Amy Gibbs

The Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) is excited to announce its first insurtech conference to be held in Sydney on the 28th of March.

Dolton House in Sydney’s Hyde Park will be the setting of a one-day conference exploring disruptive technology and collaborative innovation for the insurance industry. The first conference of its kind in Australia, the burgeoning insurtech sector will join forces with the insurance industry to engage in frank and honest conversations about the future of insurance.

“The program has been specifically designed to ensure relevance to both insurers and tech startups,” said ANZIIF CEO Prue Willsford. “To truly understand what digital disruption means to the industry we need everyone in the room.”

“Unlike other conferences, this event will allow real conversations to happen around the topic of insurtech and what it means for traditional insurance at every point of the value chain,” Willsford said.

The program, which will be emceed by well-known industry professional Daniel Fogarty, features a global array of thought leaders in the insurtech space, such as George Kesselman, CEO and founder of Insurtech Asia, Stone & Chalk’s Alex Scandurra and KPMG’s Martin Blake. On the insurtech side, startups already disrupting the space such as Trov and Friendsurance will speak alongside Sureify, Prince Insure, Cover Genius and Flamingo. Insurance industry leaders investing in innovative technology from Suncorp, Aon Risk Solutions and IAG will join APRA and ASIC in discussing what insurtech means in the Australian landscape. A full list of the day’s speakers is available in the conference program.

ANZIIF’s Digital Insights Manager, Dr Amy Gibbs, said that the event would be the start of a national conversation.

“The world is watching Australia when it comes to insurtech. With our technological expertise and strong insurance market, we’re positioned to be leaders in the area. But so far, the industry has been unwilling to have public conversations about what the rise of insurtech means.”

“Insurtech presents an exciting and challenging future for the insurance industry, from distribution to the back-office, and only by being part of its development can we ensure the best outcomes for all involved.”

Topics to be explored include Australian insurtech in a global context, how insurtech can improve and influence traditional insurance, how and why insurers should partner with and learn from insurtech startups, whether innovation can happen in a heavily regulated market and what the future of insurance might look like.

The day is sponsored by KPMG, Suncorp and DLA Piper and will end with networking drinks and an insurtech Pitchfest presented by Stone & Chalk and the InsurTech Sydney Meetup Group where startups will present solutions to problem statements identified by Australia’s top insurers

Registrations are open via the ANZIIF website with reduced pricing available for startups.

The post ANZIIF bets on the future with inaugural Insurtech Conference appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Amy Gibbs

Ignoring digital disruption may leave insurance businesses vulnerable to the threat of newcomers unless insurers start seeing the risk of not being online as greater than the risk of being on it, says ANZIIF’s social and digital expert.

With a growing number of new players offering insurance in the online space and many departing from traditional business models, insurers will need to ramp up their digital presence and activities to retain and grow their client base, said Dr Amy Gibbs, ANZIIF’s Digital Communications and Content Strategy Manager, speaking at the Finity Niche Insurer Conference in Sydney today. Dr Gibbs said that while a select few Australian insurers had grown their online presence in the last year by focusing efforts on digital content, the industry still failed to realise the depth and complexity of change needed to face the oncoming digital revolution. “There has been some positive movement in the last year, with a small number of insurers boosting their presence on social media and embracing opportunities to connect with customers online, but in comparison to other industries, many insurers have been slow to adapt,” said Dr Gibbs. Dr Gibbs said that the risk from peer-to-peer insurance and technology companies entering the industry, along with the lost opportunity to engage with consumers through digital channels, should be considered more significant than any potential negatives associated with social media use. “Insurers shouldn’t be online because tweeting or friending is the current fad, but because their customers are online and they expect to find their providers there too, in the same way they expect them to be in the phone book. The trust that can be built by a long-term social presence, and the ability to give a human voice to an often maligned industry, should not be underestimated.”

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