A special edition of the Insurance News INsight podcast examines the National Insurance Brokers Association’s Future Ready convention theme.

Created in partnership with Zurich and hosted by Insurance News MD Andrew Silcox, the podcast was recorded on the sidelines of the conference on the Gold Coast last month.

“Thanks to Zurich, we give you the chance to learn and experience those key discussions and insights from the convention with the people who were there,” Mr Silcox said.

Listeners are treated to the latest observations from NIBA CEO Richard Klipin and Zurich executives Matthew O’Sullivan, Damian Sharry and Margarita Sherwood.

Also giving expert commentary are AEI Insurance Group CEO Noel Kelly, BMIA Broker Network GM Debbi Thorne, Envest Broking CEO Ben Goodall, East West Group chief insurance officer Rebecca Sawers, BAC Insurance Brokers COO Mitchell Lipscombe, and Aviso Integral head of sales and distribution Mitch Wight.

Here are just some of their thoughts:

Richard Klipin: “Clients out there are interrogating ChatGPT and ... it probably sends you to a price comparison engine. But that’s not where brokers play, not where the profession of advice plays.”

Debbi Thorne: “AI will definitely enhance, like email gave us a quicker and more definitive way to enhance our relationships. But you can’t build an artificial relationship. You just can’t ... Our industry is so full of relationships – that’s not going to be wiped out by AI.”

Matthew O’Sullivan: “The idea behind us is longevity ... Turn the focus to deeper discussions about risk mitigation, longer-term relationships with customers.”

Damian Sharry: “If we can come up with some solutions that provide some resilience, that’s good for us, it’s good for the client, and everyone wins. A big issue is continuity planning and thinking long-term ... getting them to think through the process of this is our business.”

Margarita Sherwood: “Having open communication, being clear on what’s happening at the current stage and also next builds trust on everyone’s side.”

Mitchell Liscombe: “We need apt brokers, not just administrators ... There’s a tension that exists between everybody in strata going hard on efficiency. Skill underpins the trust that we need in order to preserve the space.”

Ben Goodall: “We take risk off the client. Nearly every other financial service introduces risk if they sell them a product ... Our product is the advice, we are in the client’s best interest.”

You can find the latest episode, and previous episodes of INsight, published here.