The Life Insurance Company of the Year award finalists for the 9^th Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance awards were recently announced. Finalists include AIA, Asteron Life, and Fidelity Life. Additionally, Amy Cavanaugh, Pinnacle Life General Manager Operations and Len Elikhis, AIA Chief Officer - Product and Vitality are among the finalists for Young Insurance Professional of the Year award. Click here to read more

“The top New Zealand insurers will have their time to shine at the upcoming awards hosted by the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF).

This year will mark the 9th year of the awards that aim to "...unite all sectors of insurance for a celebration of excellence, professionalism and community".

The finalists were announced this week with Fidelity Life up against Asteron Life and AIA NZ for the top life insurer award.

The 2019 awards also saw Fidelity Life's Ben Holloway win the gong for the young insurance professional of the year.

This year, Pinnacle Life's Amy Cavanaugh and AIA NZ's Len Elikhis are two of seven young professionals nominated for the award.

"This year’s awards are centred around 2020, celebrating how our industry has supported the customer, community, and its people," the ANZIIF says.

The judging panel will explore how organisations or individuals have contributed to professionalism in the insurance industry and how they have successfully addressed issues by implementing innovative change.

The ANZIIF expects more than 400 of the industry’s top professionals spanning the breadth of New Zealand insurance to attend the awards being held at the Cordis in Auckland on Wednesday, November 17.

2021 ANZIIF New Zealand Insurance Industry Awards finalists:

Life insurance company of the year:
- AIA New Zealand
- Asteron Life
- Fidelity Life

Insurance learning programme of the year:
- AA Insurance
- AIG New Zealand

Young insurance professional of the year:
- Stephen Cantwell, FMG
- Amy Cavanaugh, Pinnacle Life
- Len Elikhis, AIA New Zealand
- Joseph Fitzgerald, Wotton + Kearney
- Steph Kelly, FMG
- Daniel Mathieson, Sherpa
- Megan Wolak, Delta Insurance

ANZIIF lifetime achievement award: Announced on the night”

Amy Cavanaugh:

Len Elikhis:

 

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It has been announced that ANZIIF will offer Building Integrity, a conduct and culture training course. The course is focused on the FMA’s view on conduct, conduct issues, consequences and improving customer outcomes.

“ANZIIF has announced a new training course for insurance professionals in New Zealand called Building Integrity, which will focus on conduct and culture issues across the sector.

ANZIIF says the course is designed to educate insurance players on the FMA’s view of conduct, and it will explore what conduct issues exist, the consequences that may come with them, and how an insurance professional or organisation can develop a strategy to improve customer outcomes.”

Rebecca Slingo, general manager, learning has said the course is recommended to anyone in the industry. The duration of the course is 90 minutes and covers five different sections:

• fire & general
• underwriting
• broking
• claims
• life insurance

“General manager, learning, Rebecca Slingo says the course is “highly recommended” to anyone in the industry looking to make improvements to their customer service.”

“The Building Integrity training course has five sections, and takes approximately 90 minutes to complete. It is designed for insurance professionals across different regions, and covers multiple areas of insurance including fire & general, underwriting, broking, claims and life insurance.” Click here to read more

In other news:

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Asteron Life: The ability to offer firefighters a special code when quoting in AsteronConnect was improved and is now effective

Asteron Life: COVID-19 SME index found that 85% of SMEs surveyed experienced declines in revenue

Asteron Life: COVID-19 SME index found 44% of SMEs applied for the wage subsidy to pay employees

Asteron Life: COVID-19 SME index found that one in four SMEs are considering making changes to their life insurance

Replacement case puts spotlight on 'churn'

Greens want ACC extended to cover sickness

The finalists for the ANZIIF New Zealand Insurance Industry Awards have been announced. The awards are being held on the 27th of November at the Cordis Hotel in Auckland. 

The finalists for the 2019 New Zealand Insurance Industry Awards are:

• Life Insurance Company of the Year - Asteron Life and Fidelity Life
• Innovation of the Year - AA Insurance, Cove, Cover-More Travel Insurance, and Initio
• Service Provider to the Insurance Industry - CoreLogic NZ, IVAA Jewellery Claims Management, JB Hi-Fi, Smith & Smith, and Verisk
• Large Broking Company of the Year - Insurance Advisernet New Zealand and Rothbury Insurance Brokers
• Underwriting Agency of the Year - Delta Insurance and Underwriting Agencies New Zealand 
• Direct General Insurance Company of the Year - AA Insurance, FMG, and Tower Insurance
• Professional Services Firm of the Year - Crawford and Company NZ, DLA Piper, Duncan Cotterill, Finity Consulting, RMS, Sedgwick New Zealand, and Wotton + Kearney
• Excellence in Workplace Diversity and Inclusion - DLA Piper, IAG NZ, Suncorp New Zealand, and Zurich New Zealand 

Last night the 7th ANZIIF New Zealand Insurance Industry Awards were held at Sky City in Auckland.

Congratulations to Fidelity Life who took home the Life Insurance Company of the Year and Accuro Health Insurance who walked away with the Innovation of the Year award.

Click here to view winners of all categories.

Congratulations to Partners Life for winning the ANZIIF Life Insurance Company of the Year. Also congratulations to Naomi Ballantyne for winning a lifetime achievement award - the strong performance of Partners Life year after year is being recognised in that award, along with her career achievements with OnePath Life, and Sovereign Assurance. 

Asteron Life won Women's Employer of the Year. DLA Piper New Zealand won Professional Services Firm of the Year. We think they are great too. 

You can check out the full list of winners at this link.