Insurance Business Awards New Zealand 2022 Commemorative Guide

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2022 WOMEN IN INSURANCE SUMMIT

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOUNDED BY insurance experts but built for the cloud, Duck Creek Technologies is a leading provider of general insurance core system solutions. Duck Creek enables insurance businesses to reimagine, innovate and continuously deliver game-changing results. Whether you are a start-up, wanting to switch providers, configure your products, or aspire to transform your insurance legacy systems, we recognise that no insurer’s needs are the same. That’s why we are dedicated to helping each insurer achieve their greatest aspiration based on their unique needs. We have always taken pride in supporting our industry and are a huge advocate of celebrating the successes and achievements of our collective ecosystem and industry peers.

This year, we are proud to have had the opportunity to exclusively partner with Insurance Business for the annual New Zealand Insurance Business Awards, the leading independent awards program in the insurance industry in New Zealand. The awards showcase the country’s most outstanding brokers, brokerages, insurers, underwriting agencies and BDMs for their achievements, highlighting the big and small organisations that make up the unique industry network in New Zealand.

We extend our congratulations to all the amazing winners for all their hard work, commitment and contribution to the insurance industry!

Brokerage of the Year (1-10 Staff)

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Broking Network of the Year

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Best Digital Strategy Insurer/Underwriting Agency

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Broker of the Year – Specialist

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Broker of the Year – Independent

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Young Gun of the Year – International

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New Zealand Underwriting Agency of the Year

10

Service Provider of the Year

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Claims Team of the Year Insurer/Underwriting Agency

11

New Zealand General Insurer of the Year

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MICHAEL JACKOWSKI CEO Duck Creek Technologies

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DUCK CREEK TECHNOLOGIES (NASDAQ: DCT) is a leading provider of core system solutions to the P&C and General insurance industry. By accessing Duck Creek OnDemand, the company’s enterprise Software-as-a-Service solution, insurers are able to navigate uncertainty and capture market opportunities faster than their competitors. Duck Creek’s functionally-rich solutions are available on a standalone basis or as a full suite, and all are available via Duck Creek OnDemand.

For more information, visit www.duckcreek.com

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INDUSTRY RISING TO MEET A CHANGING GAME Award winners stepped up in another year dominated by the pandemic, with many now a deft hand at dealing with a constantly shifting landscape — which bodes well for future turbulence

IT MIGHT seem odd to call 2021 an unusual year after the history-making events of 2020.

If the pandemic was beat back from New Zealand shores in the early waves, it has now firmly planted roots like some foreign noxious weed on the Ministry of Primary Industries’ most wanted list.

The year started out relatively normal, albeit with many Kiwis enjoying their summer holidays at tourist spots devoid of international visitors.

But with danger only a deep clean protocol breach away, it pays to be ready to turn on a dime and to keep your ear to the ground.

Themes shared by the 10 category winners of the New Zealand Insurance Business Awards 2022 included using technology well, thinking flexibly and encouraging new blood to join the industry.

Ronald Gadsdon, a financial advisor at Discovery Financial

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Services in Botany, said the main thing he did not anticipate for 2021 was the country’s largest city going into lockdown for over 100 days.

Before the Delta variant arrived in Auckland in mid-August, lockdowns in New Zealand had been short, sharp events of a few weeks in duration, celebrated with a weekend away, or visit to out-of-town relatives when the all-clear came.

The winner of the Brokerage of the Year 1- 10 Staff category was ready for the shock of COVID arriving proper.

“Our business already had a contingency plan, so we were prepared to support our clients while working from home,” said Gadsdon.

He stressed the importance of having an excellent digital platform that enabled brokers to engage with clients.

“By going more digital it also allowed us to speak to more of our clients to ensure their requirements were still being meet,” he said.

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METHODOLOGY NOMINATIONS Nominations were open via online portal.

The awards were free to enter. To be in the running for the Insurance Business Awards New Zealand, individuals and companies could nominate themselves or their peers in unlimited categories. All submissions focused on the achievements of the nominees over the past 12 months.

RESEARCH The Insurance Business Awards team conducted thorough research to verify all submissions and nominations.

JUDGING

“The insurance industry is one of the world’s leastdigitally mature industries and that means there is a huge opportunity to leverage data and technology to reimagine how insurance operates.”

Insurance Business appointed an independent panel of judges comprised of insurance leaders from around New Zealand to review the submissions and allocate each nominee with a confidential and impartial score.

WINNERS

2022

The winners were announced on IB’s website on the 16th to 18th of February, 2022.

Blair Turnbull Tower Insurance, Chief Executive www.keymediaawards.com/ibawardsnz

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Future-proofing The rise of digital technology resounds not only at family-run boutique firms like Discovery but also at giants like Tower Insurance, winner of New Zealand General Insurer of the Year.

Tower chief executive Blair Turnbull said there was a lot of room for improvement in the industry in regards to technological innovation.

“The insurance industry is one of the world’s least-digitally mature industries and that means there is a huge opportunity to leverage data and technology to reimagine how insurance operates.”

Aside from creating technology that allows insurers to interact with customers in new ways, Tower has also made technolgical advancments in improving product lines. For example, their app GoCarma has enabled the company to track driver’s habits and reward safe driving.

Turnbull said challenges over the past year, aside from the pandemic, included large-scale weather events, supply-chain issues, and inflation. These resulted in an increased number of claims and higher average claims costs.

“Our philosophy is that challenges also present opportunities,” he said.

In November, Tower became the first New Zealand insurer to provide customers with a risk rating for flood and earthquake hazards for their homes. It also launched EV, boat, pet and travel insurance in the last year.

Turnbull said adapting to the risk curve was key to future performance.

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Flexibility was also important for commercial broker Nathan Barker of Cactus Insurance, winner of the Young Gun of the Year - Independent section.

He believes his ability to self-reflect on his performance in a changing environment helped him to stand out in a competitive field.

“Reflecting and thinking about experiences [and] situations allows me to be better equipped, more prepared, and therefore more confident for new situations,” he said.

In a year like 2021, looking back with a critical eye allowed Barker to understand what was working and what was not, helping him guide his team.

Like many of his competitors, Barker is relatively new to insurance, showing that the industry retains appeal for young people in uncertain times.

“I’d love to see a push for young people to understand a career in insurance, whether that’s underwriting or broking or premium funding.”

Teru Time TIME Insurance, Managing Director

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Another small company to win top honours was RedBook, which provides specification, identification and pricing for cars and motorbikes to insurers and other parties.

The winner of the Service Provider of the Year category for 2022 saw no shortage of challenges.

“The market for new and used vehicles has been totally turned on its head by the constraints of supply and global chip shortages,” said general manager Nick Auld, citing the Ukraine invasion as another potential supply chain risk.

“These inflationary factors have combined with Government clean car targets to make this a totally different market to anything we have ever seen.”

But Auld said an opportunity existed using data analysis and AI to provide tailored flexibility, rather than a one-size-fits all solution.

AI was also an area of interest for underwriting agency DUAL, which cleaned up three awards in 2022 - Best Digital Strategy Insurer/Underwriting Agency, Claims Team of the Year - Insurer/Underwriting Agency, and New Zealand Underwriting Agency of the Year.

“All businesses are looking to create efficiencies which results in time and cost savings for them, and we think AI and machine-learning could play a massive role in this,” said New Zealand general manager Paula Harris.

DUAL also saw a major opportunity for new revenue in cyber insurance, with a need for the local market to protect clients from uninsured losses from such events as ransomware attacks or social engineering fraud.

“The key for this is both brokers and insurers educating themselves.”

Attracting people The only winner not based in Auckland, TIME Insurance, operates out of offices in the hardscrabble Wellington suburb of Wainuiomata, a place that even many Wellingtonians may not have visited unless it was for a friendly game of touch rugby with locals.

Founder, owner and managing director Teru Time said the three-person team focused on engaging with the local community and raising the company profile through social media.

Educating family-run businesses in the working-class community about insurance’s role is a key motivator for the firm, which won the Broker of the Year – Independent award.

Time said he wanted to continue the momentum and hire more staff in 2022 to take on new projects.

“One of those is the opportunity to help out Pasifika people and, to start with, [we] would love to help the church community with their insurance programme and give them good advice to help understand our insurance world,” Time said.

Making young people aware of employment options in insurance was another focus.

Crombie Lockwood executive broker – financial & professional risks Jac Heale agreed that attracting talent to the

industry and developing staff was something there should be more of.

He said 2021 saw a lot of what used to be plain vanilla risks moving to the ‘hard to place’ list for insurers. The liability market also became very restrictive.

“I see this happening more for insurers and it getting harder for brokers to anticipate what could be the next red flag industry,” he said.

One area the winner of the Broker of the Year – Specialist category was keeping an eye on was export.

“Traditional specialist insurance markets like marine and trade credit will play an important role in overcoming the uncertainty exporters have,” said Heale.

A key tool would be the macro-economic information that trade credit insurers have on export destinations, as well as being able to think creatively.

“There’s always another way to look at things in insurance,” he said.

Crystal-ball gazing is a risky business, but luckily for the insurance industry, there are many angles possible when viewing a sphere.

“Duck Creek Technologies is proud to sponsor the Insurance Business Awards in New Zealand for 2022, which is an incredible opportunity for all industry players, big and small, to share their success journeys and stories. As a company, we have always taken pride in supporting our industry and are a huge believer and advocate of celebrating the successes and achievements of our collective ecosystem and industry peers.

Having previously sponsored Insurance Business awards both locally in Australia and globally, we are excited to expand this support further and into New Zealand as our company continues to rapidly grow its footprint within the Asia-Pacific region.”

Ava Emdadian Business Development Manager, Duck Creek Technologies www.keymediaawards.com/ibawardsnz

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BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR

BROKING NETWORK OF THE YEAR

(1–10 STAFF)

This award recognises the best brokerage operation with 1-10 staff (or full-time equivalents) in New Zealand.

This award recognises the best broking network in New Zealand.

WINNER

WINNER

Discovery Financial Services

Insurance Advisernet New Zealand

Contact Details: W: www.discoveryfinancialservices.co.nz E: discoveryservices@xtra.co.nz P: 029 200 7345

Contact Details: W: www.insuranceadvisernet.co.nz E: info@ianz.co.nz P: 0800 524 760

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BEST DIGITAL STRATEGY INSURER/ UNDERWRITING AGENCY

BROKER OF THE YEAR

BROKER OF THE YEAR

SPECIALIST

INDEPENDENT

This award recognises the best general insurer/underwriting agency that has harnessed digital channels to provide brokers with practical, effective and easily accessible facilities to help them with their business.

This award recognises the best broker for whom over 50% of business is derived from one area of specialty risk.

This award recognises the best broker working in an independent brokerage operation.

WINNER

WINNER

WINNER

DUAL

Jac Heale

Crombie Lockwood

Teru Time

TIME Insurance

Contact Details: W: www.timeinsurance.co.nz E: teru@timeinsurance.co.nz P: (+64)12 555 995

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YOUNG GUN OF THE YEAR INTERNATIONAL

NEW ZEALAND UNDERWRITING AGENCY OF THE YEAR

This award recognises the best broker aged under 35 who works for an international brokerage with at least one office outside of New Zealand.

This award recognises the best underwriting agency operating in New Zealand.

WINNER

WINNER

Nathan Barker

DUAL

Contact Details: W: https://hicactus.com/ E: Nathan@hicactus.com P: 02040265315

Contact Details: W: https://www.dualnewzealand.co.nz/ E: hello@dualnewzealand.co.nz P: 09 973 0190

Cactus Insurance

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SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEAR

CLAIMS TEAM OF THE YEAR - INSURER/ UNDERWRITING AGENCY

NEW ZEALAND GENERAL INSURER OF THE YEAR

This award recognises the best service provider within the insurance sector operating in New Zealand.

This award recognises the best claims team within a General Insurer or Underwriting Agency in New Zealand.

This award recognises the best general insurer operating in New Zealand.

WINNER

WINNER

WINNER

RedBook

DUAL

Tower Insurance

Contact Details: W: www.tower.co.nz E: emily.davies@tower.co.nz P: (+64) 21 815 149

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A LOOK BACK: THE 2021 WINNERS BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE FROM AN INDIVIDUAL OFFICE

BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR > 11+ STAFF

RIVAL Wealth

Dawson Insurance

BROKERAGE OF THE YEAR 1-10 STAFF

BROKING NETWORK OF THE YEAR

Sherpa Insurance Brokers & Advocates

Insurance Advisernet New Zealand

BROKER OF THE YEAR INDEPENDENT

BROKER OF THE YEAR SPECIALIST

Shane Gadsdon Discovery Financial Services

Dean Spense Captive Insurance Solutions NZ

YOUNG GUN OF THE YEAR INDEPENDENT Josh Cuttance SHARE NZ

CLAIMS TEAM OF THE YEAR INSURER/UNDERWRITING AGENCY

DUAL New Zealand

GENERAL INSURER BDM OF THE YEAR

Delta Insurance

James McNulty FMG

SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEAR

NEW ZEALAND UNDERWRITING AGENCY OF THE YEAR

Hello Claims New Zealand

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BEST DIGITAL STRATEGY INSURER/UNDERWRITING AGENCY

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DUAL New Zealand

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OFFICIAL MEDIA

ORGANISER

N Z

BY THE ORGANISERS OF

2022 WOMEN IN INSURANCE SUMMIT

WOMEN IN INSURANCE SUMMIT

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