By Gladys Caron

Louis Ferrari-Vianna, LARAQ – Johanne Lamanque, Insurance Bureau of Canada – Maxime Poulin, Winner Junior Broker Distinction Award – Julie Saucier, IADQ – Guy Parent, RCCAQ – Serge Therrien, Journal de l’assurance

Together with his partners, Maxime Poulin acquired Ostiguy & Gendron Group in 2015. Despite the acquisition and subsequent transition, the next year was one of the best in Ostiguy & Gendron's history in terms of growth, revenues and profitability.

“I am truly pleased and honoured to have won the Junior Broker Distinction Award,” said Maxime Poulin shortly after having been presented with the award by the RCCAQ and LARAQ during the RCCAQ's annual convention. “First and foremost, I am very happy for our firm. The award highlights the trust that was placed in me when I was named an Ostiguy & Gendron partner back in 2015. If this award results in better recognition of our firm's cutting-edge vision, and if that inspires other members of the team, I will be truly proud,” he added.

Career path

After completing a college-level program in insurance and financial services, Maxime joined ING Insurance in 2003, where he worked as a business insurance underwriter for four years. Out of a natural sense of curiosity, he decided to join Compu-Quote (now known as Applied), where he worked as a sales rep for Eastern Canada.

These positions played a pivotal role in Maxime's career since he had opportunities to meet with the senior managers of firms across Canada. Needless to say, he developed an extensive network of contacts that still comes in handy today. He was also exposed to the different realities of the firms his company worked with. Returning to the insurance sector, he accepted a position with Axa and then moved on to Ostiguy & Gendron in 2012 as business development director.

Driven by his deep interest in entrepreneurship, Maxime knew he would eventually switch to the brokerage field. He remains convinced, however, that fine careers can be had working with insurers. In his case, the tipping point came after numerous meetings with Pierre Ostiguy and Daniel Gendron while he was their insurer. In the end, he was won over by how they viewed the succession process, as well as by their transition plan and the team they put together. He remains very grateful to them.

Before making the switch, Maxime had to obtain his insurance permit. During the transition between his previous job and his arrival at Ostiguy & Gendron, he hit the books hard for two weeks and obtained his personal and business insurance accreditations. He went on to complete the RIBO Level 2 management exam, which authorizes him to be the director or owner of a full-service firm in Ontario. He also holds the CRM designation (Canadian Risk Management).

Shared values

One of the reasons why Maxime decided to join Ostiguy & Gendron was the firm's values, including a dynamic and daring approach and close ties with clients. He was also impressed that the managers continued to manage a portfolio and thus remained attuned to their clients' needs.

Shortly after becoming a father of twins, Maxime and his partners, led by Jean-Philippe Martineau (now the firm's CEO), began negotiations with the firm's owners to buy them out. The negotiations took place over nearly a year. The transaction was finalized in 2015 and sparked a good deal of interest in the industry, given that examples of non-family takeovers of major firms are quite rare.

Maxime quickly proved his worth as executive vice-president. In the space of just over three years, he built up an impressive level of premium volume from new business while managing a large client portfolio. He also spearheaded the acquisition of two firms in line with the firm's strategic development goals.

Ambitious long-term vision

The long-term vision of Maxime and his three partners (Jean-Philippe Martineau, Louis-Philippe Dupuis and Monique Gagnon) is crystal clear: they want to ensure a steady pace of growth for the firm, which now boasts nearly 60 employees, 10 of whom were hired in 2016. More specifically, they are seeking to boost the firm's premium volume by 50% by 2020. Developing niche markets and embracing geographic diversification are the twin pillars of their strategy.

Maxime and his partners hope to carry out their ambitious plans by staying highly disciplined. “We place a good deal of importance on executing our strategies and on being excellent day-to-day managers. It's easy to get carried away by success, but it's also important when making a decision to step back and ask yourself if it's really in line with our strategic plan. If we can do that, we will continue to deserve the insurers' trust. They have been enormously supportive of us in the past few years, and we are very grateful to them,” he said.