AGENDA

• 8:15 AM

  Registration opens

• 9:00 AM

  Opening remarks from the Chairperson

  

  Ron Arnold

  Managing Director and Founder
  11eight

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  Ron Arnold

  Managing Director and Founder
  11eight

  Founder of 11eight, Ron helps Corporates think differently and very practically about their strategy. He helps them bring the outside world in and get better at innovation and helps early stage businesses crash through the many challenges they can have working with Corporates. Ron brings a diverse skill set developed across 25+ years in C-suite & executive roles at Australia’s largest insurers (IAG, NRMA, AAMI) and has held a variety of Board roles including Stone & Chalk. Most recently in Corporate life he established and was the Managing Partner of Firemark Ventures and led the establishment of the Gradient Institute, a not for profit providing critical thought leadership on the ethical use of AI

• 9:10 AM

  Welcome remarks from the Event Partner

  

  Darren Trott

  Executive General Manager Business Development
  Ambrose Construct Group

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  Darren Trott

  Executive General Manager Business Development
  Ambrose Construct Group

  Darren has enjoyed 39 years in the Australian general insurance industry as a claims management specialist, holding executive and national leadership roles with national and global insurers, a global loss adjuster and national insurance builders. His technical experience extends across residential and commercial property, public and products liability, cyber, motor, marine and personal injury and he has travelled to USA, UK, France, Middle East and Asia on various claims assignments. Darren was on the ground in the aftermath of many catastrophic events including Black Saturday bushfires in Melbourne, Cyclone Yasi and Brisbane floods. As GM of Business Development at Ambrose Construct Group Darren’s role is instrumental in growing revenue across the group.

• 9:15 AM

  The latest in global claims trends and implications for Australian leaders

  From claims inflation, regulatory developments, automation, to generative artificial intelligence, this session will cover an overview of global trends in claims management and considerations for Australian insurance companies.

  

  Angat Sandhu

  Partner
  McKinsey & Company

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  Angat Sandhu

  Partner
  McKinsey & Company

  Angat is a Partner with the McKinsey Insurance Practice in Sydney and has been advising insurers in Australia and Asia for 16+ years. His focus areas include driving sustainable value creation for his clients through performance transformation using data analytics, digital and operating model shifts. He is passionate about the important role the insurance sector plays in customers’ lives and motivated to work with insurers and distribution partners to improve customer outcomes.

  Prior to joining McKinsey, Angat led the Asia Pacific Insurance and Wealth practice of another consulting firm.

  Angat holds a Bachelor of Commerce with double majors in Actuarial studies and Finance from the University of New South Wales. He is an Actuary, recently developed and lectured a course on InsurTech for the University of New South Wales and regularly publishes on insurance topics in industry journals.

• 10:05 AM

  PANEL: Managing the cost of resolving claims

  With rising costs and inflationary pressures, insurance companies are facing challenges to reduce claim resolution costs, while keeping up with demand. How can insurance companies effectively streamline the claims processes without compromising the customer experience? This session will discuss strategies to improve efficiency in claims processing. 

  • Integrating data analytics and digital channels to drive efficiencies in customer processes while reducing expenses 
  • Examples of integrating technology such as mobile apps and virtual appraisals for a quicker, seamless customer experience 
  • Overcoming regulatory challenges affecting claims resolution

  Moderator

  

  Danni Robson

  Head of Product
  Arnie

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  Danni Robson

  Head of Product
  Arnie

  Danni leads a high-performing, expert team Yarris Technologies’ as Head of Product for Arnie, Claims Management Platform.Danni’s formal education in Business, Insurance, Business Analysis and Leadership has paved a path in Insurance from a young age.Her passion lies in leading change from the back of the pack through thought-leadership, nurturing relationships and bringing diverse minds together. 

  Panellists

  

  Maya Lazarus

  Claims Manager – Brooklyn Underwriting
  Brooklyn Underwriting & AXA XL

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  Maya Lazarus

  Claims Manager – Brooklyn Underwriting
  Brooklyn Underwriting & AXA XL

  Maya Lazarus is a qualified solicitor with over 15 years’ experience within the insurance industry. Maya  joined AXA XL in March 2016 as a senior financial lines claims specialist for IFL and was appointed Brooklyn underwriting claims manager in April 2020. Maya started her career as an underwriter for World Insurance Network and then worked for a number of international brokers specialising in financial lines. She then moved across to claims and worked for QBE and DUAL Australia as a financial lines senior claims specialist and as the national claims manager for Invivo, a medical indemnity insurer. During her time as a claims specialist IFL for AXA XL, she focused on financial planning and construction claims. Her passion for SME claims and her service-focused approach have drawn her to Brooklyn Underwriting, where she has been making claims the “face of Brooklyn” and where she enhances the unique Brooklyn claims experience and adds value to brokers. 

  

  Steven Hussey

  Head of Assessing and Supply Chain – Home Claims
  Suncorp 

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  Steven Hussey

  Head of Assessing and Supply Chain – Home Claims
  Suncorp 

  Steven Hussey has worked with Suncorp Group for 19 years across various roles within both insurance and banking businesses. With a vast experience encompassing various roles, Steven’s expertise lies in people leadership, where he has excelled in cultivating high performing teams and fostering employee growth. Most recently, he has taken on the crucial responsibility of leading the assessing and supply chain team for Home Claims Customers and is passionate about delivering customer centric outcomes. 

  

  Paige Vincent

  Chief Operating Officer
  Hollard Insurance 

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  Paige Vincent

  Chief Operating Officer
  Hollard Insurance 

  Paige is a senior financial services executive who has over 20 years of experience in the Insurance industry, in roles covering sales and underwriting, product portfolio and pricing, claims management, business improvement, supplier management, data analytics, strategy and compliance and risk management. Paige has led several portfolio remediation and claims transformation programs resulting in improved profits close to $80m and improved claims cost reductions of 6%. She has also used her experience in preparing key executives for the Royal Commission into Financial Services as well as driving a customer transformation program to address shifting community and regulator expectations resulting in uplift of customer satisfaction by 10 percentage points. Paige was a director on the Insurance Reference Services Board and The Cyclone Testing Advisory Board in her previous capacity as Head of Suncorp, GIO and Vero with Suncorp Group. Paige is currently the Chief Operations Office for Hollard Insurance Company. Hollard is a global financial services provider, distributing a wide range of innovation insurance products with operations in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Europe, India and China.

  Paige has a B.Bus from the Australian Catholic University and is a Graduate member of the Australian Institue of Company Directors

• 10:50 AM

  Morning tea and refreshments break

• 11:20 AM

  Silica – a property claims trainwreck

  The combined Federal and State Government prohibition of Engineered Stone from 1 July 2024 is like a runaway train hurtling toward a sharp turn, with too much speed to take the corner. The ban should be applauded following the irrefutable evidence that silica can cause severe respiratory issues and other serious risks. This session will discuss the significant impact on claims management and how you can prepare for the upcoming ban.

  • More than a work and health safety issue – how this impacts fulfilment, cost and customer in claims management
  • How the impact should be managed by insurers and their supply chains
  • How the communication to customers and management of customer expectations is critical

   

  

  Anthony McLean

  National Operations Manager
  Ambrose Construct Group

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  Anthony McLean

  National Operations Manager
  Ambrose Construct Group

  With a decade of insurance industry immersion, Anthony’s expertise spans operations, customer engagement, complex claims management, vulnerable customers and navigating complexities such as GICOP, Modern Slavery, and ESG initiatives. Driven by three decades of behavioural science, Anthony looks to the data and research to help deliver real world solutions. Anthony’s comprehensive experience in both the public and private sectors empowers him to dissect challenges and craft innovative solutions, including but not limited to the everchanging compliance landscape of insurance repairs. As a speaker, Anthony blends compliance and theoretical knowledge with practical applications, enlightening audiences with actionable strategies from the coalface.

• 11:50 AM

  FIRESIDE CHAT: Strategies to address the workforce shortage

  With rising demand and a shortage of skilled employees, insurance companies are facing increasingly overworked and understaffed teams. This session will discuss how to overcome these challenges to remain competitive.

  • How can we retain experienced and qualified claims consultants in increasingly demanding roles? 
  • How to attract and engage candidates with the right skill sets and capabilities 
  • Developing and equipping internal employees to meet demands 

  

  Kerrie Challenor

  Chief People and Claims Officer
  NTI

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  Kerrie Challenor

  Chief People and Claims Officer
  NTI

  Kerrie Challenor is NTI’s Chief People and Operations Officer.  She is responsible for ensuring excellence in NTI’s operations, as well as leading the People & Capability teams.

  Kerrie has a wealth of experience in the insurance industry, both in senior Human Resources and General Management roles. Most recently, she held the position of National Manager, Personal Insurance, Broker Relationships and Service for CGU.

  Kerrie brings a welcome combination of human resources and general insurance industry experience to the role.

  

  Ron Arnold

  Managing Director and Founder
  11eight

  ×

  

  Ron Arnold

  Managing Director and Founder
  11eight

  Founder of 11eight, Ron helps Corporates think differently and very practically about their strategy. He helps them bring the outside world in and get better at innovation and helps early stage businesses crash through the many challenges they can have working with Corporates. Ron brings a diverse skill set developed across 25+ years in C-suite & executive roles at Australia’s largest insurers (IAG, NRMA, AAMI) and has held a variety of Board roles including Stone & Chalk. Most recently in Corporate life he established and was the Managing Partner of Firemark Ventures and led the establishment of the Gradient Institute, a not for profit providing critical thought leadership on the ethical use of AI

• 12:20 PM

  Networking lunch

• 1:30 PM

  PANEL: Integrating artificial intelligence and automation in claims

  How are insurance companies capturing opportunities to improve the claims process with generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automation? What are the challenges and risks in integration? In this informative discussion, hear about the latest AI and automation use cases to deliver an efficient claims customer experience.  

  • Exploring innovative and successful use cases in claims automation and generative AI 
  • How to identify processes for automation in the decision-making process 
  • Identifying potential risks such as fraud and how to address them 
  • Overcoming challenges in implementing automation and AI within legacy systems 

  Moderator

  

  Abhimanyu Bhola

  VP of Growth, APAC
  EXL

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  Abhimanyu Bhola

  VP of Growth, APAC
  EXL

  Abhi leads growth for EXL in the Asia-Pacific region. In this role, he is responsible to offer differentiated data and AI solutions to solve pertinent challenges facing the insurance industry and has forged EXL’s partnerships with some of the leading insurers across the region.

  In 24+ years of experience, he has led the growth charter for leading digital transformation companies catering to the insurance industry. He is passionate about harnessing the true potential of data and AI to transform the operating models of insurers and help deliver an improved customer experience.

  Abhi holds an MBA from Nanyang Business School, Singapore and has attended a management course from the University of Cologne in Germany.

  Panellists

  

  Luke Gallagher

  Executive General Manager, Direct Claims
  IAG

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  Luke Gallagher

  Executive General Manager, Direct Claims
  IAG

  Luke Gallagher is the Executive General Manager of Direct Claims within the Direct Insurance Australia division at IAG. Luke oversees the claims business across IAG’s consumer brands in Australia including NRMA Insurance, ROLLiN’ Insurance and their insurance partnership with Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV).

  Luke is responsible for developing and leading the Claims strategy across all our customer channels, with a focus on delivering an unparalleled and personalised claims experience. Luke has more than 25 years’ experience in the insurance industry and a wealth of knowledge across all aspects of general insurance claims. Luke joined IAG as a Claims Consultant, so he has an indepth understanding of the Claims life cycle.

  Luke has personally been on-the-ground and overseen IAG’s claims response to some of Australia’s most significant extreme weather events. He is passionate about helping Australians understand and minimise their risks and helping customers get back on their feet when the unexpected happens

  

  Sam George

  Head of Retail Claims
  AIA

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  Sam George

  Head of Retail Claims
  AIA

  Sam is AIA Australia’s Head of Retail Claims and has over 20 years’ experience in both Workers Compensation, Life and Disability Insurance across both Retail and Group Insurance.  Sam has a passion for leadership as well as physical and mental health and wellbeing and leverages this passion to create a positive impact on his employees and AIA’s customers and stakeholders

  

  Heather Smith

  General Manager, Test & Learn
  icare

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  Heather Smith

  General Manager, Test & Learn
  icare

  Heather’s management career spans public, private and for purpose (not-for-profit) sectors. She has focussed on finding pragmatic, implementable solutions to respond to organisational strategy challenges in industries including health, disability, services, insurance, community services and child development.

  Heather is curious about how we can use data to test anecdotal insights, bringing together practice wisdom and evidence informed decision making to improve diversity and cultures at team and organisational level.

  She is passionate about supporting and building teams, with success measured not only by the outcomes achieved, but by team members growing and moving on to their next role.

  

  Margot Wilson

  Chief Operating Officer
  Hannover Life Re Australasia

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  Margot Wilson

  Chief Operating Officer
  Hannover Life Re Australasia

  As COO, Margot has accountability for IT, Operations, Claims, Underwriting and Projects & Innovation supporting the delivery of Hannover Life Re’s Australasian strategy, across Reinsurance and Insurance lines of business. Margot also manages Strategic Planning and Data Management (CDO) across the Australasian company and leads our strategic focus on Operational Excellence. Her career spans over 27 years in people and operational management, business design, large scale transformation, and strategic execution. Margot holds a BA (Hons) from the Australian National University, MSc from the London School of Economics and an MBA from Macquarie University Business School, as well as certificates in Life Insurance and Change Management.

• 2:15 PM

  TECH TALK: Rapid location intelligence for catastrophic weather events

  A report by ASIC showed 43% of home insurance claims from January to March 2022 were related to severe weather events, and delays are the leading cause for complaints. In this presentation, we’ll discuss how Australian research is being adopted internationally and examine significant weather events from the past year, before going behind the scenes to see how technology and innovation — such as world-class image acquisition and petabyte scale AI that rapidly capture and inform on damage — can help solve these issues.

  

  Stephen Neale

  Manager, Solutions Engineering
  Nearmap

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  Stephen Neale

  Manager, Solutions Engineering
  Nearmap

  Stephen Neale leads Solution Engineering for Aus and NZ at Nearmap. With a master’s degree in GIS and Remote Sensing from UNSW, Stephen solves business problems with creative solutions that benefit from advances in spatial information. He is passionate about emerging geospatial technology and unlocking the data behind geospatial content that can help us understand reality to inform decision-making. 

   

• 2:35 PM

  Afternoon tea and refreshments break

• 3:00 PM

  Expo passport and sponsor prize draw

• 3:05 PM

  CASE STUDY: Wellbeing strategies to support high-performing teams

  From dealing with catastrophes to overworked staff, providing wellbeing support is vital to engage, retain and care for employees in this disruptive environment. In this session, hear how Allianz supports employee wellbeing through preventing burnout and addressing mental health issues at work. 

  • Examples of cost-effective strategies to improve workplace wellbeing programs 
  • Redesigning policies, roles and responsibilities to support employees 
  • Understanding psychosocial risk management at work 

  

  Brianna Cattanach

  National Manager Mental Health Strategy and Delivery
  Allianz

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  Brianna Cattanach

  National Manager Mental Health Strategy and Delivery
  Allianz

  Brianna is the National Manager of Mental Health Strategy and Delivery at Allianz, sitting across workers’ compensation, CTP, NDIS and other personal injury lines. She brings specialty to this space as a registered Senior Occupational Therapist with additional tertiary psychology qualifications, specialising in behavioural neuroscience.

  Brianna’s career commenced working in direct mental health service provision before transitioning to occupational rehabilitation focusing on complex psychological injuries and claims management. As her passion for injury prevention grew, Brianna took on consultancy-based roles exposing her to a wide range of industries and challenges where she led teams and projects across organisational development, people management and leadership, peer support and psychosocial safety.

  In her current senior leadership role at Allianz, Brianna is responsible for shaping and supporting internal capability, client value proposition and claims and rehabilitation management strategies for mental injuries and psychosocial risks. Brianna’s role focuses on driving the programs and initiatives that lead to safer workplaces, better return to work and recovery outcomes and innovative practices across the personal injury industry.

  In addition to her work with Allianz, Brianna is an active advocate for the role of Occupational Therapists in the mental health and occupational rehabilitation space and supports the profession through her involvement as a key committee member and special interest group conveyor with OT Australia and by providing sessional academic work and lecturing to Swinburne and La Trobe University, where she is also on the Academic Advisory Committee. Brianna is also an expert advisory board member to SuperFriend one of Australia’s leading workplace mental health research and intervention agencies.

• 3:35 PM

  PANEL: Navigating catastrophe preparedness

  What have we learned as an industry to improve claims handling and overall response during a catastrophic event? In this session, hear how insurance companies are improving their processes to prepare for future events.

  • How can we enhance claims processes for extreme weather events? 
  • Examples of integrating catastrophe response technology 
  • Understanding the industry’s role to mitigate risks 

  Moderator

  

  Ron Arnold

  Managing Director and Founder
  11eight

  ×

  

  Ron Arnold

  Managing Director and Founder
  11eight

  Founder of 11eight, Ron helps Corporates think differently and very practically about their strategy. He helps them bring the outside world in and get better at innovation and helps early stage businesses crash through the many challenges they can have working with Corporates. Ron brings a diverse skill set developed across 25+ years in C-suite & executive roles at Australia’s largest insurers (IAG, NRMA, AAMI) and has held a variety of Board roles including Stone & Chalk. Most recently in Corporate life he established and was the Managing Partner of Firemark Ventures and led the establishment of the Gradient Institute, a not for profit providing critical thought leadership on the ethical use of AI

  Panellists

  

  Dr. Joanna Aldridge

  Group Head of Catastrophe Modelling Research
  QBE

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  Dr. Joanna Aldridge

  Group Head of Catastrophe Modelling Research
  QBE

  Dr Joanna Aldridge is QBE’s Group Head of Catastrophe Modelling Research and an academic at both the University of Sydney and Griffith University. She is an applied mathematician and catastrophe science professional with 20+ years’ experience across a range of industries including engineering, disaster management, academia, data science and re/insurance. She has developed cyclone, flood and storm models for Australia and internationally, and especially loves tropical cyclones. 

  

  Lynn Roehrig

  Head of Business Development, Australia and New Zealand
  Descartes Underwriting

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  Lynn Roehrig

  Head of Business Development, Australia and New Zealand
  Descartes Underwriting

  Lynn’s current responsibilities as Head of Business Development, Australia and New Zealand at Descartes Underwriting includes assisting in structuring and placement of parametric insurance solutions across Australia and New Zealand as well as the wide APAC region. Areas of focus include Climate and Weather based solutions including non-damage business interruption, event-based insurance assisting in alternative solutions to help alleviate pricing and capacity pressures in CAT exposed regions.

   

  Prior to joining Descartes Lynn had over a decade of experience in Property Underwriting with Chubb.

  

  Nick Vernon

  Claims Manager, Property
  Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

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  Nick Vernon

  Claims Manager, Property
  Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

  Nick Vernon is Claims Manager, Property at Berkshire Hathaway Speciality Insurance. Nick has been in the insurance industry for 20 years in first party Claims and Product/Underwriting. He has experience in large and complex claims and catastrophe management, product design and drafting, dispute management, audit and review, frameworks guidelines portfolio management and rating systems and technical development.

  

  Liam Walter

  Senior Advisor, Mitigation and Catastrophe Management
  Insurance Council Australia

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  Liam Walter

  Senior Advisor, Mitigation and Catastrophe Management
  Insurance Council Australia

  With 20 years’ experience leading insurance claims teams and disaster response I am all too familiar with the life changing consequences of extreme weather.  My work at the Insurance Council of Australia aspires to significantly contribute to improvement in wellbeing and economic recovery within communities and the economy at large caused by extreme weather events and disasters.

• 4:20 PM

  Event concludes