NIBA CEO Welcome

CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER

It is a privilege and an honour to take on the role of NIBA CEO. The significance has become clearer over the past few months while working alongside Dallas Booth, the NIBA Board and the rest of the NIBA team.

Farewell Dallas

Over the past month or so, I have witnessed firsthand the esteem with which Dallas is held, not only locally with brokers, regulators, and insurers, but also globally, through international broker associations. Thank you to those of you who tuned in to the 2021 NIBA Awards and the farewell event for Dallas, I know I speak for all when I say thank you Dallas and good luck.

Vaccinations mean freedoms - opening borders and ending lockdowns

There is a real sense of optimism around the country. Vaccination rates are going through the roof and Australia has gone from laggard to leader in just a few short months. Australians are looking towards Christmas with excitement and dare I say a lot more certainty. People are booking local and overseas holidays, something unthinkable only a few months ago. But for most of us, the thing we crave the most is a sense of togetherness and community.

For me personally, it is so nice to be in the office, I still haven’t met all the NIBA team or the Directors face-to-face, but as restrictions ease, I look forward to meeting them and as many of you as possible.

NIBA Convention 2021.2 and 2022

NIBA 2021.2 is a hybrid approach that has been tailored to provide the opportunity for local attendance and networking in your state, as well as live online content. Kicking off in Adelaide on Monday 7 February 2022 and spreading over three weeks until the Convention closes in Sydney on Monday 21 February, this is a great way to kick start your year with technical and motivational speakers for you and your team. Early Bird packages close 20 December 2021, so you can put that in your Christmas stocking.

Meanwhile, plans are well underway to return to a traditional face-to-face Convention when we can all come together again in October 2022.

I must say a big thank you to all our partners and exhibitors who have been extremely understanding and flexible through this changing environment. Also, a big shout out to the NIBA events team; Arianne Bath and Patrick Bourke who, along with Kate Smith and the team at WSM, have recalibrated and rearranged numerous events with constantly changing conditions.

Celebrating achievements and excellence

One of my early opportunities at NIBA was to be a judge for the Warren Tickle Memorial Award for the 2021 Young Professional Broker of the Year. What a thrill it was to see such bright, enthusiastic, passionate, and professional talent. I was also impressed with the role that Vero played in not just sponsoring the Award, but actually investing in our finalists through group exercises, personality profiling and developmental training.

On Thursday 28 October 2021, we announced the winner of this award, along with the winner of the QBE-sponsored Stephen Ball Memorial Award for the 2021 Broker of the Year. We also presented the all-important General Insurance Company and Underwriting Agency of the Year awards, as voted by you, along with a special presentation of the Lex McKeown Award to a NIBA member for their significant contribution to NIBA and the industry more broadly. Of course, we also made the special farewell presentation to Dallas.

In what has been a challenging year for all, it is so important we stop and acknowledge excellence, be proud of ourselves and our peers.

Congratulations to all our winners

The 2021 QBE-sponsored Stephen Ball Memorial Award for the Broker of the Year is Tony Venning of Crucial Insurance & Risk Advisors in Queensland.

The 2021 Vero-sponsored Warren Tickle Memorial Award for Young Professional Broker of the Year is Mitchell Wight of Integral Insurance Services in Victoria.

The 2021 Lex McKeown Trophy for lifetime achievement was awarded to Tim Wedlock from Austbrokers AEI.

Affordability and accessibility of Insurance

Recently, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) released a report from industry expert John Trowbridge on the challenges of affordability and accessibility confronting specific areas in the commercial lines market.

Importantly, in his report, John Trowbridge highlights the value of brokers in helping SMEs procure the cover necessary, but as we know brokers can only help to the extent to which cover is affordable and available, so, as the need arises, I will be seeking feedback from NIBA members to help to provide specific examples.

New shoes

There is still much to talk about in terms of the NIBA Board Strategy, Broking in 2025, the 2022 Remuneration Review and the new NIBA Code of Practice, all of which I will touch on next month. I mentioned earlier that Dallas’ shoes are big ones to fill, and while I am looking forward to working with and for you, I feel the only way forward, is not to try and fill someone else’s, but to buy some new shoes.

PHILIP KEWIN

Chief Executive Officer, NIBA