Neal Maidment: Congratulations on such a successful NIBA Convention. How was the event from your perspective?
Dallas Booth: In keeping with the theme of the convention, my thinking was certainly severely stretched! There are new forms of communication to be embraced and a real need to tell the strong insurance story, and the role brokers play in that story, to the wider community. I thought that overall it was a fantastic event and the program of events was exceptional. The feedback received from delegates has been extremely positive.
NM: How have you found your first months in the role?
DB: The role of CEO of NIBA is very much what I expected, and I am honoured to have been appointed to the position. What I was not expecting was the very long list of regulatory issues currently being worked on, including the proposed FOFA reforms on best interest duty. This is a major challenge for NIBA to address in the coming months and it will form part of our ongoing dialogue with governments and regulators, particularly ASIC.
Regarding FOFA, we put in a submission on this at the end of September and will keep members informed of our progress. If the Government wants it to proceed, there needs to be some significant rewriting.
NM: Any other key challenges you're particularly keen to tackle?
DB: Besides the regulation, I'd say the biggest challenge is to highlight the importance of insurance for the community and to help improve the public perception of brokers. I believe we need to develop a strong, succinct and clear message about the important role of brokers, and to keep repeating that message at every opportunity. There may well be some advertising involved to help reinforce this ideal, but I believe a lot can be done without incurring huge expense.
I want to promote the message of insurance broking as a vital service to the community, delivered by highly competent and dedicated professional advisers. As part of this we need to explain the fact that insurers respond to the agreed promise, not to something that was not promised to the policyholder.
NM: How do you plan to ensure young talent is encouraged into the broking profession?
DB: There is a very strong Young Professional (YP) network across NIBA membership. I want to take stock of how the YP Committees work in each state and help establish links between them so that they can bounce ideas off each other.
We want to ensure our YPs are motivated and engaged - that's why our mentoring program can be so valuable. But we also know our YPs love to have a good time, so we should make events we organise appeal to them in several ways.
NM: The NIBA Board recently met to discuss future strategy. Did anything of note emerge from this meeting?
DB: We had a tremendous discussion about the broking profession, and the role of NIBA in supporting and promoting that profession. I will be reporting the outcome of the Board's discussions shortly and you’ll be able to read about them in a future issue of Insurance & Risk Professional.
NM: Where do you see the insurance industry, and brokers in particular, going in 10 years' time?
DB: I want to see NIBA recognised as a strong and authoritative voice for insurance brokers and insurance matters generally. Insurers and brokers have been delivering the core insurance promise for hundreds of years – I see that continuing. After all, this is the security on which our wealth and our businesses depend.
Follow us on:
When management liability really comes into its own.
A flexible approach to work and study is a winning strategy for broker Gemma Gould.
Key figures from motor fleet insurance share their views on the big issues currently affecting the sector
Australia’s largest insurance broker cluster group, Steadfast, is proposing a public float. What will it mean to the shareholder
members of the currently unlisted private company? We speak to Chairman and CEO Robert Kelly.
Designed by eroomcreative | Engineered for success by EmpireOne
