West calls for united effort on insurance image
The insurance industry needs to work together to decide its agenda for the next 10 years, and it must address its image problems, according to CGU CEO Duncan West.
Speaking in a panel session of industry CEOs at last week’s Steadfast Convention on the Gold Coast, Mr West said NIBA, the Insurance Council and ANZIIF “should put aside their own agendas and decide what is the industry’s agenda”.
Noting that panellists had admitted their companies were doing nothing to promote the image of the overall industry, Mr West said it would be foolish to see the looming economic downturn as an opportunity to relax about the need to attract quality recruits.
He said issues like the industry’s image, premium taxes and recruitment “won’t go away. They might slip out of sight for a few years, but they will come back.”
He says the industry has to work on changing its image, and that “leadership at many levels is required”.
“If we don’t do anything about changing the industry’s image, in five to 10 years we’ll be marginalised even further.”
Speaking in a panel session of industry CEOs at last week’s Steadfast Convention on the Gold Coast, Mr West said NIBA, the Insurance Council and ANZIIF “should put aside their own agendas and decide what is the industry’s agenda”.
Noting that panellists had admitted their companies were doing nothing to promote the image of the overall industry, Mr West said it would be foolish to see the looming economic downturn as an opportunity to relax about the need to attract quality recruits.
He said issues like the industry’s image, premium taxes and recruitment “won’t go away. They might slip out of sight for a few years, but they will come back.”
He says the industry has to work on changing its image, and that “leadership at many levels is required”.
“If we don’t do anything about changing the industry’s image, in five to 10 years we’ll be marginalised even further.”