Following the success of the first-ever NZUAC Expo in 2023, the New Zealand Underwriting Agencies Council is bringing the event back – this time, not only in Auckland but in Christchurch as well.
“We got a lot of feedback after the very successful Auckland Expo last October that our members would like to see a South Island event,” NZUAC executive director Nigel Edmiston told Insurance Business. “So, we debated it and sought further feedback from our members as to whether they would support such an expo. The feedback was pretty positive, so we decided to proceed and go ahead.”
Taking place on May 23 at Rydges Latimer Christchurch, the South Island edition will feature the same “Challenging Markets and Innovative Solutions” theme. Speaking at the event are Financial Markets Authority (FMA) insurance head Jane Brown and National Surveys & Risk Assessments (NSRA) colleagues Lisa Watts and Leon Midas.
Topics to be discussed include FMA priorities such as the Conduct of Financial Institutions legislation, while Australia-based NSRA will be marking its foray into New Zealand’s risk engineering sector during the event.
Last year’s inaugural NZUAC Expo in Auckland saw about 130 brokers engaging with the body’s underwriting agency members and supply partners. For the cut-down, morning tea version in Christchurch this month, Edmiston’s camp hopes to host around 50 to 70 brokers. Entry remains free to all broker attendees.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for our members and supply partners to demonstrate their service offerings and solutions to our target audience of insurance brokers,” said the NZUAC, which is also holding another full-blown Auckland edition of the Expo on Aug. 27.
When asked whether he sees two Expo events happening every year now, Edmiston told Insurance Business: “Provided they continue to be supported by both our members and brokers, we’ll put them on.”
Meanwhile, aside from helping underwriting agencies connect with brokers through networking opportunities such as the Expo, the NZUAC is also gathering useful insights for the market.
“We are asking all brokers, when they register, about whether they use underwriting agencies as a first choice or whether it’s really only when they have difficulty placing a risk,” Edmiston said. “So, we continue to gather information, and we seek feedback from brokers on those sorts of questions every time we make contact with them.
“It takes time to pull all that together, but we are certainly asking the questions, which is effectively a survey of brokers on how they feel about underwriting agencies.”
The NZUAC Expo in Christchurch is happening at the Rydges Latimer Hotel on May 23. Those who wish to attend can register here.
