Aviso WA Insurance Brokers has completed the acquisition of Wray Insurance Services Pty Ltd, bringing the brokerage into its Western Australian operations.
From May 7, 2026, Wray Insurance Services is trading under the Aviso WA Insurance Brokers name. Wray’s existing clients move into the Aviso WA portfolio, but their current policy terms, premiums, and day-to-day servicing are expected to remain unchanged. The account managers and support staff who handled Wray clients before completion are continuing in their roles within Aviso WA.
Aviso WA, part of the national Aviso Group network, is absorbing Wray into its Western Australian network while keeping the existing client service structure in place. The transaction is consistent with Aviso Group’s strategy of expanding through acquisitions while retaining local broking teams and established client relationships. The deal consolidates distribution through a larger intermediary while leaving most front-line contacts with commercial and personal lines clients intact. Placements that previously flowed via Wray will now be handled under the Aviso WA banner, but largely by the same personnel.
The Wray acquisition follows another 2026 move by Aviso Group in regional Australia. North Queensland Insurance Brokers (NQIB), also part of Aviso Group, has acquired Ausure Insurance & Finance (Mt Isa), with the transfer effective March 26, 2026. Under the transaction, clients previously serviced by Ausure Insurance & Finance (Mt Isa) are moving to North Queensland Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd. Authorised financial services are now provided under NQIB’s Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL 245647). NQIB has said clients should not see changes to their insurance cover, premiums, or service model as a result of the acquisition. Existing account managers and service teams are remaining with their books of business, and clients are not required to take any action to maintain current arrangements.
NQIB has operated in North Queensland since 1986 and works with individuals and businesses across the region. The broker has offices in Townsville, Ayr, Ingham, Tully, and other centres, and the Mt Isa business adds another location to that network. NQIB joined Aviso Group in 2022, bringing its regional presence into a national broking group structure. Clients affected by the Mt Isa acquisition are being contacted directly and provided with updated regulatory documents, including a new Financial Services Guide, to reflect the change in licensee and corporate setup.
The two Aviso Group acquisitions are occurring against a softer environment for overall deal activity in the broader Asia-Pacific region. Data from GlobalData shows that the total number of announced deals in APAC – including mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture financing – fell by around 6% in the first quarter of 2026 (Q1 2026) compared with the same period a year earlier. The firm links the decline to ongoing macroeconomic pressures and longer deal cycles. “The decline could be attributed to challenging macroeconomic conditions,” said Aurojyoti Bose, lead analyst at GlobalData. Bose noted that trends varied by deal type, with M&A and private equity under pressure while venture financing picked up.
According to GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database, venture financing volumes in APAC rose 21% year-on-year in the first quarter, indicating that investors are still backing growth-oriented businesses despite uncertainty. In contrast, the number of M&A deals in the region dropped 26%, and private equity deal volume declined 42%. The regional pattern also differed by market. China, the largest APAC market by deal count, recorded about a 38% increase in the number of announced deals, which helped offset weakness in other countries. GlobalData reports that overall deal numbers were down by about 45% in Japan, 18% in Australia, 27% in South Korea, and 18% in Singapore in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same quarter in 2025. Deal activity in India was broadly unchanged. The Aviso WA and NQIB transactions show that consolidation at the broking level is continuing in particular regions and segments even as total deal volumes in Australia decline on a year-on-year basis.
At the global level, larger transactions have picked up sharply. Research from WTW’s Quarterly Deal Performance Monitor indicates that the value of completed M&A worldwide reached a five-year high of $438 billion in the first quarter of 2026, a 155% increase compared with the first quarter of 2025. A total of 12 transactions valued at $10 billion or more closed in the first three months of 2026, the highest quarterly number since 2008. Only two such mega deals were completed in the previous quarter. Large deals above $1 billion also increased, with 56 completed in the quarter, up from 40 a year earlier. On a share price basis, companies completing acquisitions over $100 million between January and March 2026 outperformed the wider market by 2.5 percentage points, reversing the underperformance recorded by acquirers in late 2025.
Outcomes differed by region. European buyers outperformed peers not involved in M&A by 6 percentage points, with 40 completed deals in the quarter. Asia-Pacific acquirers, however, underperformed their regional index by 3.4 percentage points on 49 completed deals, while North American buyers lagged by 5.4 percentage points. Within this backdrop, Aviso WA’s purchase of Wray Insurance Services and NQIB’s acquisition of the Mt Isa operation indicate that mid-market and regional broker transactions are proceeding in Australia. The deals suggest ongoing consolidation in intermediary networks and adjustments in how relationships and portfolios are organised, even as broader deal flows in APAC remain uneven.
