Hamtern

Denis Ternent brings more than 35 years of experience to his role as co-founder and director of Hamtern Financial Services.

Founded alongside his long-time business partner, Ian Graham, the pair had left behind their executive management positions at Glenrand MIB and set out to establish, in 2010, a “bespoke broker, built on the traditional broking principles of providing a personalised and professional service,” says Ternent.

Despite setting out on their entrepreneurial venture in the wake of the turbulent and sweeping structural changes caused by the global financial crisis, the pair have, in a little over a decade, grown Hamtern into one of South Africa’s leading independent short-term insurance brokerage and risk advisory businesses.

Offering unique, tailor made insurance products developed with select insurers and available exclusively to Hamtern, the company’s unwavering commitment to building and sustaining close relationships, grounded in trust, have afforded it a substantial market niche among sophisticated commercial and corporate clients.

“Having had so many years in the game, with our intimate knowledge of the market and with our complementary but specialised and principled experience, we knew where the shortfalls in the industry were,” says Ternent. “Because of our bespoke offering, we could make a real difference. That became our big differentiator”.

Hamtern’s recipe is to offer a traditional broking service, using innovative solutions, with experienced brokers that emphasises and enables dealing personally with clients while understanding, in detail, their specific risk profile. In achieving these close and personal relationships, the same is crucial of the insurers and service providers with whom they work for those clients.

“A cornerstone of our business philosophy is to establish long-term, tripartite relationships between our clients, the insurers and ourselves, to the mutual benefit of all parties,” says Ternent. “This is crucial as it allows our clients to get to know their insurers and vice versa. This paves the way when it comes to challenging claims, as there is trust and a healthy relationship between the parties, thereby avoiding any potential conflicts or disputes.”

It is this alignment of like-minded companies and individuals that has motivated Hamtern’s standing relationship with Fulcrum Premium Finance.

“We want to do business with like-minded service providers, and we moved to Fulcrum for Collection and Premium Finance shortly after starting Hamtern. We felt their business aligned well with us in terms of ethics and service.”

– Hamtern Director, Denis Ternent

“We have never thought of moving away from them, although we do to test them every so often regarding their pricing to ensure that they are providing the best value”.

This practice of testing one’s providers allows for an open and transparent relationship, allowing benefits that improve and strengthen their business foundation.  Fulcrum has passed Hamtern’s tests for years, consistently providing the required services and open communications to ensure that all dealings are properly seen to.

“We have had very good service from them, they have a competent team, you can call them whenever the need arises, and we have never thought of moving away from them.”

“Operationally they are excellent, they are responsive, we have never had an issue with late payments, and they are client centric which is very important in our industry.”

With a relationship that has been tried and tested for years, Hamtern and Fulcrum’s understanding bolsters their businesses in mutually beneficial, powerfully competitive ways.