FEATURES
YOUNG GUNS
MATTHEW ALMOND National underwriting manager HIGH STREET UNDERWRITING AGENCY Age: 33
Matthew Almond was appointed to the position of national underwriting manager at High Street within the last year. He reports directly to the managing director and is responsible for High Street’s underwriting department. Almond is described as “very hardworking” and someone who goes the extra mile to assist everyone he deals with, be it junior staff or large clients. He has been a member of NIBA’s Queensland Young Professionals committee, has undertaken a number of mentoring programs to assist junior members of the industry, and is now a heavily involved member of the independent Young Insurance Professionals (YIPs), sitting on its Queensland committee. Almond wants to develop boutique and innovative insurance offerings for the Australian market. He also wants to continue to be part of industry groups such as YIPs that seek to give back to the insurance community.
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EMMANUEL GERAKIOS
LUCY KERLEY
Account broker
Senior associate
QSURE INSURANCE BROKERS Age: 24
HOLMAN WEBB LAWYERS Age: 29
After four years as an underwriter, in the last year Emmanuel Gerakios moved to the broking side of the business. As an underwriter he had assisted in growing the residential strata title portfolio of his local insurer in the Northern Territory. Insurance Business is told he helped bring in $12m in business when the expectation was around the $4m mark. Gerakios was invited to join QBE’s eQuip program for 2016 and has relocated to Brisbane where, in his role as a broker, he is responsible for a landlords insurance scheme. He is keen to join the Council of Queensland Insurance Brokers’ Young Professionals, and to continue building his formal qualifications. Gerakios hopes to work his way up the ranks to a senior managerial role and be a key contributor to the industry of the future.
REBECCA CHALLENOR Senior account manager JW BELL & ASSOCIATES Age: 27
With responsibility for JW Bell’s second-largest commercial portfolio, including a complex wholesale scheme, Rebecca Challenor manages two staff and is heavily involved in a variety of office activities, including staff training and compliance. In 2014, Challenor completed QBE’s eQuip program and in 2015 was awarded the Council of Queensland Insurance
Lucy Kerley provides expert legal advice to insurers, local and global underwriters, their agents, brokers and insureds. She has spent the past six years focused solely on practising insurance law. Kerley is determined to provide the industry and its professionals with comprehensive but user-friendly content on insurance law. She regularly offers client training sessions, ranging from informal roundtable discussions to formal seminars and innovative sessions, involving client participation and case studies. Because of her commitment to the industry, her client service standards and her ability to understand clients’ businesses and their needs, Kerley was promoted to associate within three years of admission to practice, and now at the young age of 29 she has been promoted to senior associate. Additionally, Kerley is a mentor to eight junior lawyers and paralegals and has played an integral part in developing Holman Webb’s Emerging Leaders program.
Brokers’ (CQIB’s) Peter McCarthy Memorial Award for Young Professional of the Year. She’s also been a part of the CQIB Young Professionals committee for the past four years. Challenor’s passion for insurance has seen her participate in career expos and attend schools on behalf of CQIB Young Professionals to promote the insurance industry. She enjoys mentoring other young professionals and intends to continue doing so while working to educate the wider community on the rewards of a career in insurance. She hopes to ultimately own shares in a brokerage and be an “active and engaged” director.
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