demands of his life in Canberra representing the good people of Sydney’s east.

Shekel Brainweigh, which develops the sort of tech that lets punters self-serve at the supermarket checkout, listed on the Aussie stockmarket last November after selling off its shares at 35c each.

Since then, the shares have been on a downward slide and are now trading at about 12c, valuing former Israeli ambassador Sharma’s allocation of 10,500 shares at a mere $1260 and the group at just $17m. The company has recently sold its first autonomous vending machines into Europe.

While no longer a player in the locally listed company’s universe in an official capacity, Sharma remains a committed share investor.

At last count Sharma’s portfolio comprised 25 stocks including big banks and major retailers, plus a few troubled souls like Ardent Leisure and property interest McGrath.

Grollos sell up

Melbourne’s retired concrete king Bruno Grollo has sold his Phillip Island estate, Woolamai House. It comes after almost four decades ownership.

The Grollos seven-bedroom Italianate mansion, built by colonial hotelier Captain John Blake Cleeland, came with a more recent award-winning extension added — in concrete, naturally — designed by Robert Simeoni.

Captain Cleeland owned the 1875 Melbourne Cup winning horse Woolamai which was trained on the island. It had been called “the most dangerous outsider” pre-race.

The muscular horse, carrying 7 stone 8lb, took three minutes and 38 seconds to win after the bay stallion made its way to Flemington, a 150km slog. Woolamai was the first ever horse to win the race on a Tuesday.

The Cape Woolamai property was sold by alpine and coastal real estate specialist John Castran at Castran’s in conjunction with Greg Price at Alex Scott & Staff. They had given expectations of a $3.5m to $3.85m sale, a record price.

The Cleeland family sold it to the Grollos in 1985 for $232,000.

The purchaser, who will be only the third owner of one of Victoria’s oldest coastal homesteads, remains a mystery. It sold before its scheduled expressions of interest campaign concluded yesterday.

On its listing late last year, Grollo’s son Adam said the family had grown up and headed in different holiday directions.

There’s a potential record setter still for sale on the island at Silverleaves, with the modern Villa Aloha listed at $3.65m.

The sale comes several years after the Grollo family, amid some controversy, secured planning approvals for 69 allotments from the eight hectare property, with building blocks still a work in progress.

They briefly tried to sell the property in 2007, before the subdivision.

The nearby building blocks are selling currently at $495,000.

Overlooking Cleeland Bight, the historic 1860s home, whose walls were decorated with horseracing greats, is now on 1.76 hectares of the island’s coast.

In the boom days, the Cleeland estate occupied almost a third of the island.

Before he moved to Phillip Island, Cleeland owned the Albion Hotel in Bourke Street, Melbourne, where Racing Victoria used to meet.

Bruno’s dad Luigi started the construction company in the 1940s after he and wife Emma arrived from Italy.

The 77-year-old Bruno dropped out of school at 15 to join his dad. The Grollos have developed much of Melbourne skyline including the Rialto and Eureka Towers. The brothers Bruno and Rino went their separate ways in the business in 2000.

Retirement pad

Outgoing Brambles chair Stephen Johns has quickly secured minor renovation approval for the vast mall-like Jorge Hrdina-designed mansion he bought late last year at Killcare Heights.

The $3.7m clifftop home came with two pools.

It seems Johns and wife Michelle Bender are keeping the stunning infinity pool that looks back towards Sydney along the Central Coast, but are scrapping the internal courtyard pool.

Well, not quite, as it is becoming a pond.

Brambles chair Stephen Johns and his wife Michelle Bender. Picture: James Croucher

It was bought from Chris Lee, the widow of former AAPT executive Lee Casey.

The home was sold through estate agent Cathy Baker who last year expanded her Belle Property agency to the franchise for the entire Central Coast.

Baker did the Johns deal then spent five days on Necker Island with Sir Richard Branson in attendance at a leadership conference, which she says has changed her life.

It was organised through Emma Isaacs’ Business Chicks network, and Virgin Unite.

Back at Brambles, John Mullen is chairman elect.

Mullen’s extensive experience, both internationally with DHL and locally with Asciano and TNT, also includes his chairmanship of Telstra and of the unlisted Toll Group.

Mullen has signalled he will trim his board positions.

No formal date has been set for the Johns departure, after six years in the chair, which was announced at last year’s annual general meeting.