The National Insurance Brokers Association’s new CEO Richard Klipin starts today, after his appointment was announced in March.

Mr Klipin has moved back to Sydney from Auckland, where he was Financial Services Council of New Zealand CEO. He was also previously the Association of Financial Advisers CEO from 2006 to 2013 after 12 years at ING.

“I have always been passionately interested in how we help our communities, businesses and families identify, manage and mitigate risk and how we seek advice from trusted partners,” Mr Klipin says in a LinkedIn post. “The NIBA community is at the forefront of this equation.”

He says NIBA has more than 400 members employing about 15,000 individuals who “day in and day out support the Australian community, standing by the three key pillars of representation, professionalism and community”.

Friday was the last day as CEO for Phil Kewin, who resigned in January to move to London after joining NIBA in 2021.

“To say this has been a memorable and rewarding experience is an understatement,” he said. “Throughout the last nearly three years, I have gained so much, and I am and always will be forever grateful.”

In the May edition of NIBA’s Insurance Adviser magazine, Mr Kewin says brokers are well positioned for the future while urging them to “stay on your toes" as the landscape evolves. "While I think we have done a good job so far, and the number of complaints against brokers is minimal, you can never be complacent,” he said. “Community standards and expectations are evolving rapidly, governments change and then there is a new degree of regulatory focus.”

Mr Kewin says highlights during his time at the organisation include the introduction of the 2022 Insurance Brokers Code of Practice, the reinvigorated NIBA Convention and the launch of Insure Your Future, which encourages talent into the profession.

He will be assisting as part of the CEO transition for the next month.

From Insurance News magazine: NIBA’s London-bound ex-CEO Phil Kewin on his time in charge of the broker body