“People aren’t going to get more insurance unless they have confidence and trust in the insurance sector.”
Those were the words of Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) chief executive Katrina Shanks (pictured) when Insurance Business recently caught up with the CEO ahead of her half-year mark with the organisation.
Shanks, who took on the top post in the second week of January after leading Financial Advice New Zealand for five years, talked about ANZIIF’s prospects and the need for a collaborative effort in building public trust in the industry.
The chief executive told Insurance Business: “We all want good customer outcomes – how do we drive as an industry to get good customer outcomes? Customer expectations are continually changing; therefore, as a sector, we have to ensure we are continually meeting these expectations.
“Everybody has to be working together to build public confidence and trust in the insurance sector – this includes the legislators, regulators, insurance companies, and educators.
“This means we need sector collaboration to ensure the legislative settings are correct, the regulations are fair and reasonable, strong conduct and culture in businesses, highly competent insurance professionals, and a strong focus on good customer outcomes.”
For Shanks, listening to stakeholders is “always going to be” her number one priority.
“We’re here to serve the insurance sector, and I’m very focused on that,” she said. “My second priority is about thought leadership, ensuring that we understand what the issues are and providing solutions in a timely manner.
“In the New Zealand market, I worked closely with the legislators, regulator, dispute resolution schemes, and industry stakeholders to understand what the trends were and how we could get in front of them as an industry. I believe this is a strength that I bring to ANZIIF and part of being a thought leader in the sector.”
With the industry requiring solutions to the challenges and issues it faces, and ANZIIF having the influence and ability to contribute, Shanks pointed to the importance of understanding the changes within insurance in the next 12 to 36 months.
“Understand where your potential growth is in a market and the opportunities,” she told Insurance Business. “I would say the opportunity for ANZIIF is enormous. We’re an educational provider based in the insurance sector, which is constantly changing. It’s important ANZIIF aligns itself closely with the industry and its changing needs.
“Our role is to ensure people have the competency, knowledge, and skills to be an insurance professional. Qualifications and continuing professional development are an extremely important part of being a professional.
“At the end of the day, people aren’t going to get more insurance unless they have confidence and trust in the insurance sector. And to do that, we need to make sure that everybody, from claims to design, are insurance professionals and deliver good customer outcomes.”
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