Insurance Business 9.02

insurancebusinessonline.com.au Issue 9.02

THE SCOOP ON STRATA

Brokers’ role in an evolving market

RESPONDING TO DISASTERS

The key to getting event claims support right

MARINE INSURANCE

How the sector is faring in a time of uncertainty

THE FUTURE OF INSURANCE Gallagher Bassett’s Laura Bradley and Emma Hosking on where the industry is headed next

ELITE BROKERS 2020 Insurance Business spotlights 20 of the best brokers in the business

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THE MORE AMBITIOUS AUSTRALIA IS, THE MORE IT NEEDS YOU. We believe being a tall poppy isn’t a bad thing. That’s why we’re doing all we can to back ambitious Australian businesses. And to keep them growing, we need the help of ambitious brokers like you.

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ISSUE 9.02

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CONTENTS

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UPFRONT 02 Editorial

What can the industry learn from the coronavirus fallout?

FEATURES

30

GETTING EVENT RESPONSE RIGHT The best ways to support clients during natural disasters

SPECIAL REPORT

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ELITE BROKERS

Find out who made IB’s annual list of the top 20 brokers in Australia’s insurance industry

THE BIG INTERVIEW

Key data that should be on your radar

06 Head to head

How to convince small businesses that cyber coverage is crucial

08 News analysis

What global insurers are doing to move the needle on climate change

10 Intelligence

Coverhero gives gig economy workers with accident and health coverage

12 Insurer update

What were insurers’ main takeaways from the bushfi res?

FEATURES

34

BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE FOR STRATA Amid changing technology and concerns about building defects, what’s next for strata insurance?

PEOPLE

04 Statistics

Laura Bradley and Emma Hosking of Gallagher Bassett discuss how the industry has changed – and what might lie ahead

14 Underwriting agencies update

Solution Underwriting looks back on a decade in the business

19 Opinion

How to keep a reputational crisis from tanking a company’s share price

FEATURES 38 Taking broker tech to new heights

Advice for harnessing technology’s full potential

PEOPLE 55 Career path

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FEATURES

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TRAWLING THE DEPTHS

How the marine insurance industry is responding to reduced capacity, emerging technology, the coronavirus pandemic and more

Michael Wood found his niche by blending insurance and law

56 Other life

Tucking in with claims specialist and competitive eater Chadwick Jones

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UPFRONT

EDITORIAL

Lessons from the coronavirus

C

ities in lockdown, travel bans enforced and a massive slowdown in trade: The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, more commonly known as the coronavirus, has been massive, even without considering the loss of life.

For the insurance industry, a pandemic on this scale has far-reaching consequences. First, questions swirl about payouts, particularly among those with manufacturing outlets in key regions of China. Travel insurance claims spike as flights and trips are cancelled, business insurance absorbs a blow as events are halted and operations are disrupted, and life insurance naturally comes under the spotlight as the death toll increases.

Then there are the more unusual impacts that the resultant panic has had on the insurance industry. In the cyber realm, for example, hackers have used fears surrounding the illness to lure people into clicking on links and inadvertently spreading malware. Meanwhile, marine insurers are being called into action to assist shipowners with chartering and operations and to help prepare staff for what to expect when arriving in port.

Just as a cyberattack draws attention to cyber insurance, brokers and insurers can use incidents like the coronavirus to focus minds on risk mitigation When pandemics like this arrive, they naturally cause fear and confusion, despite the fact that we’ve been in similar circumstances before with the outbreaks of SARS and Ebola. Yet just as a cyberattack like WannaCry draws attention to cyber insurance or a horrific terrorist attack makes the world think about terrorism cover, brokers and insurers can use incidents like the coronavirus to focus minds on risk mitigation.

“This is an opportunity for all organisations to really put that working group together internally and start looking at some of these scenarios of how it would impact their organisation, and then put plans and procedures in place,” Renata Elias of Marsh’s strategic risk consulting practice told IB in February.

A broker’s role is no longer about simply selling insurance policies – it’s now about being the risk expert who ensures clients are prepared for all eventualities.

The time to prepare for the next crisis is now so that when panic hits, the insurance industry has the chance to do what it does best: be the calm amid the storm.

The team at Insurance Business

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EDITORIAL Managing Editor Paul Lucas Editor Bethan Moorcraft Journalists Tom Goodwin, Nicola Middlemiss, Alicja Grzadkowska, Ksenia Stepanova News Writers Lyle Adriano, Terry Gangcuangco, Roxanne Libatique, Gabriel Olano Staff Writers Libby MacDonald, Ryan Smith Copy Editor Clare Alexander

CONTRIBUTORS Nir Kossovsky

ART & PRODUCTION Designer Jommel Ramos Production Manager Alicia Chin Production Coordinator Kim Kandravy Traffic Coordinator Kristine Jamir

SALES & MARKETING General Manager Peter Smith Commercial Development Manager Sophie Knight Global Head of Communications Adrijana Monevska

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OUTLINED FONTS FOR OUTPUT

UPFRONT

HEAD TO HEAD

B y

out s the

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UPFRONT

STATISTICS THE YEAR IN NATURAL DISASTERS

MISSOURI BASIN FLOODS $10bn $2.5bn

409

Total number of natural disaster events worldwide in 2019

MISSISSIPPI BASIN FLOODS

HURRICANE DORIAN

$10bn

$10bn

$4bn

$3.5bn

THE TOP 10 NATURAL DISASTERS OF 2019

$232bn

Economic losses from all natural disasters in 2019

$71bn

Insured losses from all natural disasters in 2019

Typhoons and flooding were the main sources of economic loss from natural disaster events around the globe last year. Of the US$126bn in economic losses recorded across the top 10 disasters in 2019, only US$44bn was insured. Although no Australian disasters made the top 10, bushfire claims had totalled A$1.41bn and counting by the beginning of 2020, making it likely to be the costliest bushfire season on record.

ECONOMIC LOSSES INSURED LOSSES

AVIATION CLAIMS RISE …

The loss of two almost brand-new Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in 2018 and 2019 – and the 300-plus fatalities that resulted – had serious implications for both Boeing and the insurance market, triggering grounding of the airliner and an uptick in product liability claims.

Premium

Claims

2014

2015

$2.5bn $2bn $1.5bn

69%

Proportion of 2019 natural disasters not covered by insurance Source: Weather, Climate and Catastrophe Insight, 2019 Annual Report, Aon; all figures in US$

4

$1bn $500m $0

2010

2011

2012

2013

2016

2017

2018

2019

Source: Plane Talking, Q4 2019, Gallagher; all figures in US$

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WHERE INSURTECHS ARE FOCUSED

CHINA MONSOON FLOODS

IRAN FLOODS

Willis Towers Watson’s breakdown of the 760 insurtechs operating within the functional insurance chain reveals that the lion’s share of firms are dedicated to quoting, binding and issuing coverage.

$15bn

$8.3bn

$700m

$200m

TYPHOON FAXAI $10bn $6bn

TYPHOON LEKIMA $9.5bn $800m

8%

TYPHOON HAGIBIS

CYCLONE FANI

$15bn

$8.1bn

$9bn

19% Quote, bind, issue Policy administration and central systems

$500m

INDIA MONSOON FLOODS

Claims and settlement

$10bn $200m

45%

Source: Quarterly InsurTech Briefing Q4 2019, Willis Towers Watson

Source: Weather, Climate and Catastrophe Insight, 2019 Annual Report, Aon; all figures in US$

… BUT THE SKIES ARE SAFER Despite the headline-grabbing crash of a 737 Max jet in Ethiopia in 2019, the year was one of the safest on record in terms of airline fatalities, according to the Aviation Safety Network, which reported a total of 283 fatalities from 20 airline accidents, compared to 556 fatalities from 15 accidents in 2018.

NUMBER OF FATAL ACCIDENTS

NUMBER OF FATALITIES

INSURTECH INVESTMENT HITS NEW RECORD According to Willis Towers Watson, global insurtech investment topped US$6.3bn in 2019. The year accounts for around 33% of the total global investment in insurtech to date.

TOTAL GLOBAL INSURTECH INVESTMENT

1,000

30

28%

Pricing and underwriting

$6bn

800

$5bn

20

600

$4bn

400

10

$3bn $2bn

200

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

0

2012

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

$1bn 0

Source: Aviation Safety Network

$0

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Source: Quarterly InsurTech Briefing Q4 2019, Willis Towers Watson; all figures in US$

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UPFRONT

HEAD TO HEAD

What can be done to close the cyber coverage gap?

Despite a growing awareness of cyber threats, many businesses – especially small ones – remain underinsured in this area

Liliana Uhrik

Michael Parrant

National financial institutions and cyber liability product manager AIG Australia “Cyber insurance is a key part of the solution; however, it’s only one piece of the puzzle.

While cyber insurance can offset costs and mitigate losses in the event of a cyberattack, an internal resilience-based approach to cybersecurity is vital if companies are to successfully adapt to change, reduce exposure and learn from incidents.

Key steps in the risk management process include identification of threats and where they lie, assessment of risks and having effective controls in place to minimise exposure, understanding your organisation’s risk-handling methodology, and ongoing monitoring of these strategies and review of their effectiveness.”

Katie Stranaghan

Cyber insurance practice leader Aon

Underwriter, financial lines High Street Underwriting Agency

“With this evolving risk landscape, insurers are reviewing standard coverages to identify what, if any, cyber risk is being covered within traditional lines of insurance. This is an important step in the identification of cyber risk. Brokers are educating insureds on the insurance outcomes of identified scenarios, which in turn shines a light on existing gaps.

As both brokers and insurers work hard to identify cyber risks, cyber brokers and cyber insurers continually work to fill identified gaps where appropriate. Taking time to understand the risks and transfer solutions is an important step in bridging the cyber gap.”

“Traditionally, customers have insured material possessions such as cars, homes and businesses. These are physical items, where a claim is obvious and needs to be rectified. It’s not until they experience a cyber loss or hear of one that they begin to see the need for this insurance and realize the implications of not having it.

Education is still the main focus point, explaining that cyber insurance is just as important as traditional policies – if they lose access to bank accounts, emails or important data, this could have a greater impact than a scratched car or broken window.”

HITTING A SMALLER TARGET Cybercrime is set to be a US$6trn problem by 2021, according to Cybersecurity Ventures – and despite the large-scale breaches continuing to make headlines, cybercriminals tend to have a penchant for more modest victims. “A cybercriminal has a much greater opportunity for success in attacking a small business because small businesses are very weak in their security countermeasures,” Cyrus Walker, managing principal at Data Defenders, told Forbes. According to global malware prevention provider Malwarebytes, ransomware attacks halted operations for almost 40% the small and medium-sized businesses hit in 2017. Of those, around 60% never successfully reopened.

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UPFRONT

NEWS ANALYSIS

Fuelling climate change action In an effort to combat climate change, global insurers are increasingly taking a stand against coal in both their investments and underwriting policies

SINCE THE 2015 Paris Agreement on combating climate change, the number of institutional investors committed to cutting fossil fuel stocks from their portfolios has risen from 180 in 2014 to more than 1,100, according to climate advocacy group 350.org.

Leading insurers have been a key part of this movement: A recent report from global research and strategy consultancy Sigwatch found that the insurance sector accounted for four out of 10 of the brands most praised by NGOs and activist groups, due in large part to insurers’ pledges regarding coal divestment.

“The bigger NGOs recognise that the financial sector is the linchpin of fossil fuel development due to the importance of insurers as institutional investors,” says Robert Blood, founder and managing director

institutional investors, insurers are increasingly embracing sustainability in their underwriting efforts, too.

Both Zurich and Swiss Re have signed the UN Business Ambition for 1.5° C, which calls on businesses to set science-based targets with the goal of limiting the worldwide temperature increase to 1.5° Celsius. Both insurers, along with Allianz, have also joined the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, committing to ensuring their investment portfolios represent net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Swiss Re also refuses insure or reinsure any business with more than 30% exposure to thermal coal across all lines of business. According to Martin Weymann, head of sustainability, emerging and political risk management at Swiss Re, this threshold

“Coal is, from an insurance perspective and from an investment perspective, no longer an asset that we want to support” Martin Weymann, Swiss Re of Sigwatch. “Corporations exist far longer than governments, and in many ways, their decisions have far more long-term impact.”

As institutional investors and holders of substantial capital, Blood says, insurers can play a major role in directing the development of the renewable energy sector. He adds that, in addition to wielding their power as

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allows the company the flexibility to work as a partner in the transition to a low-carbon economy with organisations that are making substantial efforts in this area.

“We believe that, in the very long term, coal is, from an insurance perspective and from an investment perspective, no longer an asset that we want to support due to its

environmental footprint, but also because we believe it is not attractive from an economic perspective,” Weymann says. “Wherever possible, we bring the economic and the sustainability perspectives together.”

According to Zurich’s head of sustainability, Linda Freiner, Zurich’s position on thermal coal, oil sands and oil shales was a first step in addressing carbon-intense industries. In addition to refusing to insure companies that generate more than 30% of their revenue from those industries, Zurich also pledged to work with companies that don’t meet that threshold on a transition plan. Freiner notes that thermal coal in particular is not essential to the energy mix anymore, as it can be replaced with cheaper renewable energy.

“The reality for insurers is that we cannot move faster than the real economy because we invest in the real economy and we insure the real economy,” she says. “So, where our role

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A CLOSER LOOK AT COAL DIVESTMENT

20,000% Increase in assets committed to divestment since 2014

9.5% Proportion of the primary insurance market controlled by companies that have ended or limited cover for coal projects

37% Proportion of the insurance industry’s global assets covered by coal divestment policies

4 then becomes really important is in engaging with the carbon-intense industries to really try to help facilitate their transition.”

Freiner adds that the threshold intro-

“From a risk perspective, we have to ask ourselves if [these are companies] we want to do business with in the long term,” she says. “Stranded assets are a risk from both an

“Where our role becomes really important is in engaging with the carbon-intense industries to help facilitate their transition” Linda Freiner, Zurich duced by Zurich has been an effective means of engaging with these companies to help them work through transition plans and understand how to diversify their businesses so Zurich can insure and invest in new types of business with a much lower carbon footprint. It was apparent which companies were moving quickly to transition, Freiner says.

investment and underwriting point of view.”

With regard to Swiss Re’s initiatives in responsible investing and underwriting, Weymann says the company has seen clients and peers starting to make similar moves, which he believes is creating a momentum that highlights the positive impact sustainability initiatives can have on clients, investors

Number of global insurers/reinsurers among the 10 brands most praised by activists and NGOs in 2019 Sources: 350.org, Unfriend Coal, Sigwatch

and society at large.

“I think the whole (re)insurance industry plays a very important role by providing solutions to sustainability challenges and thus creating long-term value for its stakeholders,” he says.

Freiner likewise feels that insurance companies have an essential role to play in the move away from a carbon-centric economy.

While insurance might not be feeling big pressure from consumers yet, she says, it’s just a matter of time before consumers expect more sustainable practices and more sustainable solutions from their insurers.

“Our role as an insurance company is really to be able to engage with our customers and incentivise them to transition and help them be part of that journey,” she says.

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UPFRONT

INTELLIGENCE CORPORATE

PRODUCTS

ACQUIRER

TARGET

COMMENTS

Arch Reinsurance

Precision Marketing Asia Pacific

Arch has purchased a majority stake in the Sydney-based company, which provides data-driven marketing for banks, insurance companies, retailers and healthcare organisations

AUB Group

BizCover and MGA Whittles Group

AUB has spent $132m for a 40% stake in online insurance distribution platform BizCover and around $140m for a 100% stake in Adelaide-based brokerage MGA Whittles Group

Austbrokers

Bestmark Insurance Brokers

Bestmark will become Austbrokers’ largest brokerage in Queensland

Insurance House

O’Sullivan Insurance Brokers

Insurance House’s addition of the Shepparton-based brokerage expands its presence in northern Victoria

Lockton Companies Australia

Worker’s Compensation Solutions

Its acquisition of NSW-based Worker’s Compensation Solutions will allow Lockton to expand its employee benefits footprint nationally

NTI forays into the road freight marketplace industry

Transport and logistics insurer NTI has moved into the road freight marketplace industry via a new partnership with TruckIt.net, Australia’s marketplace for road freight services. The partnership will give TruckIt users the option to take out single transit insurance on qualifying jobs booked through the platform. “TruckIt has spent many years building a solid platform and loyal following from both users and transport providers, and we couldn’t want a more trusted partner as we expand our portfolio of goodsin-transit offerings,” said NTI GM Alan Hasted.

Insurance House strengthens regional Victoria ties

In February, O’Sullivan Insurance Brokers became the latest brokerage to join Victoria-based Insurance House’s diverse network. Located in Shepparton, O’Sullivan adds to Insurance House’s presence in northern Victoria, which also includes offices in Echuca, Kyabram and Boort, along with seven other offices on the eastern seaboard.

“We definitely have a real distinct preference to invest in regional communities,” Insurance House managing director Jay Fereday told Insurance Business. “We do definitely look for regional growth and investment – it sits really well with us. It gives us a different perspective to perhaps the way many of the metropolitan-based brokerages look for opportunities.”

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AustCyber adds innovation node for Tasmania

AustCyber has launched a Tasmania Cyber Security Innovation Node, the latest addition to its national network of cybersecurity innovation nodes, which aims to accelerate cyber capability development and innovation across the country. “As a local presence for AustCyber, the node will ensure Tasmania benefits from the activities outlined in Australia’s Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan, supporting sustained industry growth around servicing domestic cybersecurity needs while exporting capabilities to the world,” said AustCyber CEO Michelle Price.

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PEOPLE Coverhero launches gig economy coverage

Coverhero has launched a new product, Hustle Cover, designed to provide accident and health insurance for gig economy workers.

Underwritten by Agile with insurance issued by Aspen, the product has two strands: Gigster, which is aimed at part-time workers, and Hustle Pro, which is tailored to full-time selfemployed workers. “We wanted to design a new insurance product that was relevant to the changing needs of our generation,” said Coverhero founder Naby Mariyam.

“Hustle Cover covers around 15 different categories of work, from Uber drivers to Airbnb hosts.”

NAME

LEAVING

JOINING

NEW POSITION

Michelle Klobas

Marsh

Gallagher Bassett

Client services director

Chris McDowell

AHI Underwriting

HDI Global

Underwriting manager, accident and health

Scott Newland

N/A

Gallagher Bassett

General manager, government and long-tail claims

John Philipsz

N/A

Willis Re

CEO

Stephen Postlewhite

N/A

QBE Re

Managing director

Katherine Simmonds Willis Towers Watson

Gallagher

Head of corporate

Wendy Tse

MetLife

Chief of staff and external affairs

KPMG

Lloyd’s introduces new cryptocurrency cover

QBE Re announces new managing director

Zurich partners with CYE to expand cyber offering

Ex-KPMG director joins MetLife Australia

Lloyd’s of London’s product innovation facility (PIF) has announced its backing of a new insurance policy for cryptocurrency. Created by Lloyd’s syndicate Atrium for Coincover, the new liability insurance policy is designed to protect cryptocurrency held in online or hot wallets against theft or other malicious hacks. Limits start as low as £1,000 (around AU$1,965) and are flexible to take into account the price changes of crypto assets. The product is the second to gain support from Lloyd’s PIF, whose members include Tokio Marine Kiln and Markel.

Zurich Insurance Group has teamed up with cybersecurity company CYE to launch Zurich Cyber Security Services, an offering designed to protect businesses against cybercrime. The offering combines Zurich’s specialty cyber insurance and risk engineering with CYE’s artificial intelligencebased technology, services and expertise to help businesses define and implement effective cyber risk management programs. Zurich’s Sierra Signorelli said the collaboration “will give customers a state-ofthe-art cyber solution that combines the benefits of insurance with a boost to their cyber defences.”

QBE Re has appointed Stephen Postlewhite as managing director. Beginning in early April, Postlewhite will take over management of QBE Re from chief underwriting officer Jonathan Parry, who plans to retire in 2021. The former CEO of Aspen Insurance, Postlewhite originally joined QBE in late 2018 as deputy global chief underwriting officer.

“QBE Re has achieved excellent results over time, embodied by careful cycle management, strong client relationships and a team of highly experienced underwriters,” said QBE International CEO Richard Pryce.

“Stephen therefore takes over the business at an exciting time, with industry tailwinds and a very strong set of results in 2019 giving us significant scope for profitable growth.”

MetLife Australia has named Wendy Tse chief of staff and external affairs, charged with advising clients on regulatory and government affairs and representing the office of the CEO across the industry. Most recently serving as a director in KPMG’s superannuation advisory team, Tse has nearly 20 years of experience in superannuation wealth management advisory services, compliance, administration and transition management.

“We anticipate the regulatory environment will continue to evolve this year, and it will be challenging for our clients and customers,” said MetLife Australia CEO Richard Nunn. “We need to work in partnership with them to navigate this changing landscape. Wendy will help us do this, as well as play an important role in evolving our life insurance business and the industry.”

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UPFRONT

INSURER UPDATE NEWS BRIEFS Allianz Australia celebrates Diversity and Inclusion Month

In March, Allianz embarked on a monthlong initiative to celebrate diversity and promote inclusion in the workplace.

The insurer is running a busy program of events during the month to mark the occasion, from organised lunches to talk-and-share stories between team members to a drag-queen-hosted trivia night. “This is the fourth year Allianz has held Diversity and Inclusion Month – it is a symbol of our ongoing commitment to ensuring that no matter who you are or what role you perform, you are respected, heard and valued for your contribution,” said Edyta Torpy, Allianz’s diversity and inclusion manager.

icare launches new site to report on performance upgrades

In an effort to update customers on the progress it’s making in enhancing the performance of NSW’s core workers’ compensation scheme, icare has rolled out a new website. Following the release of State Insurance Regulatory Authority’s independent report into the nominal insurer in December, icare CEO and managing director John Nagle said the organisation is focused on implementing the report’s recommendations to improve customer service. “We know our customers want more transparency, so we’ll be reporting quarterly on our progress,” Nagle said.

QBE to tackle resolution on addressing climate change

QBE has confirmed that at its annual general meeting on 7 May, it will put to a vote a shareholder resolution calling on the insurance giant to align underwriting and investment activities with the goal to keep global warming below 1.5°C.

The resolution, filed by shareholders in coordination with Market Forces and investment manager Australian Ethical, came after another year of high catastrophe costs in the APAC region and coincides with QBE’s recognition that climate change poses a material risk to its business. “Unless QBE commits to ending its underwriting and investment in all fossil fuels, then in reality it is undermining [the Paris Agreement],” said Market Forces’ Pablo Brait.

IAG announces a significant reduction in net profits

In the release of its financial results for the six months leading up to December 31, 2019, IAG reported a drastic drop in net profit, recording a decrease of just over 40% compared to the first half of 2019, although financial indicators pointed to slight increases across the board, from insurance profit to underlying insurance margin. However, IAG noted that the drop isn’t cause for alarm, but rather a return to normalcy after the sale of its Thailand operations caused an irregular spike in profit during the first half of 2019.

TAL launches natural disaster trauma training course

Life insurer TAL has launched a new course designed to help advisers support customers who might be experiencing trauma or grief due to natural disasters. The webinar is hosted

by Glenn Baird, TAL’s head of mental health, and tackles the effects natural disasters can have on mental health and how to navigate difficult or upsetting conversations. Baird noted that advisers “can play an important role in helping impacted customers deal with these challenges, and TAL’s course will cover the ways that advisers can support these recovery efforts.”

Lessons from the bushfires How one insurer is learning from the issues raised during a devastating bushfire season The bushfires are finally out, and the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) estimates the losses to be around $1.9bn in insured claims, making this one of the costliest bushfire seasons on record. Now that the dust has settled, what can the insurance industry do to prepare for future bushfire seasons of this magnitude?

“With every event season, we’ll do a retrospective and look at the process and what went well and what didn’t go well,” says Michael Miller, head of claims at Suncorp.

Suncorp made a concerted effort to help those affected during the bushfires by mobilising its resources, including support teams, assessors and builders, to assist impacted customers. It also provided temporary accommodation, emergency funds and financial assistance. Even though its efforts were widely accepted as successful, there are still things Suncorp can improve on, Miller says, including working alongside the government.

“While the insurance industry is quite collaborative, policies differ between insurers, and so from a government point of view of wanting to give aid in terms of removal of debris, there are differences that need to be worked through,” Miller says. “So that’s an important lesson in terms of working with government very closely.”

The second lesson for Suncorp has to do with regulation – between last year’s royal commission, new regulation and the General

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Insurance Code of Practice, standards for insurers have been lifted even higher.

“Over the last few years, we’ve had to adapt what we do in terms of the kind of practice coming from the ICA, but also all the law that’s coming through,” Miller says.

“Effectively, the whole industry has had to raise the bar in terms of what we do for our customers, whether there’s an event or not.”

“The whole industry has had to raise the bar in terms of what we do for our customers” This was evident in the bushfires and will become even more evident going forward, Miller adds. “The bar has risen for what we need to be doing in a situation where we have an event with a lot of claims coming through,” he says. “We need to be able to actually comply with all that regulation to make sure we get good outcomes for our customers.”

Past lessons learned are significant to the success of future examinations, and Suncorp is honest about where they are and what they can do about it.

“How we adapt to regulation is probably the big learning curve for us,” Miller says.

“How do we adapt to this new world in terms of regulation over the next year and during the events season?”

Q&A

Stefan Feldmann Managing director and regional head, ASEAN and Australasia HDI GLOBAL

Years in the industry 25 Fast fact During his insurance career, Feldmann has lived and worked in Germany, Singapore and now Australia

Insuring the intangible Today, large parts of economic value are created through digitisation. Is it possible to quantify how much the world has changed in the past few decades?

Estimates show that today, more than 80% of global corporate assets are intangible, such as internet platforms, data and intellectual property. In 1975, it was less than 20%. Some of the most valuable and successful companies are technology companies such as Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.

In Germany, the software group SAP is one of the leading corporations by market value, replacing big names from the automotive industry and the energy sector.

The change from tangible to intangible assets comes with a change in the risks that threaten these values.

How has the insurance industry reacted to these new types of risk?

Companies expect industrial insurers to offer insurance solutions for these intangible risks. The insurance industry has been developing such solutions for several years. One example is cyber insurance. These policies usually combine the cover of own damage – first party – as well as third-party damage. They also protect against business interruption and financial loss from cyber incidents, and they offer support in crisis and risk management.

However, there are also less well-known examples of modern industrial insurance solutions to ward off non-physical risks. For example, we work with tech E&O policies to provide insurance for manufacturers of machinery who supply their customers with software for machine control. In Japan, we insure solar farm operators against a lack of sunlight or the loss of sales that this causes.

There’s a variety of new products for the insurance industry, but are some of these intangible risks and assets harder to measure and insure than others?

That’s true. Let’s take a company’s reputation, for example – this is something that’s really hard to measure. How can you determine how much it has changed due to a certain event? How can we quantify how much damage might have been done? This is a risk that is very difficult to design an insurance solution for.

Do you have clients who are asking for such solutions?

There is a very slow increase in the demand for such insurance solutions, but there is some demand. Insurance always needs to collectively balance risks. If the demand is too low and the take-up does not reach a critical mass, the premium for each individual policy will be too high. As soon as there is a large enough collective, insurers can almost always develop appropriate insurance products. Sometimes it just needs a bit of time to develop the right momentum.

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20/03/2020 10:53:09 AM

UPFRONT

UNDERWRITING AGENCIES UPDATE

Solution Underwriting celebrates 10 years As the underwriting agency marks a decade in business, its founders look back at how it has grown

the same for 10 years, Mills says: providing unparalleled service.

“Our philosophy hasn’t changed since day one,” he says. “Our point of difference from day one was service. That’s what we built our business around, and that is a big part of why we’re still here 10 years later.”

As Solution has grown from an office of two into around 20 (Lane and Mills still personally interview each prospective hire), so has the challenge to remain service-

“Our point of difference from day one was service”

Anita Lane and Rhys Mills established Solution Underwriting in 2010 – and 10 years later, “the two people who started the business are still there today,” Lane says. “We’re still underwriting every day, still working with our colleagues and still working for our customers.”

Solution has come a long way over the past decade. “It started with two insurance professionals, one binder and a promise to write profitable business across Australia,” Lane says.

“We chose to re-mortgage our homes, invested

NEWS BRIEFS

everything we had into the business. We had a very simple business plan from the beginning: provide outstanding service to brokers, alongside good, sound underwriting principles.”

Providing professional indemnity, general liability, management liability, and accident and health insurance, Solution has grown over the years to become a trusted and dynamic underwriting agency. Owned by its directors, wholly independent and focused on forging long-term relationships with Australian brokers, the heart of Solution has remained

Blue Zebra secures underwriting tie-up with Youi

After announcing an end to its underwriting relationship with Zurich, Blue Zebra has forged a new underwriting partnership with South African insurer Youi, which will underwrite Blue Zebra’s personal lines and soon-to-be-launched SME insurance business. Blue Zebra managing director Colin Fagen said the new tie-up enables the company to “continue to build our business and support the broking community in the Australian market, for both personal lines and the soon-to-belaunched SME products.”

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centred. “That’s the big challenge – to maintain that level and benchmark of service as we’ve grown,” Mills says. “But I think it has been a large part of our success.”

Another important aspect of the way Solution operates is the dedication of not only its two directors, but also its entire staff, who have thrown themselves into every aspect required to make Solution a success. “We didn’t expect our staff to love our business as much as we do – but they do,” Lane says. “I see every day the amount of effort and skill our team put into their jobs – it’s incredible.”

Looking back, the past 10 years have clearly been successful for Solution – and the two co-founders believe they’re just getting started. “There have been lots of ups over the years, but many downs,” Mills says. “Not every day is a great day – but I wouldn’t want it any other way!”

Agile Underwriting mobilises new casualty team

Agile Underwriting Services has launched a new casualty team, appointing Nathan Sommer as general manager and adding Steve Ross as underwriting manager of casualty. Ross and Sommer bring a combined 40-plus years of experience to Agile, having held senior underwriting and management roles with general insurers and Lloyd’s coverholders.

“We are extremely pleased that Nathan and Steve have chosen to join the Agile team, bringing casualty into the expanding Agile offering,” said Agile CEO Robin Barham.

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20/03/2020 10:54:49 AM

Q&A

Oliver Whittingham

The challenges of insuring regional hotels and pubs

Director MATRIX INSURANCE GROUP

Years in the industry 15 Fast fact Whittingham first broke into the insurance industry in London, where he worked for five years

You specialise in hospitality broking and have a large client base of rural hotels. How historic are these places, and what stories do they have?

The history and stories shared is the part of the job that I personally enjoy the most, and protecting these hotels to ensure they are covered correctly is very rewarding. They are a good part of the fabric of our great Australian culture. Many of the hotels that we insure are over 120 years old and hold many stories and memories, and they are a real community hub and meeting place for locals, tourists and passers-by.

Many of the older ones hold some sort of heritage listing, which preserves the look and feel of the hotel – and town, for that matter – and heritage councils will often offer grants or contributions to improvements or replacement of façades, which is terrific for bringing these girls back to their former glory.

One thing’s for sure – the more remote the pub, the better the beer seems to taste after a long drive! I’m still working on convincing my family and friends that when I’m off on another country pub road trip, I am actually working.

What makes securing insurance for rural hotels and pubs different, and what sorts of challenges are there?

Hotels and pubs certainly do face unique challenges when it comes to insurance. Some of these challenges include construction, remote locations with limited

Miramar Underwriting opens new Perth office

Sydney-based Miramar Underwriting Agency has opened a new location in Perth and named Grant Bowen as its new state manager for Western Australia to meet the demand for its services from brokers in the state. In his new role, Bowen will be charged with building strong relationships with brokers, developing the business and growing the Perth-based team. He brings more than two decades of insurance experience to Miramar, including previous senior underwriting roles with Allianz and Ansvar.

IUA appoints new senior underwriter

tank water supply, bushfire-prone areas, old buildings and structures, and asbestos and cyclone exposure, to name a number. Most of them are on the Lloyd’s of London market. But each venue is so different from one another, and they face their own unique challenges, so it’s demonstrating to Lloyd’s markets that each one needs to be looked at and underwritten on its own merit and risk profile.

Is underinsurance typically a problem in places like these?

It’s often a challenging topic of conversation with publicans, but a very important one and something that is critical to ensure asset values reflect reasonable replacement values – to ensure policies will respond when relied upon. Google maps, satellite imagery and building replacement calculators are helping our discussions. But with the rising cost of insurance premiums in the property sector and heavy taxes and emergency levies in some states, this remains an ongoing challenge.

Insurers, too, are also looking more closely at hotel and pub building replacement values and will sometimes request professional building replacement valuations or even refrain from quoting if they feel a building may be underinsured. One basic education piece for publicans is that they need to ensure the replacement value reflects the structure or contents that they have there currently, not what they would build in the event of a total loss.

Business interruption specialist Interruption Underwriting Agencies (IUA) has named Daniel Hrycko to the new role of senior underwriter. Based in Sydney, Hrycko will be responsible for building strong relationships with brokers, as well as overseeing business development and training requirements for IUA team members. Hrycko has more than 20 years of experience, and “his strong leadership and underwriting skills will bring a new dimension to the team,” said IUA underwriting manager Christopher Connelly.

ProRisk signs new binder agreement with Swiss Re

ProRisk has secured a new binder agreement with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. The deal marks a switch from the agency’s former arrangement with Lloyd’s and covers directors & officers liability, management liability, association liability, professional indemnity, medical malpractice, general liability, small business pack and general property business. Executive director Hamish McDonald Nye said the new tie-up will open a multitude of new opportunities for the underwriting agency.

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20/03/2020 10:55:26 AM

PEOPLE

THE BIG INTERVIEW

TWO FORGING THE FUTURE Where is Australia’s insurance industry headed? Gallagher Bassett’s Emma Hosking and Laura Bradley offer their views on the changing face of modern insurance A DISCUSSION with any insurance veteran inevitably begins with a statement along the lines of “Well, I never expected to find myself here …” But what follows is always a testament to the diversity of backgrounds of the people who find themselves in this field. Laura Bradley and Emma Hosking, senior business development managers at Gallagher Bassett, are both examples of this distinctive quirk of the insurance industry.

Bradley’s background is in wine and hospitality, which she believes enhanced her ability to maintain a customer-centric viewpoint.

“Regardless of the industry you are in, I strongly believe that customer and change need to be at the forefront of your focus,” she explains. “I like to shake things up and be a disruptor, which has worked well for me – our clients don’t have an insurance background, so they appreciate people who think outside the box. They want to be put at the centre of the solution.”

Hosking, by contrast, had a spell as a state government public servant, working within workers’ compensation, before transitioning to insurance.

“I’ve worked across 15 to 20 diverse roles in the industry,” she says. “However, my current manager convinced me to move into business development on the basis of my skill set and my practical business experience. My government experience and understanding and strong focus on risk have also really assisted.”

While insurance has traditionally been

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perceived as a very male-dominated sphere of business, both Bradley and Hosking believe that has changed in recent years. More prominent female brokers and industry leaders are stepping into the public eye, helping change the public’s view on insurance.

“I’ve only been working in my current role for a few years and have seen a significant change in that time already,” Hosking says.

“Less traditional sales business over lunches – it’s more about building knowledge and rela-

New horizons and new initiatives Though Gallagher Bassett is firmly entrenched in the Australian insurance landscape, there’s still room for further expansion. Both Hosking and Bradley have led major projects that have expanded GB’s borders, both geographically and in terms of the services offered.

Hosking points to her involvement in a project in the Northern Territory as an example. In 2017, Gallagher Bassett transitioned into the Northern Territory Government

“Regardless of the industry you are in, I strongly believe that customer and change need to be at the forefront of your focus” Laura Bradley, Gallagher Bassett tionships based on capability, combined with more formal governance frameworks.”

Bradley notes that this perception isn’t just limited to insurance – it applies to the wider financial sector, too.

“There has been change in recent years, and some incredible female leaders have forged paths for themselves,” Bradley says.

“The industry has seen the benefits that having a woman at the table brings, both culturally and commercially. Different ways of thinking are the best assets an executive team can have, and diversity is the key to that difference.”

(NTG) workers’ compensation scheme, taking over from an incumbent that had been in place for around 30 years. Hosking had a critical role to play in this process, working with NTG to identify the unique risks they faced in making such a change, including geographic challenges and a limited-skilled local employment market.

“While challenging at times, we partnered closely with the Northern Territory Government to rapidly deploy a transition project to implement an innovative new claims model and introduced that in under three months,” Hosking says.

This process involved setting up offices

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20/03/2020 10:56:56 AM

PROFILE Name: Laura Bradley Title: Senior business development manager Company: Gallagher Bassett Based in: Melbourne Years in the industry: 10+

PROFILE Name: Emma Hosking Title: Senior business development manager Company: Gallagher Bassett Based in: Adelaide Years in the industry: 25+

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20/03/2020 10:57:40 AM

PEOPLE

THE BIG INTERVIEW in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine; relocating senior management; recruiting a brand-new Darwin team of approximately 30 staff; fulfilling Indigenous employment targets; integrating the company into the NT community; and transferring 30 years of historical information – and, on top of that, rolling out a new business model for deployment.

“The remoteness of the location and the tight-knit community delivered challenges, but also some of my most memorable work and life experiences,” Hosking says. “My project management and problem-solving skills grew incrementally, but most rewarding

and results so far, including interest in the program from other government departments around the country, which I couldn’t be more thrilled about.”

GALLAGHER BASSETT AUSTRALIA AT A GLANCE

Changing the industry’s future Both Hosking and Bradley are keenly aware that the future of the Australian insurance industry is not static and that change is coming – some of it led by wider international trends.

“Our community has access to so much more information, and our expectations are different,” Hosking says. “They want a superior, on demand, usage-based, bespoke service.

“It’s about building knowledge and relationships based on capability, combined with more formal governance frameworks”

PRESENCE Offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Darwin, Perth, Sydney, Canberra and Hobart, with a team of 1,000+ claims management experts

SERVICES Gallagher Bassett provides customised claim and risk mitigation solutions to insurers, brokers, government and corporate organisations, covering all classes of insurance

Emma Hosking, Gallagher Bassett was being part of the start of a new branch of the GB family and its NT community.”

Bradley had a similar yet distinct experience in Tasmania, where she helped roll out a new health and wellbeing program for the emergency services workforce, which was a relatively new area for the company.

“We have extensive experience with emergency services both in Australia and globally, so we understand the workforce and have deep respect for the work they do every day to protect our community,” Bradley explains. “It put us in a position to design a program that would meet their needs.”

The program allows emergency services workers to take physical and mental health screens online and have periodic check-ins.

These can be done in the privacy of their own home on their personal device. Depending on the outcome of these screens, they can then access coaching and support to get where they want to and feel they need to be.

“The program aims to educate and empower the workforce about what health and wellbeing means, why it’s important, and remove the stigma from seeking help,” Bradley says. “We’ve had incredible feedback

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Increasingly, we see customers who want to own their insurance experience, ensuring they are empowered with timely, relevant and meaningful information to influence their journey and outcomes.”

She also points to an increased emphasis on climate change and sustainability in the wake of the recent bushfires around the country.

European, UK and a number of US insurers are being recognised for their response to the risks and challenges presented by climate change.

“It feels like Australians have found a larger voice, and pressure will increase on both the government and Australian business to influence climate change through business practice,” Hosking says. “It will be interesting to see how the insurance industry in Australia responds, both in terms of their governance and business practices, as well as product development and coverage.”

Bradley also believes technology – from Big Data and AI to whole-of-person approaches – will continue to play a significant role in both driving and enhancing insurance trends.

“I think we’ll see some big changes in Australia in this space in the next five years,” Bradley says with a smile.

CLIENTS Claims agent for Comcare, Comcover, WorkSafe Victoria, RTWSA, icare NSW, Northern Territory Government, Tasmanian DPFEM and a significant number of large corporations and insurers

RECOGNITION ANZIIF Innovation of the Year (2018), ANZIIF Service Provider to the Industry of the Year (2017), ANZIIF Youth Development Employer of the Year (2016)

GIVING BACK GB’s Gentle Bear program provides teddy bears to young children experiencing traumatic events and has distributed more than 15,000 Australia-wide

GOING BEYOND Gallagher Bassett is a multi-year Platinum Partner of Special Olympics International

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20/03/2020 10:58:15 AM

UPFRONT

OPINION

GOT AN OPINION THAT COUNTS? Email ibo@keymedia.com.au

Safeguarding share price Insurance and other risk management strategies are key to protecting a company’s share price during a reputational crisis, writes Nir Kossovsky DURING A reputational crisis, equity pricing is especially sensitive to investors’ cognitive biases. According to a survey published in early 2020, global executives attribute 63% of their stock value to their company’s overall reputation. Informational and behavioural economic principles, along with the findings of a study of a dozen reputational crises, suggest how insurance and other risk management strategies can protect share price.

Reputational risk is the peril of impaired cash flow due to behavioural changes by angry and disappointed stakeholders, usually following an adverse event. When emotionally charged, people often make very different decisions than they would otherwise. While the emotional intensity may diminish, the economic effects of decisions made in the heat of a crisis can persist for weeks, months and even years.

A recent Steel City Re study shows that while crisis communication is an important tactic, positioning risk management and reputationally relevant corporate financial information (such as corporate asset structure, reputation value volatility and share repurchasing volume) before and during a reputational crisis can impact up to 80% of the direction and magnitude of a company’s equity price change following an adverse event. The high-profile cases studied included Boeing, Bausch Health, BP, Equifax, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson, Samsung, Target, United Airlines, Volkswagen, Wells Fargo and Walmart, all of which suffered from a crisis that threatened their reputation at some point in the last decade.

Managing reputational risk is both a governance and enterprise-wide endeavour involving all aspects of a firm’s risk management apparatus. Our study found that more than 60% of equity damage can be mitigated through the following strategies: • Using financial instruments such as insurance to communicate governance and enterprise risk management strategies to stakeholders in simple and credible terms

not risk management. Trying to manage crises purely through marketing is rarely effective, and companies that delegate their reputational risk management to marketing are doing themselves a disservice.

That’s not to say that the marketing department shouldn’t be involved in the aftermath of a reputational crisis. Crisis communication can help mitigate the consequences of a reputational crisis. But as critics have observed, post-event marketing/crisis communication alone is not risk management. Any and all marketing efforts should be deployed in concert with strong risk management, finance and governance controls.

We are in an age when information, both accurate and inaccurate, can be spread instantaneously and a generalised sense of anger and distrust in large institutions makes stakeholders quick to lash out with disappointment and fear. Now more than ever, it’s imperative that companies constantly monitor the everchanging expectations of stakeholders.

While the speed at which information travels may make the collapse of a company’s reputation appear sudden, it’s actu-

“Corporate leaders often make the mistake of thinking that reputation is a product of media coverage. It is not – and marketing is not risk management” • Reducing the percentage of the firm’s balance-sheet assets that are intangible to minimise equity losses in the first days after a crisis occurs • Buying back shares with some of those liquidated assets to minimise equity losses in the first year after a crisis occurs • Managing enterprise reputational risk and the firm’s reputational value volatility to mitigate risk and reduce equity losses by the second year after a crisis Corporate leaders often make the mistake of thinking that reputation is a product of media coverage. It is not – and marketing is

ally the result of numerous compromises to governance protocols that gradually changed company culture over time.

Governance and risk management professionals can take this message to the bank. For effective reputation crisis prevention and reputational risk mitigation, leaders must implement pre-emptive strategies that are keyed to the protection of corporate cash flow.

Dr. Nir Kossovsky is the CEO of Steel City Re, which analyses the reputational strength and resilience of companies and provides tools and insurance to mitigate financial losses when reputational crises occur.

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20/03/2020 10:58:38 AM

SPECIAL REPORT

ELITE BROKERS

BROKERS For the eighth year in a row, Insurance Business spotlights 20 of the best and brightest brokers working in the industry today

ELITE. It’s a word that conjures images of success beyond the norm, of standing out above the rest of the pack.

Indeed, not just anyone can be an Elite Broker. To be marked out as ‘elite’ is an impressive badge of honour.

For the last eight years, Insurance Business has been scouring the industry to pinpoint the brokers who truly are elite. For 2020, this resulted in an impressive crop of talent. On the following pages, you’ll see a mix of returning and fresh faces, from those who are expanding their influence on the future of the industry to those who are making their mark for the first time.

Remember their names: these are the brokers to watch and learn from in the coming years. They have marked themselves out as elite this year – and possibly for many to come.

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METHODOLOGY The Insurance Business Elite Brokers ranking system is an objective means of ranking the best-performing insurance brokers in the country – not just those with the biggest portfolios or the largest clients. Each broker was required to supply their own details to be eligible, along with details of a contact who could verify those figures. The criteria included: • Number of policies written • Total revenue • Revenue per policy • Number of clients • New clients • New client revenue • Client retention Each broker was ranked in each of these measurements, and the sum of their rankings was calculated to determine their final placement on the list.

ELITE BROKERS 2020 RANK

RETHA VAN DER MERWE Managing director

20

OMNISURE

Serving as the managing director of Omnisure for the last two decades, Retha Van Der Merwe has almost 35 years of experience in the general insurance industry in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

As the head of a family-owned general insurance brokerage, Van Der Merwe lives and breathes insurance and believes that teamwork plays a significant role in the company’s ongoing success.

Van Der Merwe’s key passion has always been education, for clients and staff alike, which helps make Omnisure’s brokers some of the most in-the-know professionals in the Australian insurance industry. Omnisure ensures client satisfaction through its brokers’ passion and expert knowledge in risk assessment, by sourcing the best and most competitive cover, and by providing ongoing personalised advice.

Omnisure had a successful year in 2019 with two new hires and record growth. The brokerage will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2020, and Van Der Merwe says she’s excited to see what the rest of the year holds.

BROKER

COMPANY

1

Russell Bresland

Bresland Insurance Group

2

Victor Dabrowski

Securitex Financial Services

3

David Smith

Scott Winton Insurance Brokers

4

Bonni Gordon

Global Risks

5 (tie)

Adam Ware

BJS Insurance Brokers, Gippsland

5 (tie)

Eli Tatarka

Scott Winton Insurance Brokers

7 (tie)

Zoe Evans

Gallagher

7 (tie)

Simon Gray

Planned Cover

7 (tie)

Vishal Kapoor

McLardy McShane Kapoor

10

Ken Dixon

Dixon Insurance Services

11

Evan Jackson

Guardian Insurance Brokers

12

Gary Sim

CCM Insurance

YEAR

NAME

COMPANY

13

Lara Morgan

Allinsure

2020

Russell Bresland

Bresland Insurance Group

14 (tie)

Trent Mockford

Brookvale Insurance Brokers

2019

Michael Stewart

Stewart Insurance Group

14 (tie)

Dale Hansen

Austbrokers Coast to Coast

2018

Joe Khoury

Insurance One

16

Matthew Bates

Bell Partners Insurance

2016

Russell Bresland

IAA Bresland Consultants

17

Gavin Doherty

Marsh

2015

Ron Tatarka

Scott Winton Insurance Brokers

WHO’S NUMBER ONE? Being included among IB ’s Elite Brokers is an impressive feat in itself – but topping the list is another achievement entirely. Here’s all of the brokers who have placed first since the list’s inception in 2013.*

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Brent Campbell

Oracle Group

2014

Ron Tatarka

Scott Winton Insurance Brokers

19

Casey Caswell

Shielded Insurance Brokers

2013

Ron Tatarka

Scott Winton Insurance Brokers

20

Retha Van Der Merwe Omnisure

*Results were not ranked in 2017

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20/03/2020 11:02:27 AM

SPECIAL REPORT

ELITE BROKERS

19

CASEY CASWELL

17

Chief of sales SHIELDED INSURANCE BROKERS

Shielded Insurance Brokers had an impressive year in 2019, growing its team from eight to 19 staff. Within this period of growth, it was essential to ensure that the company maintained the right kind of culture to deliver the most effective and efficient service to clients, and Casey Caswell has been integral to this process.

An efficient operator who works hard to deliver on customer requirements, Caswell has a special talent when dealing with people, sharing his depth of insurance knowledge in a way that’s easy for both clients and other Shielded staff members to understand.

With more than seven years of experience and a demonstrated history of hitting his targets, Caswell is a team player and a firm believer in setting goals and maintaining the motivation to achieve them.

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BRENT CAMPBELL

GAVIN DOHERTY

Executive director

Principal – strategic risk

ORACLE GROUP

Formerly an Insurance Business Young Gun, Brent Campbell has spent the majority of his working life in insurance and has marked himself out as a high achiever. In 2019, he was selected to participate in the Zurich Nextgen Leadership Academy, a 12-month program that included a development trip to Zurich, Switzerland.

Campbell is an executive director of Oracle Group Australia, a national brokerage with offices in Queensland, Victoria and WA, plus a network of authorised representatives that extends to NSW and SA, which places more than $65m in annual gross written premium.

Campbell also manages a personal brokerage portfolio, serves as state manager for WA and contributes to the culture, strategy, technology, relationships and operational management of Oracle Group.

Campbell pursues a variety of other goals outside of insurance, too. In 2019, he completed the Rottnest Channel swim, a 20km solo marathon, raising more than $8,500 in donations for Girls Academy, the flagship program of Role Models & Leaders Australia.

WHAT CLIENTS WANT FROM THEIR BROKER 2018

2019 34%

A risk analysis of their business

38%

Information about general business risks Real-life examples of businesses with similar risk

31%

37%

24% 26% Source: SME Insurance Index, 2019

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MARSH

During the 16 years Gavin Doherty has spent in insurance, he has diligently thrown himself into not only personal and professional development, but also developing the industry as a whole. A former Insurance Business Young Gun, Doherty has been heavily invested in the industry since the start of his career, formerly serving as a committee member and president of NIBA’s WA Young Professionals committee.

Doherty also won the inaugural Marsh Shark Tank Award for Innovation, was a member of the first global Marsh Hackathon Team and was chosen to receive the NIBA-CBU Professional Excellence scholarship, which gave him the opportunity to participate in NIBA College’s Certified Professional Insurance Broker development program.

“I enjoy understanding a diverse range of businesses and people, and for this reason, I am passionate about insurance broking,” Doherty says.

“Insurance can be purchased just about anywhere, but what can’t be purchased is a partnership built on trust, respect, integrity and professionalism.”

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20/03/2020 11:03:05 AM

MATTHEW BATES

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Managing director, insurance BELL PARTNERS INSURANCE

Matthew Bates is managing director of Bell Partners Insurance, a specialist joint venture with leading accountancy firm Bell Partners. After many years of corporate experience leading teams across Westfield, News Limited, REA Group and other major players, Bates transferred his knowledge to the insurance industry. Since joining Bell Partners six years ago, he’s built a reputation as a broker who prioritises high-quality insurance advice and outstanding customer service. Bates’ difference lies in his dedication to outstanding service that makes every client feel that they’re the most important person in the world and that their needs are absolutely understood.

Bates places significant focus on constantly improving and developing his skills – his bachelor of economics, certificate MBA and completion of the Australian Institute of Company Directors course have earned him respect as a credible authority among his high-net-worth and business clients. Bates is Tier 1 qualified and is currently studying for his Diploma in Insurance Broking. He also attends regular training seminars and conferences and was twice selected by AIG to attend its Private Client Group University in New York – the only Australian broker to do so at the time.

HOW BROKERS CAN HELP WITH RISK MANAGEMENT

41%

36%

22%

Advising on policy

Advising on coverage

Advising ways to minimise business risks

23%

28%

Providing updates on information and regulations

SMEs who think the broker doesn’t have a role in risk management

30% Performing risk assessment on business operations

SMES’ SATISFACTION WITH THE CLAIMS EXPERIENCE 55%

59%

35%

29%

10% 2017 Dissatisfied

49%

20%

12% 2018 Neutral

31% 20%

2019 Satisfied

14 (TIE)

TRENT MOCKFORD Authorised representative BROOKVALE INSURANCE BROKERS

For Trent Mockford, broking was a practical choice. Living on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, he was keen to maintain a beach lifestyle and avoid commuting to the city. Once he had a few years of industry experience under his belt, he reached out to Brookvale Insurance Brokers for a job – and 11 years later, he’s still there.

During 2019, Mockford and the rest of the team at Brookvale focused on providing clients with a holistic insurance solution. Together with its referral partners, Brookvale experienced a substantial increase in policies and clients under management. Claims handling has also become one of the company’s top priorities. As clients in Batlow faced fire claims and multiple weather events, Mockford praises the Brookvale team for stepping up and delivering exceptional results for clients in their time of need.

Looking ahead, Mockford says the uncertain state of the economy and the cost of insurance programs will present challenges, but Brookvale intends meet them by focusing on client communication and demonstrating the value of a general insurance broker.

And as for the beach lifestyle? “I still manage to get a surf or a mountain bike ride in at lunch when I can,” he says.

Source: SME Insurance Index, 2019

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20/03/2020 11:03:33 AM

SPECIAL REPORT

ELITE BROKERS

14 (TIE)

DALE HANSEN

12

CEO AUSTBROKERS COAST TO COAST

Both Austbrokers Coast to Coast and its CEO, Dale Hansen, boast a long list of industry accolades. Hansen credits this impressive success to the quality service the brokerage provides its customers and the strong relationships its staff has built with clients.

“We always put the client first and do the right thing, irrespective of costs,” Hansen told IB in a recent interview. “Clients will buy from people they trust, so we focus on advice rather than price. We’ll always recommend the right program for the client, even if they choose to accept a quote from another broker based on price.”

One of Hansen’s golden rules is that every client should be treated as an honoured guest. “We recognise that we’re dependent on the client rather than the client being dependent on us,” he says. “Ultimately, the client is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to serve them.”

LARA MORGAN Partner

ALLINSURE

13

Lara Morgan first joined the Allinsure team in 2016 as a senior account executive after working as both a broker and insurer BDM in the local region. In early 2019, she became a partner of Allinsure and has gone on to play a significant role in the growth and development of the business. Morgan’s promotion is a reflection of her dedication to providing clients with excellent service and advice, as well as empathy and advocacy at the time of claim.

Morgan is responsible for managing Allinsure’s extensive strata portfolio, as well as focusing on property development, construction, not-for-profits, SMEs and professional risks. She has also been instrumental in recruiting, training and mentoring the company’s junior staff, assisting with the development of the next generation of insurance brokers and advisers, especially her two female juniors and a number of new staff without any prior industry experience.

Morgan was chosen to represent Team IA in Allianz’s 2018 Blue Eagle Program and Insurance Advisernet’s 2019 Accelerator Program, where she received overwhelmingly positive feedback and took away some invaluable skills and lessons to apply to Allinsure in the future.

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GARY SIM Principal/director CCM INSURANCE

CCM Insurance was founded to meet the needs of property development and construction companies with strong growth ambitions – and since founding the company in 2010, Gary Sim has strived to do exactly that. He retains an overview of the insurance and risk requirements of every client CCM Insurance works with, ensuring that they have the appropriate strategies in place. It’s an approach that has paid off – the company won Specialist Insurance Brokerage of the Year at the 2019 Insurance Business Australia Awards and has also achieved record growth during its 10 years in operation.

Sim has also acted as a mentor to two new staff members, neither of whom had prior experience in the construction industry, and has assisted them in growing their portfolios by 30% and 35%, respectively. He proactively seeks opportunities to speak to new tertiary graduates to generate awareness and interest in the insurance industry while also providing work experience opportunities.

www.insurancebusinessonline.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:04:31 AM

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EVAN JACKSON Owner and managing director GUARDIAN INSURANCE BROKERS

At Guardian Insurance Brokers, Evan Jackson maintains the quality and relevance of insurance products by keeping abreast of any legislative changes that might affect the industry. While Guardian doesn’t advertise, the referrals continue to roll in – so it’s evident that Jackson’s approach, combined with his unsurpassed passion for insurance and client advocacy, has been yielding dividends during his time at the head of the company. He has built his expertise in providing insurance and risk-related solutions based on a keen understanding of the client’s unique requirements; each insurance solution is designed and negotiated based on extensive market research.

These days, Jackson is increasingly focusing on mentoring up-and-coming new brokers. As part of this role, he works to provide leads and opportunities for new CRMs within the organisation to help them build their own book of leads.

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20/03/2020 11:05:12 AM

SPECIAL REPORT

ELITE BROKERS KEN DIXON Director/insurance broker DIXON INSURANCE SERVICES

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Like many others in the broking space, Ken Dixon fell into insurance. Starting with FAI in 1991, he worked in claims, underwriting, sales, team leadership, sub-agency management and area manager roles before becoming a broker in 2003.

Today, many of Dixon’s clients are regarded as hard-to-place; between that and managing claims on an international basis, he has no shortage of challenges, but he remains keen to tackle them and grow his business in the process.

As a company, Dixon Insurance Services has changed its management practices and actively empowers all Tier 1 staff to expand, grow and succeed, which has helped propel the business to another level. Having expanded to the Sunshine Coast, Dixon has invested heavily in new staff, training and incentives. Looking ahead, he expects to see returns on these investments as his employees further develop their skills.

7

(TIE)

7

(TIE)

VISHAL KAPOOR Director

SIMON GRAY

MCLARDY MCSHANE KAPOOR

State manager, NSW/ACT

Since he entered the insurance industry in 1999, Vishal Kapoor has gained valuable experience as both an underwriter and a broker.

Working in the industry was Kapoor’s goal from a young age; he studied insurance as an undergraduate at Deakin University. Today, he is today a Qualified Practising Insurance Broker with a Diploma of Financial Services in Insurance Broking.

In 2012, Kapoor joined McLardy McShane, where he’s responsible for team management, insurer relationships and major client support. In the years since, he has become a director and equity holder of McLardy McShane Kapoor. He remains heavily invested in the future of the industry, participating in the NIBA mentoring program and sitting on the ANZIIF faculty advisory board and the NIBA Victorian committee.

ZOE EVANS Senior account executive GALLAGHER

7

(TIE)

A former IB Young Gun, Zoe Evans has enjoyed what’s been described as a “spectacular rise” in Gallagher’s Canberra office. Evans is highly regarded within the Australian business, but her success has also been noticed at a global level – she was selected to represent Australia at the biennial global Power of Gallagher event in Las Vegas. Evans has also been named a Gallagher Australian Top Producer (for largest individual growth) and has participated in the Gallagher Emerging Leaders program.

A vocal advocate for the insurance industry, Evans encourages young women to consider insurance as a rewarding and flexible career option. “The perception of insurance is changing,” she told IB in a 2019 interview. “The whole industry is taking that shift towards giving people a better work-life balance, and it is more proactive in terms of supporting mental health awareness.”

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PLANNED COVER

As the state manager for NSW/ACT at Planned Cover, Simon Gray brings a wealth of experience from both the legal and insurance fields to his day-to-day role. Having previously spent 12 years as a lawyer specialising in insurance litigation, Gray defended major insurance companies in public liability, CTP and professional indemnity claims. Today, his unique blend of legal and insurance experience enables him to provide his clients with insurance and risk management advice that goes beyond traditional insurance broking.

Since joining Planned Cover in 2006, Gray has been responsible for handling the company’s major professional indemnity insurance accounts for clients who are predominantly architects, engineers and other construction industry professionals. Given the changing face of construction in Australia, it’s a role that provides unique challenges and requires intricate knowledge to secure the best coverage for clients. Gray also manages a team of five other brokers who specialise in the construction services industry.

www.insurancebusinessonline.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:05:52 AM

ELI TATARKA Account manager and SME division manager SCOTT WINTON INSURANCE BROKERS

Eli Tatarka started his career with Scott Winton Insurance Brokers more than eight years ago, beginning in claims and working his way up through the company, building a very successful portfolio of business in the process. Today, Tatarka is a member of management, heading up the SME division. It’s a position he’s achieved through his proven ability to broker excellent results, in tandem with his management skills, sales abilities and ongoing client/staff relationships.

For Tatarka, insurance has always been about putting people before profit. Speaking to Insurance Business in 2019, he noted that his career so far has been built on “strong, genuine connections with both clients and staff … I make it a priority to ensure that each client, whether small or large, walks away with the right product and the peace of mind of knowing that I’m always there for them.”

Tatarka is also a keen advocate for young people entering the industry. “This industry is interesting; no two clients are the same,” he says. “Relationships formed with clients, underwriters and staff make it a very exciting and stimulating profession.”

5

(TIE)

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20/03/2020 11:06:22 AM

SPECIAL REPORT

ELITE BROKERS ADAM WARE Partner and branch manager BJS INSURANCE BROKERS, GIPPSLAND

5

(TIE)

Since entering the insurance industry in 2008, Adam Ware has shown a keen hunger for personal and professional development, and his career has skyrocketed as a result. Rising from account manager through to office manager, Ware was offered the chance to become a co-owner and branch manager of BJS Gippsland in 2016.

While he was climbing the ladder and pushing himself professionally, Ware also spotted a gap in the market for holiday rentals and took the initiative to close it. He personally constructed a website to promote BJS Insurance Brokers’ offerings for holiday rental properties, which not only yielded dividends for BJS, but also for Ware himself.

Ware’s technical abilities and dedicated service have been a successful combination.

He picked up the Warren Tickle Memorial Award for NIBA Young Professional Broker of the Year in 2017, was crowned Australian Young Gun of the Year in 2018 at the Insurance Business Australia Awards and was featured on IB’s Young Guns list in 2019.

2 VICTOR DABROWSKI Director

4

SECURITEX FINANCIAL SERVICES

BONNI GORDON Principal GLOBAL RISKS

Bonni Gordon is making her fourth consecutive appearance on the Elite Brokers list. As principal of Global Risks, Gordon works tirelessly behind the scenes, constantly promoting the industry and the careers available within it to her community. She actively promotes broking via sporting codes, community organisations and charities. She also endeavours to help organisations that rely on community generosity to survive and thrive.

Presently, Gordon is a senior associate of ANZIIF and a member of the Australian Professional Indemnity Group and the Australian Insurance Law Association. She holds a Diploma of Financial Services in Insurance Broking and is also a Certified Insurance Professional and a Qualified Practicing Insurance Broker. In 2019, she won Broker of the Year – Independent (1-19 Staff) at the Insurance Business Australia Awards.

DAVID SMITH Senior account manager, SME division SCOTT WINTON INSURANCE BROKERS

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Originally hailing from the US, David Smith kicked off his insurance career in health and life and eventually transitioned to the financial sector. He relocated to Australia in 2009, where he was promptly headhunted by Scott Winton Insurance Brokers to work in commercial insurance.

While Smith had no experience in the sector, he worked hard to learn the craft. He prides himself on paying particular attention to detail with clients, making the effort to learn all he can about their respective industries and the individual needs of their businesses. It’s an approach that takes him well beyond the usual 9 to 5, but one that he believes is crucial for excellence. Today, Smith still views insurance as a constant education, and he credits his continued success in the field to his surrounding team.

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Victor Dabrowski has been a fixture on the Elite Brokers list since its inception in 2013. With more than 25 years of experience in insurance management, Dabrowski uses his expertise to access the best insurance solutions for clients, particularly hard-to-place business.

In one of his early appearances on the Elite Brokers list, Dabrowski revealed three of his secrets to success: answer the phone (“You never know who’s on the other end or where it’s going to lead you”), handle claims (“By taking the pain away from the claims process, you cement the relationship and become indispensable”) and provide a high level of service (“It adds hours to your day, but the alternative is your business going into decline”).

Dabrowksi approaches his relationships with clients with attention to detail, uncompromised quality of service and around-the-clock availability. He is compliant and fully accredited to sell and give advice on both personal and commercial insurance.

He also works to further the future of the industry in Australia, investing time in mentoring ARs who have recently entered the field. “It’s great mentoring new ARs in the business and seeing them develop and blossom,” he says.

www.insurancebusinessonline.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:06:50 AM

RUSSELL BRESLAND Principal/managing director BRESLAND INSURANCE GROUP

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Taking out the top spot for the second time, Russell Bresland is making an impressive return to this year’s Elite Brokers list. With more than 44 years of industry experience across underwriting, claims and executive management, Bresland has successfully managed his own insurance broking house for many years. Speaking to IB about his placement at the top of the Elite Brokers list in 2016, Bresland noted that much of his success had come as a result of investing in service.

“At the end of the day, it is the level of service and professionalism you give to your clients and the insurers,” he said. “We do not actively market our business, and the bulk of our business comes from referral business.”

In fact, some clients have spent the better part of 40 years with Bresland, demonstrating just how much loyalty his approach breeds among customers. Bresland Insurance Group is also well known for being active in its community; Bresland himself serves on the boards of several not-forprofit organisations that span multiple areas of insurance, including the rural sector, aged care and disability.

The right partner You’re moving in the right direction.

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AXA, the AXA and XL logos are trademarks of AXA SA or its affiliates. © 2020

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20/03/2020 11:07:18 AM

FEATURES

SECTOR FOCUS: EVENT CLAIM SUPPORT

Getting event response right In the face of disaster, how can insurance companies best respond to clients’ needs? IB’s Tom Goodwin caught up with Luke Whenman from Vero Insurance to find out

THE 2019–2020 weather event season isn’t yet over, and it’s already proven to be a landmark one for brokers and insurers. The bushfires that began in September 2019, the hailstorms in December, the heavy rains in January and the flooding that followed in February have all increased the focus on incident response across the country. What can insurers do to ensure their customers are supported in the face of disaster, and how can brokers aid in the process?

For Luke Whenman, executive manager of commercial property and specialty claims at Vero, these are day-to-day concerns.

With experience in business and process improvement before he entered the insurance business six years ago, Whenman has a keen understanding of the importance of meeting customer needs. He saw insurance as a relatively untapped field; the regulation surrounding the industry naturally meant that many insurers had been slow to adapt.

Nonetheless, there was opportunity for a big customer impact. Insurance, Whenman explains, has evolved beyond the simple filing of a claim, then receiving a cheque in the

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mail a few months later.

“Today, insurers and brokers alike are much more hands-on and involved in the whole process of supporting the customer through a claim,” he says. “There’s been a real shift towards making sure we as an industry are proactive rather than reactive – having response plans in place in advance means that we can roll out a swift and tailored response, as we’ve seen with the events over the last few months.

“In practical terms, this means that as a business, we proactively plan for weather

events before they hit. We focus on hiring and training permanent staff, supplemented by short-term support to help with claims in the absolute peak periods. Staff and management teams also actively test the response plans for major incidents through simulations. Geographic considerations, policy responses, and supplier capacity and readiness are accounted for.

“We update our plans every year to reflect the latest developments within the field.

Planning for the worst-case scenario means we’re much more adequately prepped. The simulation we ran last year included pretty much everything we’ve had this season.”

In addition to this, Vero also deploys customer support teams and establishes hail assessment centres in disaster areas to enable claims to be handled in the moment, rather than delayed until weeks or months later.

“As part of the Suncorp Group, we’re able to leverage the wider organisation and provide assistance to customers who’ve been affected by these disasters,” Whenman explains. “Our customer support teams are also able to tailor their services, depending on customer needs.”

How brokers can help Claims are when the whole process comes together. It’s the ultimate test of any insurer, and brokers have a critical role to play during

ABOUT VERO Vero is a specialist provider of quality business insurance products and packages in Australia. Our mission is to ensure your business’s success, whether you run a small business or a large corporation. With more than 180 years of experience in providing quality insurance products in Australia, we’re experts at helping business owners cover their risks and secure the future of their business.

We offer our products exclusively through insurance brokers and authorised agents because we believe that impartial specialist advice is paramount when it comes to selecting business insurance. Vero has a great reputation in the industry, and we work closely with insurance brokers to ensure we meet the unique needs of our many varied clients.

Protect your business, and your future, with an insurer that understands business. For more information, visit vero.com.au.

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20/03/2020 11:08:11 AM

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A Hail Assessment Centre set up in Mount Waverley, Victoria, to assess and triage hail-affected vehicles impacted by storms

“There’s been a real shift towards making sure we as an industry are proactive rather than reactive” Luke Whenman, Vero Insurance the incident response. As trusted advocates, brokers are able to effectively triage claims, helping give Vero a better sense of the priority and specialised needs, as well as aid the swift resolution of simple claims through Vero’s One Touch claims process and broker settlement authority.

“We know from our own data and SME Insurance Index research that customers have a much higher satisfaction with the claims experience when a broker is involved,” Whenman says.

Brokers understand the complexity that goes behind an insurance response – for

example, if there are challenging situations that arise during the process, they’re able to manage client expectations upfront based on the insurance policy they’ve purchased.

“Brokers are often part of the local community,” Whenman says. “They know the situation and the community, and in turn, they help us better meet the community’s unique needs and engage with them more effectively – they play the part of advocate.”

Whenman also points out the valuable role brokers play in identifying customers who might be experiencing vulnerability as a result of the incident. It’s an issue that was prominently discussed during the Hayne

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SECTOR FOCUS: EVENT CLAIM SUPPORT

royal commission and one that Whenman is passionate about seeing carried out.

“People experience vulnerability for a variety of reasons at different points in their life,” he says. “During a catastrophe is when people are most at risk – by working with brokers on the ground, we’ve had a much easier time identifying customers who are either vulnerable or at risk. In turn, that means we can refer them to specialists who have the relevant training to look after them effectively, as well as expediting payments and claims processing.”

Of course, Whenman is keenly aware that brokers need the support of insurers to be able to work to their best capacity. Without the right tools, brokers won’t be able to deliver according to their clients’ needs.

“We scale up when necessary to ensure we’ve got adequate resourcing and capability,” Whenman says. “During a normal business cycle, we’d expect to meet all SLAs, regardless of claim volume.”

Additionally, Whenman and his team at Vero are working on ways to simplify the way claims are managed for brokers. A new digital lodgement option was launched late last year, allowing commercial prop-

A property affected by bushfire in Batemans Bay, New South Wales

“We know ... that customers have a much higher satisfaction with the claims experience when a broker is involved” Luke Whenman, Vero Insurance erty natural hazard and event claims to be lodged in a simple online form. Over the next few months, this platform will be rolled out across Vero’s other products.

Managing the future of insurance Looking ahead, Whenman believes the industry is facing a number of challenges that will need to be addressed, including

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policy coverage, underinsurance, and rising community and regulatory expectations.

These issues, combined with the rising severity of natural hazard events, will see insurers and brokers to continue to evolve.

Whenman also believes the increasing emphasis on prevention and risk mitigation is a positive move forward for the industry, and Vero is working to help brokers become

more involved in risk management through tools such as its Risk Profiler.

“Brokers play an important role in helping clients select the right option – this is another reason working with brokers is so crucial for us,” Whenman says. “It helps us mitigate many of these issues, and in turn provide a response that is tailored to the client’s needs.”

Though he’s aware of the challenges ahead, Whenman is nonetheless positive about the future of the industry.

“It’s about delivering exceptional claims experiences for our brokers and clients during the moments that matter, listening to their feedback, and continuing to raise the bar in how Vero best responds,” he says.

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20/03/2020 11:09:27 AM

FEATURES

SECTOR FOCUS: STRATA INSURANCE

Building a better future for strata The rental market in Australia is changing – and so is the strata insurance industry. Anne-Maree Paull of CHU Underwriting Agencies tells IB about some of the latest developments in the field

GIVEN THE increasing expansion of Australia’s rental market, the strata community is seeing a need for diverse thinking and increased support services. With research suggesting that an increasing number of Australians will rent, possibly for their entire lives, it’s clear that changes need to occur within the insurance space to help accommodate this trend. Anne-Maree Paull, chief customer officer at CHU Underwriting Agencies, believes there is great opportunity for the broking and insurance community to respond to the different ownership, occupancy, cultural and demographic needs of people living in strata properties.

“The shift to brokers providing strata insurance is going to continue to accelerate,”

Paull says. “Strata schemes and their insurance needs are becoming more complex, and strata owners’ requests for multiple strata insurance quotes are increasing. It’s an ideal avenue for brokers to help their clients.”

While Paull concedes that strata insurance is lagging behind a number of other general insurance lines, she’s confident that this will soon change, due to both consumer demand and technological innovation.

“The core strata insurance product has become increasingly complicated and rigid over the years,” she says, adding that this type of product will come under increasing scrutiny as educated consumers seek to pay for only what they need.

“It’s something we’re looking at very

ABOUT CHU CHU Underwriting Agencies created the very first strata plan insurance policy in Australia and started trading in Sydney in 1978. CHU is part of Steadfast Group, a top 200 ASX-listed company with $7 billion in total billings and the largest general insurance broker network and group of underwriting agencies in Australasia. CHU policies are underwritten by QBE Insurance Australia, an established and well-regarded insurance company.

For more information, visit chu.com.au.

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intently for our plans over the next three to five years,” Paull says. “With the rollout of CHU StrataTech to intermediaries and an internal digital transformation plan for CHU, we’re positioning ourselves to address the change.”

Paull points to ‘concierge’ apps and building portals as examples of digitalisation within the field. Designed to benefit strata owner-occupiers, landlords and tenants, functionality ranges from simple push notifications about meetings, events, maintenance works, lift outages and parcel delivery through to logging maintenance issues and paying strata levies. Apps can also offer products and services such as personal insurance quotes, cleaning, tradesmen, dog walking, power connection and removalists.

“The advantage this kind of technology offers is obvious,” Paull says. “We’ll see simple inquiries handled by the user, while at the next level, it can also provide integration options for brokers to connect their systems directly to ours to provide seamless transacting. Digital platforms are just the beginning, too. AI-powered chatbots are already on some insurance websites and will only

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20/03/2020 11:11:25 AM

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Restoring strata confidence

“Strata schemes and their insurance needs are becoming more complex, and strata owners’ requests for multiple strata insurance quotes are increasing.

It’s an ideal avenue for brokers to help their clients” Anne-Maree Paull, CHU Underwriting Agencies increase in sophistication.”

It’s a change Paull has seen with CHU’s own platform. Launched in 2017, the StrataTech platform enabled straightthrough processing 24/7 and a flexible strata insurance product via Flex Insurance, a fully digital underwriting agency.

“This met the demand for tailored, more flexible insurance policies and the request from brokers to manage the full policy life cycle online,” Paull says. “In the last 12 months, over 10% of quotes were obtained out of business hours by brokers – it’s a number that’s only going to go up, too.”

The next few years won’t be completely smooth sailing, though. Paull acknowledges that there is work to be done to rebuild confidence in strata in general, particularly in light of the high-profile issues that have plagued the industry in recent years.

“Defects in any building are common,” she explains. “But recently we’ve seen more significant issues with new apartment developments in Australia – not just with cladding, but major construction defects like in Opal Tower and Mascot Tower. Consumer confidence in strata building has taken a hit.”

There are signs of improvement, though.

Paull points to the Building Ministers’ Forum (BMF), which oversees policy and regulatory issues affecting Australia’s building and construction industries. In mid-2017, the BMF requested an assessment of the effectiveness of compliance and enforcement systems for the building and construction industry across Australia. The result was the release of the Shergold Weir Report in 2018.

“The report focused on the failings in the implementation of the National Construction Code and addresses compliance and enforcement systems for building and construction standards,” Paull says. “It concluded that the increasing number of issues has diminished public confidence in the industry to deliver compliant and safe buildings, and outlined 24 recommendations to be implemented over the following three years to lift the standards of residential construction.”

Specifically, the report touched on: • Registration and training of building industry practitioners • Roles and responsibilities of regulators and fire authorities in the building design and approvals process • The integrity of private building surveyors • Collecting and sharing building infor-

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SECTOR FOCUS: STRATA INSURANCE

mation and intelligence, including the adequacy of documentation and recordkeeping • The importance of inspection regimes • Post-construction information management • Building product safety Paull agrees that these are all key elements

dren, 9% are groups of flatmates, and 6% are single parents.

Overseas, the ‘build to rent’ model is becoming increasingly popular – developers in expensive cities are building apartment blocks intended solely as rentals.

“The concept’s really only just starting to take off over here,” Paull says. “But given

“Brokers will have a key role to play in working with clients, insurers and legislators alike to find insurance solutions for buildings with defects” Anne-Maree Paull, CHU Underwriting Agencies that need to be addressed in order to assuage public concerns and help restore the public’s faith in the industry.

“Restoring confidence in strata – particularly new builds – will take some time,” she says. “Brokers will have a key role to play in working with clients, insurers and legislators alike to find insurance solutions for buildings with defects.”

The new Australian Dream?

Concerns around strata construction aside, there’s no question that the rental market is growing and diversifying in Australia. In 2018, an analysis conducted by the UNSW City Futures Research Centre found that more than 2.2m people (9% of the entire population of Australia) live in apartments, and the majority of apartments in Australia are owned under strata title.

Of those apartment residents, 65% are under the age of 39, almost half are renters, and more than half were born overseas (predominantly in India and China). Thirtyfive per cent of strata dwellers are single, 24% are couples, 13% are couples with chil-

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the growth of the rental market and the shrinking space available, developers are certainly considering the idea. Both the New South Wales and Victorian governments are now looking at ways to encourage developers to invest in apartment blocks that would be entirely available for rent.”

Irrespective of future changes to the market, Paull is confident that CHU will be able to adapt. Brokers remain a central focus for the business, and CHU is continually rolling out new updates to better suit their needs.

“We’re continually evolving the StrataTech platform,” Paull says. “We’ve also introduced the policy management system, which allows brokers to log in and simply quote or, if they choose to, manage the full policy life cycle themselves. Of course, brokers can also continue to deal with us through traditional channels, too – it’s about providing them with options.”

COMMON ISSUES WITH NEW BUILDS According to a 2012 study by the UNSW City Futures Research Centre, the following are some of the most common problems with new builds: Waterproofing within the apartment Cracking to internal or external structures Water penetration from outside Guttering faults Defective roof coverings Defective plumbing Tiling problems Noise break-through Building movement Defective balcony balustrades Lack of or defective fire safety measures Source: Governing the Compact City: The Role and Effectiveness of Strata Management in Higher Density Residential Developments, UNSW City Futures Research Centre, 2012

This article is intended for insurance intermediaries only. CHU Underwriting Agencies Pty Ltd (ABN 18 001 580 070, AFSL 243261) acts under a binding authority as agent of the insurer, QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited (ABN 78 003 191 035, AFSL 239545). Your client should consider the Product Disclosure Statement available at www.chu.com.au and whether or not the product is appropriate for your client in deciding whether to acquire, or to continue to hold, the product.

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20/03/2020 11:12:45 AM

FEATURES

SECTOR FOCUS: AUTHORISED REPRESENTATIVES

Taking broker tech to new heights Technology has been a game-changer, enabling greater efficiency and better client outcomes. But are brokers harnessing its full potential? Insurance Business spoke to Shaun Standfield of Insurance Advisernet to find out

THE MAINSTREAMING of computers in the workplace in the ’80s – and then the internet in the ’90s – made plenty of industries nervous, and the insurance industry was no exception. How would brokers fare in this brave new world? Would technology render them redundant and obsolete?

Thankfully, no. Shaun Standfield, managing director of Insurance Advisernet, sees the advance of technology as a definite advantage. There’s no doubt that technology has changed the nature of the broker’s role – but Standfield believes it’s actually led to a surge in the number of businesses that are seeking advice.

“You can Google just about anything now,” he explains. “But no matter the question, you’re going to find a myriad of opposing views on the same topic – insurance is no different, and people are understandably confused about the information they find online. As brokers, we need to make sure we’re ready to help them when they pick up the phone to make enquiries.”

Advice-driven business is the key to longevity for insurance brokers, Standfield notes. From a consumer perspective, price isn’t necessarily the prime driver when a claimable event occurs – having the right support in place is far more crucial. Technology enables this advice-driven model, but real people are still very much part of the process.

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“We believe a combination of great people and great systems will result in great advice,” Standfield says.

When used correctly, technology actively enhances a broker’s role, he explains. It’s an enabler that can provide additional and better information, reduce frictional costs, and enhance a broker’s relationships with existing and future clients alike. Technology brings data feeds and workflow management to relieve many of the administrative and technical burdens brokers face. Compliance is embedded throughout the process rather than a “complex minefield bolted into the advice process,” Standfield says.

It can also enable better connections between brokers and their local communities. Tools like social media, SEO and other web-based services have helped raise the

profile of brokers while also enabling them to learn about their clients more easily.

“Nothing beats discussing clients’ needs on a one-on-one basis,” Standfield says. “With the tools available to you, you can ask more pertinent questions, helping ensure you’ve got an effective grasp on what they need to protect their business and their families.”

Standfield points to the recent bushfires and hail events in NSW as an example of the power of technology and effective customer service in action.

“We were able to send out early warning messages to our clients and then follow up using our power mapping system,” Standfield says. “We could identify clients who had potentially been impacted, then send them a personalised electronic mailer, check on their welfare and let them know how to commence

INSURANCE ADVISERNET’S 5-STAR BEST PRACTICE Insurance Advisernet is committed to providing its clients with advice on insurance best practice in key risk areas. Its 5-Star system provides clients with a snapshot of how they’re performing against industry best practice in respect to risk management, compliance and mitigation. The Insurance Advisernet 5-Star Survey & Report provides clients with a rating on their existing procedures, as well as guidelines on how to upgrade to best practice. The 5-Star system is currently available for the following types of insurance risk: • Property • Cyber • WHS For more information, visit insuranceadviser.net.

www.insurancebusinessonline.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:14:18 AM

Brought to you by

INSURANCE ADVISERNET

BY THE NUMBERS

1996

Year founded

800+

Number of staff

175,000+

Number of policies

“We believe a combination of great people and great systems will result in great advice”

86,000+

Number of clients

Shaun Standfield, Insurance Advisernet preparing a claim. We also sent useful links so clients could have all of the relevant contact details for government and agency support services in one place.”

That said, Standfield is conscious that making the shift to a higher-tech world can be challenging. There are still plenty of brokers who are lagging behind on this front, and Standfield believes that some don’t yet appreciate how to use the tools that are emerging.

There’s often a misconception that these tools are solely for admin tasks, but Standfield sees their real value in being able to increase the level of personalised client contact.

“Our own client research shows that price is important, but it’s not the overarching

factor in clients purchasing insurance from a broker,” he says. “Comparative pricing tools may not necessarily result in long-term client relationships – if you win clients on price, you’ll ultimately lose them on price. They want good advice which ultimately allows them to put their head on their pillow each night with the confidence that their personal assets and livelihood are protected – and that they have advocates working for them.”

Instead, Standfield believes there is far more value to be had in maintaining a strong tripartite relationship between insurer, client and broker. Ultimately, this will bring better long-term outcomes for all parties involved – and it also fills Standfield with confidence

$750m+

Gross written premiums

about the important role brokers can play in their communities. With the right mix of tech and customer service, the future of the industry looks bright.

“Businesses that offer personalised services will prosper into the future,” Standfield says.

“We don’t sell homogeneous products – we sell professional advice, peace of mind and an ability to act as advocates for our clients if a claim occurs.”

www.insurancebusinessonline.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:14:42 AM

FEATURES

SECTOR FOCUS: MARINE INSURANCE

Trawling the depths Viral pandemics, weather events, international law, changing technology – it’s all in a day’s work for marine insurers. Insurance Business sat down with Nick Rowley of NTI’s Marine Protect to find out how the tide is turning for the sector

AS THE first quarter of 2020 draws to a close, it’s fair to say that marine insurance is in a bit of flux. There’s been a reduction in capacity across the UK and Europe as a number of major international players have taken a hit and either reduced coverage or opted out entirely as a result.

“It’s a certainly a fluid situation at the moment,” says Nick Rowley. For just under two years, Rowley has been national cargo product manager at NTI’s Marine Protect, and he’s already weathered numerous marine insurance storms in that time.

Rowley attributes much of the current situation to insurers trying to compete on price – a situation that’s understandable when you’re trying to build new market share, but one that almost always proves

unsustainable in the long run.

“You’ve always got a finite lifespan when you go that route,” Rowley says. “It’s good from a buyer’s perspective, but the crunch always comes, and I think we’ve seen a lot of that play out over the last 12 to 18 months.”

The good news, however, is that such a situation presents an opportunity for Australian insurers to bring their own talents to bear and fill the gap where international insurers have fallen short.

“I think it’s a great chance for Australian players in the market to step up and look at what they can bring to the industry,” Rowley says. “At our end, we’ve obviously got a sizeable capacity and broad risk appetite, which we can leverage – so, day to day, it’s about finding that sweet spot between

ABOUT NTI With more than 45 years of experience in the insurance industry, NTI is the company you can count on to protect your transport and logistics assets. Our award-winning combination of tailored products and services, experienced people, accredited repair and recovery networks, and industry advocacy have seen us become Australia’s leading specialist insurer, recognised as a leader in our field. Yet insurance is just a piece of paper – a promise. It’s not until you really need us that you understand our point of difference.

For more information, visit nti.com.au.

40

being able to support clients and brokers with their needs while still ensuring it’s being done at a sustainable price point for all parties.”

Commodities and coverage Of course, Rowley is well aware of the complexities inherent to marine insurance.

Given that shipping is one of the oldest means of transporting goods around the globe, it’s perhaps not surprising that it’s an industry with its share of legacy issues and eccentricities.

“We’re working to do our bit to keep pace with technology changes, but that’s just standard practice,” Rowley says. “What I think we’re going to need further into the future is closer attention being paid into specific areas of marine insurance in order to develop even more up-to-date products – that’s something where brokers are invaluable, because they’re the ones on the front lines with customers every day, helping them assess where their exposures might be. It’s invaluable information.”

Rowley points to commodities as one such area of marine insurance. The nature of commodities is such that clients can have wildly different needs for their products.

www.insurancebusinessonline.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:15:30 AM

Brought to you by

“Freight is very rarely just about sticking something on a ship anymore, and brokers need to be asking their clients the right questions” Nick Rowley, NTI’s Marine Protect “It’s a sector that’s very influenced by technology,” Rowley says. “So, for certain horticultural or food produce, you might need to ensure that climate and temperature control is being utilised to make sure they’re going to

arrive safely at the other end.”

This would be a reasonably obvious consideration for most brokers, he adds, but there are other situations where more specific insider knowledge is required to ensure the

best possible outcome for the client. The traditional method of offering varying levels of coverage across a variety of classes is becoming increasingly outmoded. Today, it’s crucial to ensure that clients have not only the correct coverage, but also the correct resources to ensure safe passage.

“For example, think about fruit and vegetables, meat and seafood – they’re a few common items that might require some form of climate control,” Rowley says. “Freight is very rarely just about sticking something on a ship anymore, and brokers need to be asking their clients the right questions.”

www.insurancebusinessonline.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:16:19 AM

FEATURES

Brought to you by

SECTOR FOCUS: MARINE INSURANCE

Responding to a pandemic As might be expected, the spread of COVID-19 has also had a significant impact on the marine industry. Though the disease has already caused issues worldwide, Rowley believes the full effects will emerge over the coming months.

“We’ve already seen cancelled voyages, which you’d expect,” he says. “But China is such a major centre of world trade and manufacturing – we’re going to see a lot of flow-on effects across a whole range of industries.”

impact every marine client – but it’s certainly something that could affect those who have trade connected to the region,” Rowley says.

He’s swift to add that he’s no doomsayer, but it’s crucial for those in the industry to stay up to date on wider world events, because they can have a very direct impact on the field.

“There’s a broader desire in the market to better define risk appetite and draw some delineation around what can and can’t be done from an insurance perspective,” Rowley

“There’s a broader desire in the market to better define risk appetite and draw some delineation around what can and can’t be done from an insurance perspective” Nick Rowley, NTI’s Marine Protect He points to Australia’s seafood industry as one example. China is one of Australia’s major purchasers of seafood, but that had almost entirely dried up when IB spoke to Rowley. It represents a microcosm of the wider issues that have been raised by the coronavirus pandemic, he notes.

“It raises a whole host of questions for marine operators,” he says. “Do these operators want to be sailing and taking risk for produce they might not be able to sell afterwards? Then you’ve got the actual transport issues – ships won’t be visiting certain ports, so produce is getting offloaded at intermediate ports, which adds additional steps to the supply chain process.”

Rowley also points to the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran as a potential issue that could resurface later in the year. The risk of war naturally means increased risk for businesses and, by extension, insurers.

“It’s not a situation that would necessarily

42

explains. “We always want to work closely with brokers to keep them up to date on coverage requirements. World events are just part of that process.”

Broker support and beyond One of the key areas of focus for NTI’s Marine Protect in 2020 and beyond is ensuring brokers have the tools they need at hand.

Rowley is well aware of the demands brokers have on their time and is keen to look for the most efficient solutions – primarily digital.

More generally, Rowley notes, NTI is aiming to ramp up its interaction and messaging to keep the broking community as up to date as possible.

One of the first touchpoints is NTI’s various blogs, Rowley says. These are updated regularly to keep pace with industry news and world events – it’s an easy way to disseminate information that brokers can digest at their own pace. NTI also puts webinars and

CYBER AT SEA?

Cybersecurity has become one of the hot topics in insurance in recent years as high-profile hacking and ransomware cases have continued to make headlines. Given the heavy reliance on tech in the modern marine industry, it’s a fair assumption that there might be a bit of overlap between the two in the future.

But Nick Rowley isn’t so sure that it’s arrived just yet – in his words, there’s “still a bit of a line drawn between cyber and marine.” Marine insurance remains focused more generally around traditional loss or damage to ships and their cargo, rather than the specific tech issues that cyber insurance addresses.

Could that change in the future, though, given the increasing encroachment of technology in our lives? “You never know,” Rowley says.

“The field can move quickly!” seminars with subject-matter experts online, and they’re recorded so they don’t have to be watched live.

“We’ve got the capacity to get the message out there,” Rowley says. “With all of the developments taking place in the industry, we want to make sure that brokers are able to provide the best possible service and products for their customers’ needs.”

www.insurancebusinessonline.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:16:45 AM

Your local marine experts.

Australia’s leading marine insurance specialist.

With the largest team of experts in marine insurance claims, underwriting and sales in Australia, we’re responsive whenever you need us. The marine industries never stop, and neither do we.

To get to know your local experts, visit

marineprotect.com

Insurance products are provided by National Transport Insurance, a joint venture of the insurers Insurance Australia Limited trading as CGU Insurance ABN 11 000 016 722 AFSL 227681 and AAI Limited trading as Vero Insurance ABN 48 005 297 807 AFSL 230859 each holding a 50% share.

National Transport Insurance is administered on behalf of the insurers by its manager NTI Limited ABN 84 000 746 109 AFSL 237246.

40-43_NTI Marine Insurance-SUBBED.indd 43

20/03/2020 11:17:35 AM

Insurance Business reveals all the finalists for the third annual Insurance Business Australia Awards ONE YEAR ago, more than 600 members of Australia’s insurance industry gath-

ered to celebrate the achievements of the very best in the business. It was an unforgettable evening that highlighted what Insurance Business has long known: that the nation’s insurance sector is full of talented, hard-working and driven individuals who never fail to pull out the stops for their clients. When IB opened nominations for the third year, readers responded in record numbers – and their nominations were whittled down to a roster of 146 incredible finalists across 28 prestigious categories.

Be sure to join us as the deserving winners receive their awards at a gala ceremony hosted by lightning-fast comic Ed Kavalee, also featuring drinks, dancing and live music from Groove Academy. Celebrating the people who make insurance great is a real passion here at Insurance Business – a passion that will undoubtedly shine through on the most important date in the Australian insurance industry’s calendar. To book a table, please visit ibawards.com.au.

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www.ibawards.com.au www.insurancebusinessonline.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:19:13 AM

FINALISTS THE MORSE BUILDING CONSULTANCY AWARD FOR

BEST COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM – INSURER

THE REDKITE AWARD FOR

BEST COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM – BROKER

BEST SERVICE PROVIDER

• AIG

• allinsure

• BizCover

• Allianz Australia

• CPR Insurance Services

• Cover Genius

• Insurance Advisernet Foundation

• EMLife

• McLardy McShane Group

• Insurx

• Chubb • icare • Insurance Australia Group • NTI

• DXC Technology • Gallagher Bassett • LMI Group

• Zurich Australia Insurance

• MCS Group • Sedgwick • Xceedance Australia

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

icare Winner, 2019 Best Community Engagement Program – Insurer

www.australasianlawyer.com.au www.ibawards.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:20:26 AM

BEST DIGITAL STRATEGY – UNDERWRITING AGENCY • Blend Insurance Solutions

BEST DIGITAL STRATEGY – BROKERAGE

THE BRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR

BEST DIGITAL STRATEGY – GENERAL INSURER

• AUZi Insurance

• AIG

• CCM Insurance Group

• QBE

• Blue Zebra Insurance • Flex Insurance

• Insure 247

• High Street Underwriting Agency

• SRG Group

• Vero

• Trade Risk

• ProRisk

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

Blue Zebra Insurance Winner, 2019 Best Digital Strategy – Underwriting Agency

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www.ibawards.com.au www.australasianlawyer.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:21:55 AM

Brought to you by

UNDERWRITING AGENCY CLAIMS TEAM OF THE YEAR

THE UNDERWRITING AGENCIES COUNCIL AWARD FOR

AUSTRALIAN UNDERWRITING AGENCY OF THE YEAR

THE 360 GLOBALNET AWARD FOR

GENERAL INSURER CLAIMS TEAM OF THE YEAR

• AM&T

• Blue Zebra Insurance

• AIG

• CHU Underwriting Agencies

• Dual Australia

• AXA XL

• Emergence Insurance

• Berkshire Hathaway

• High Street Underwriting Agency

• CGU Insurance

• Mecon Insurance • NTI

• NM Insurance

• ProRisk

• NTI

• Sura

• ProRisk

• GT Insurance

• Chubb • Zurich Australia Insurance

• Tego Insurance

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

Zurich Winner, 2019 General Insurer Claims Team of the Year

www.australasianlawyer.com.au www.ibawards.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:24:07 AM

THE BLAKE OLIVER AWARD FOR

AUSTRALIAN GENERAL INSURER OF THE YEAR • Allianz Australia • CGU • Chubb

THE UNDERWRITING AGENCIES COUNCIL AWARD FOR

UNDERWRITING AGENCY BDM OF THE YEAR • Claire Farmer

CHU Underwriting Agencies

• Katrina Johnson CHU Underwriting Agencies

• QBE

• James Lee

• The Hollard Insurance Company

• James Rogers

• Zurich Australia Insurance

• Con Stoitsis

Emergence Insurance GT Insurance Steadfast Underwriting

• Chris Varkoly ProRisk

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

GENERAL INSURER BDM OF THE YEAR

• Gordana Bailey Allianz Australia

• Thomas Barker Zurich Australia Insurance

• Christopher Chisholm Allianz Australia

• Lisa Hetherington Zurich Australia Insurance

• Shelley Turner Vero

• Michael Walker CGU Insurance

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

Nathan Somner, Ryno Insurance Winner, 2019 Underwriting Agency BDM of the Year

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20/03/2020 11:25:17 AM

Brought to you by

BROKER OF THE YEAR– SPECIALIST

BROKER OF THE YEAR – INDEPENDENT (1-19 STAFF)

• Jeremy Andison

• Stephen Elms

• Max Cuzzocrea

• Matthew Bates

• Roxanne Heibloem

BROKER OF THE YEAR – AUTHORISED REPRESENTATIVE

Intertrade Insurance Brokers Bell Partners Insurance

• Russell Bresland

Bresland Insurance Group

• Peter Chamberlain allinsure

• Ken Dixon

Dixon Insurance Services

• Bonni Gordon Global Risks

• Tate Harris allinsure

Gallagher

Online Sellers Insurance

• Rebecca Innes AUZi Insurance

• Jane Laybutt

Trans-West Insurance Broker

• Eayl Machlis Thunder Insurance

• Ryan Mansom Gallagher

• Enrique Sicurella

CCM Insurance Group

Maxton Insurance Brokers

• Steven Da Silva Austbrokers SPT Insurance Brokers

• John Duncan

JMD Ross Insurance Brokers

• Dale Hansen

Austbrokers Coast to Coast

• Karen Hardy

Acme Insurance Brokers

• Amanda Morris Arma Insurance Brokers

• Jeff Pang

BROKER OF THE YEAR – INDEPENDENT (20+ STAFF) • Vikram Choudhry

CRM Brokers

• Kim Gilbert

Zenith Insurance Services

• Evan Jackson

Guardian Insurance Brokers

• Belinda Sigsworth

Austbrokers City State

• Avi Tatarka

Scott Winton Insurance Brokers

• Jesse Thorp

Adroit Insurance & Risk

Reginsun Credit

• Kristy Martin Insurance Advisernet Merimbula

• Sumit Sopori

Imperium Insurance and Financial Solutions

www.australasianlawyer.com.au www.ibawards.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:25:46 AM

YOUNG GUN OF THE YEAR – INDEPENDENT (1-19 STAFF) • Tanushree AroraSopori

Imperium Insurance and Financial Solutions

• Joseph Cuzzocrea

Maxton Insurance Brokers

• Brad Dawson

Dawson Insurance

• Tate Harris allinsure

• Roxanne Heibloem

Online Sellers Insurance

• Natalie Maras

Riverina Finance & Insurance Solutions

• Joshua Scutts

Shielded Insurance Brokers

• Daniel Webber

YOUNG GUN OF THE YEAR – INDEPENDENT (20+ STAFF)

THE AXA XL INSURANCE AWARD FOR

YOUNG GUN OF THE YEAR – INTERNATIONAL

• Nick Daffy

• Taylor Burstow

• Victoria Gash

• Timothy Hardy

McLardy McShane Lockton Companies Australia

• Gerald Lodewick

Tony Bemrose Insurance Brokers

• Matt O'Rourke LEA Insurance

• Lauren Reeves

Guardian Insurance Brokers

Willis Towers Watson Gallagher

• Brandon Mather Gallagher

• Laith Parissi Gallagher

• Michael Pham Aon

• Caleb Richards Gallagher

• Eli Tatarka

Scott Winton Insurance Brokers

• Nikita Willis SRG Group

Webber Insurance

• Aimee Williams

Austbrokers Coast to Coast

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

Taela Bloemers, Regional Insurance Brokers Winner, 2019 Young Gun of the Year – Independent (1-19 Staff)

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20/03/2020 11:27:02 AM

Brought to you by

AUTHORISED REPRESENTATIVE NETWORK OF THE YEAR • Community Broker Network • Insurance Advisernet Australia • Marsh Advantage Insurance • McLardy McShane Partners • PSC Connect

BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE FROM AN INDIVIDUAL OFFICE

SPECIALIST BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR

• allinsure

• AUZi Insurance

• Australian Elite Insurance Solutions

• Avatar Brokers

• AUZi Insurance

• Bac Insurance Brokers

• Bell Partners Insurance

• CCM Insurance Group

• Dixon Insurance Services

• Comsure Insurance Brokers

• Granite Belt Insurance Brokers

• Cyber Insurance Australia

• Scott Winton Insurance Brokers

• Topsail Insurance • Work Health Options

• Trade Risk

Marsh Advantage Insurance Winner, 2019 Authorised Representative Network of the Year

www.australasianlawyer.com.au www.ibawards.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:28:24 AM

THE QBE INSURANCE AWARD FOR

BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR (20+ STAFF)

BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR (1-5 STAFF)

BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR (6-20 STAFF)

• BAC Insurance Brokers

• Bell Partners Insurance

• Centrewest Insurance Brokers

• Clear Insurance

• Austbrokers Coast to Coast

• CRM Brokers

• CPR Insurance Services

• City Rural Insurance Brokers

• Dunk Insurance

• Global Risks

• Holdfast Insurance Brokers

• InterRe Insurance Brokers

• IMC Insurance Brokers

• McLardy McShane Insurance Brokers

• MKS Insurance Services

• Shielded Insurance Brokers

• Scott Winton Insurance Brokers

• Topsail Insurance

• Watkins Taylor Stone

• Trade Risk

• allinsure

• Insure 247

• Zenith Insurance Services PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

Adroit Insurance & Risk Winner, 2019 Brokerage of the Year (20+ Staff)

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www.australasianlawyer.com.au www.ibawards.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:29:29 AM

Brought to you by

A MESSAGE FROM THE EVENT PARTNER Morse Building Consultancy is thrilled to be the event partner for the 2020 Insurance Business Australia Awards and to recognise the outstanding achievements of all those within the insurance industry. We are delighted to see so many willing to put themselves forward to be recognised for the hard work they do.

We have been working alongside the insurance industry for the past 15 years, providing detailed reports and scope of works, and have had the pleasure to support many great businesses throughout the years, some of whom are represented as finalists. The insurance industry has been subjected to significant challenges over the last few years, and we understand the amount of effort each organisation and individual puts into the work they do, most of which occurs behind the scenes and at all hours of the day and night.

As a leading building and engineering consultancy service provider, Morse Building Consultancy specialises in investigating, determining damage and providing in-depth reports and scope of works that the insurance industry can rely on. We have a network of professional, qualified, licensed builders and registered engineers who provide impartial, independent, in-depth expert reports and scope of works for all insurance needs in QLD, NSW, ACT, SA, TAS and NT. These awards provide an opportunity to recognise the hard work and the commitment to clients many businesses within the insurance and brokerage industry have. Morse Building Consultancy is honoured to be involved and would like to congratulate both the nominees and the finalists. We look forward to working with all of you in the future.

Andrew Morse Managing director/principal building consultant Morse Building Consultancy

TO BE ANNOUNCED ON THE NIGHT …

AUSTRALIAN BROKER OF THE YEAR Recognising the best broker in the Australian insurance industry, this category is judged on client retention, customer service proposition, lead generation, contribution to the overall business, relevant financial results and contribution to the sector. The finalists are drawn from the winners of Broker of the Year – Specialist, Broker of the Year – Independent (20+ Staff), Broker of the Year – Independent (1-19 Staff) and Authorised Representative of the Year.

AUSTRALIAN BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR This award recognises the best brokerage business operating in the Australian insurance industry, based on client retention, customer service proposition, financial results, staff development and retention, and the business’s value proposition and strategy around stakeholder engagement. The finalists in this category are drawn from the winners of Brokerage of the Year (20+ Staff), Brokerage of the Year (6-20 Staff), Brokerage of the Year (1-5 Staff) and Specialist Brokerage of the Year.

AUSTRALIAN YOUNG GUN OF THE YEAR This award recognises the best broker under age 35, based on demonstrated career progression and professional development, contribution to their organisation, relevant financial results, and overall customer service. The finalists in this category are drawn from the winners of Young Gun of the Year – Independent (1-19 Staff), Young Gun of the Year – Independent (20+ Staff) and Young Gun of the Year – International.

www.australasianlawyer.com.au www.ibawards.com.au

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20/03/2020 11:29:59 AM

award sponsors 360Globalnet is an international digital technology and services business focused on the worldwide insurance industry. It provides digital online platform technology to revolutionise the insurance claims process, offering personal and business customers a highly responsive online experience.

AXA XL Insurance provides property, casualty, professional and specialty products to industrial, commercial and professional firms; insurance companies; and other enterprises throughout the world.

Daniel Lukich, Business Development Director – Asia-Pacific E: daniel.lukich@360globalnet.com P: 0448 923 929 W: 360globalnet.com

Iselle Gonzales, Communications and Marketing Director, AXA XL, a division of AXA E: iselle.gonzalez@xlcatlin.com P: 02 8270 1719 W: xlcatlin.com

Blake Oliver Consulting is an insurance specialist consulting firm run by insurance professionals, for the insurance sector. Through our industry experience and broad networks, we can reach out to candidates with specific and niche experiences who would otherwise not be contactable in the general market.

Morse Building Consultancy specialises in investigating and determining damage caused by natural disaster events for the insurance industry. Professional, qualified, licensed building consultants and registered engineers provide impartial, independent, in-depth expert reports and scope of works for all insurance needs in QLD, NSW, ACT, SA, TAS and NT.

Daniel J. Marsh, Managing Director E: djmarsh@blakeoliver.com.au P: 0424 188 733 W: blakeoliver.com.au

Andrew Morse, Director E: andrewmorse@mbconsultancy.com.au P: 0412 769 332 W: mbconsultancy.com.au

QBE Australia is part of the QBE Insurance Group, one of the world's top 20 general insurance and reinsurance companies. With offices across all states and territories, we provide a broad range of insurance products to personal, business, corporate and institutional customers.

Redkite is an Australian charity providing essential, practical support to children and young people with cancer (ages 0 to 24) and their families. Our corporate partners provide significant and invaluable support for families facing cancer through corporate donations, staff fundraising, workplace giving, events and sponsorship, volunteering, and more.

Natalie Bolzon, Marketing Partner E: natalie.bolzon@qbe.com P: 02 9375 4862 W: qbe.com.au

Olivia Peters, NSW Partnerships Manager E: opeters@redkite.org.au P: 02 9219 4012 W: redkite.org.au

The Bridge International is a non-traditional management consulting team operating in Australia, New Zealand, UK and North America with deep experience within financial services.

UAC is the peak representative body for Australian and New Zealand underwriting agencies, providing professional development and educational events, expos to showcase members’ specialisations to brokers, marketing campaigns, and representation to government and industry.

Stuart Blake, Managing Director and Founder P: 0411012701 W: thebridgeinternational.com.au

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William Legge, General Manager E: williamlegge@uac.org.au P: 02 8284 8406 W: uac.org.au

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20/03/2020 11:30:39 AM

PEOPLE

CAREER PATH

PIONEERING SPIRIT

Michael Wood has never hesitated to turn the status quo on its head In his teens, Wood had his sights set on becoming a test cricketer for Australia before an “attack of the yips” undermined his confidence. He rededicated his energy to his studies, achieving a combined commerce and law degree at the University of Queensland.

“I thought if I couldn’t do well in cricket, I would do well in business.”

1980 CHANGES FOCUS

1990 HEADS TO LONDON Having decided to focus on insurance, Wood was determined to learn from the best and relocated to “the centre of the insurance world”. After a first year at Lloyd’s of London on secondment to a law firm linked to his Brisbane firm, Wood found his niche at a law firm specialising in insurance and reinsurance.

2003

MAKES AN IMPRESSION Over nine years, PI Direct became one of the biggest PI underwriting agencies in the UK, coming in as the runner-up for Claims Initiative of the Year at the Insurance Age Awards in 2003.

“We could reduce the defence cost spend on our PI claims by 45%, making the business more profitable and able to charge lower premiums. With 23,000 policies annually by the end of the year, two-thirds of that was through brokers, though we were the only direct insurer in the market. Brokers loved our almost immediate turnaround on quotes.”

2012 STARTS WOODINA Having had enough of quasi-retirement, Wood returned to Australia and created Woodina Underwriting Agency, initially part of a broking operation he bought in 2004, which was sold into Steadfast in 2013. Like its predecessor, Woodina has an internal law firm, which Wood heads up, alongside underwriting PI and other classes.

“Woodina is like PI Direct, but without going direct to the insured and being able to be more efficient with a strong online presence.”

1984 IS INTRODUCED TO INSURANCE After earning his degree, Wood landed a prestigious position as a Supreme Court judge’s associate before coming into contact with the world of insurance for the first time as a solicitor at a large Brisbane law firm. Wood specialised in insurance litigation, becoming an associate partner of the firm.

“Success in the law was my main goal; I did well at uni and got my first two jobs in Brisbane.”

1993

HAS A BRAINWAVE While returning from a trip down under after making partner at his law firm, Wood was struck by a new idea.

“I remember looking out the plane window and having this brainwave – what if I set up an insurance company with a law firm within it and also offered PI cover direct to customers? Four years of hard work later, PI Direct launched. It was a huge gamble” 2006 SAILS AWAY The sale of PI Direct to RSA meant Wood could achieve his dream of buying a big boat and cruising the Mediterranean with his family and friends.

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PEOPLE

OTHER LIFE

TELL US ABOUT YOUR OTHER LIFE Email ibo@keymedia.com.au

CHOWING DOWN

It began as a lark, but claims officer Chadwick Jones now has a trophy-winning sideline gig as a competitive eater WHEN CHADWICK JONES took on a challenge to eat a two-foot-long hot dog in November 2017, it ended up being the start of a whole new side hustle.

“I won against nine other contestants, including pro competitive eaters – unknowingly – and won $500,” says Jones, a Brisbane-based claims officer at

Austbrokers Coast to Coast.

In the ensuing years, Jones has taken a more serious approach to his hobby, as befits his driven nature, and he now boasts a wall of trophies from all the competitions he has won. Like any competitor, he trains to prepare for events – although in his case, that means eating

On Australia Day, Jones successfully defended his title at a meat-pieeating contest, downing six pies in two minutes and 14 seconds

56

the food in question in the lead-up to the competition.

“I won the Meatstock Sausage Sizzle Throwdown by eating 11 sausages and bread; for the two weeks before, I practiced that food,” Jones says. “I’m ranked sixth in Australia. I’m very competitive – I like being the best at whatever I’m doing.”

6th

Jones’ rank among competitive eaters in Australia

3:30

Time it took him to eat a two-foot-long hot dog in his first competition

$1,000

Jones’ prize for winning the Meatstock Sausage Sizzle Throwdown

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