ICIB Brokerweb Life and Health Southern is the Christchurch home of The Southern Group, the insurance advice business founded by Ryan Beswick that joined the ICIB Brokerweb Group in February 2025. From Level 1 of the BNZ Centre on Cashel Street, the team continues to deliver the same high level of care and service its clients have come to expect over the years — now backed by the scale of one of New Zealand's most successful independent risk advisory and insurance broking groups.
The branch specialises in life insurance, health insurance and employee benefits, with Ryan Beswick bringing particular expertise in key person and shareholder protection. Through the wider ICIB team, clients also gain access to a broader range of fire and general covers, including commercial business insurance, business insurance for SMEs, and personal insurances.
Advisers here start by developing an in-depth understanding of each client's goals, ambitions, challenges and appetite for risk before recommending solutions. ICIB has been future-proofing New Zealand businesses since 1975 and was one of the first risk advisory services in the country to offer full transparency around fees and pricing. The group is part of NZbrokers, New Zealand's largest insurance broking collective, and its people give back locally — including cooking meals at Ronald McDonald House Christchurch and sponsoring Canterbury Opera. Initial consultations are free.
In February 2025, The Southern Group — a familiar name in southern insurance circles — became part of the ICIB Brokerweb Group. For clients, the message from the team is a reassuring one: the same people, the same care and the same high level of service you have come to expect over the years, now with the backing of one of New Zealand's most successful independent risk advisory and insurance broking organisations.
Founder Ryan Beswick remains very much involved in the business. Among the many things he brings to ICIB is his expertise in key person and shareholder protection — the cover that helps keep a business stable when the people at its heart can't work, or when ownership needs to change hands.
For existing Southern Group clients, nothing is lost in the transition. The promise is continuity — the advisers you know, looking after the covers you rely on, now with a wider toolkit behind them.
The team now operates from ICIB Brokerweb's Life & Health office at the BNZ Centre, Level 1, 111 Cashel Street, in the heart of Christchurch City. Ryan Beswick can be contacted directly on +64 27 266 5360 or at [email protected], and the office welcomes existing Southern Group clients and new enquiries alike.
What has grown is the range. Alongside the specialties The Southern Group has always been known for — life insurance, health insurance and employee benefits — clients can now access the fire and general insurances ICIB offers, including commercial business insurance, business insurance for SMEs, and personal insurances.
The ICIB approach begins with listening. Before recommending anything, advisers work to develop an in-depth understanding of what makes your business or family situation different — your goals, ambitions, challenges and opportunities, along with your personal approach to risk. Only then do they identify, select and build solutions that let you focus on what matters most: running your business.
The team's view is that building and growing a successful business is hard enough without risk management adding to the workload. Their job is to carry that weight, so cover becomes one less thing to think about.
That philosophy has underpinned ICIB since its establishment in New Zealand's risk management industry in 1975. Over nearly five decades the group has built a track record of innovation, service and specialist solutions, including sector-specific products for businesses in specialised industries and bespoke additions where standard covers don't quite fit.
Transparency is another cornerstone. ICIB was one of the first risk advisory services in New Zealand to offer full transparency around fees and pricing — an open approach the group credits with building trusted, long-lasting partnerships as clients' businesses evolve and grow.
Although the Cashel Street office is firmly local, it is plugged into serious national muscle. ICIB belongs to NZbrokers, New Zealand's largest insurance broking collective, which represents more than 87 independent businesses from Kerikeri to Invercargill. The wider group brings together more than 200 team members from ten countries — diverse expertise united by a single focus on New Zealand businesses.
That local commitment reaches beyond the office, too. The Christchurch team has cooked meals at Ronald McDonald House, and ICIB backs causes around the country, from the Community Wellbeing North Canterbury appeal and Daffodil Day fundraisers to its sponsorship of Canterbury Opera.
If you're reviewing your personal cover, looking after your team, or wondering how your business would cope with the unexpected, the starting point is simply a conversation — and it won't cost you anything. ICIB invites anyone thinking about their insurance requirements to call for a free consultation.