The regional winners of this year’s Broker and Young Professional Broker awards in NSW/ACT and Queensland are to be crowned at two gala lunches hosted by the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) next month.

NIBA will host a gala lunch at the Royal International Convention Centre in Brisbane on Wednesday July 14, to be followed by another at Doltone House Jones Bay Wharf in Sydney on Friday July 16.

Five regional winners will go on to compete for the Stephen Ball Memorial Award for Insurance Broker of the Year – sponsored by QBE – and another five aged under 35 for the national Warren Tickle Memorial Award for Young Professional Insurance Broker of the Year – sponsored by Vero.

Both national awards will be presented at the NIBA Convention at The Star Gold Coast October 11-12.

Queensland finalists for Broker of the Year are:

• Austbrokers Comsure Senior Insurance Advisor David Kimber
• Aon Client Manager Tamara Trotman
• Crucial Insurance and Risk Advisors MD Tony Venning

NSW/ACT finalists are:

• Marsh Head of FINPRO Craig Claughton
• Driessen Insurance Brokers MD Leo Driessen
• Arma Insurance Brokers Hunter Valley MD Amanda Morris

The winners from each trio will join Capital Innovation Chairman Ian Goninon – the Victorian/Tasmanian Broker of the Year – and yet-to-be-named regional winners from WA and SA/NT in competing for the 2021 national Stephen Ball Memorial Award, which is sponsored by QBE.

Queensland finalists for Young Professional Broker are:

• Austbrokers Coast to Coast Sales Manager Taela Bloemers
• Aon Client Executive Lachlan Hastings
• Cornerstone Risk Group MD Business Development Scott Mitchell
• Crucial Insurance & Risk Advisors Broker Alishia Oliver

NSW/ACT finalists are:

• Markey Insurance & Risk Senior Account Executive Megan Farmer
• Ian Jones Insurance Brokers Newcastle Account Broker Kayla Smith
• Warren Saunders Insurance Brokers Broking Operations Manager Lindsay Turner

The winner from each of those two groups will compete alongside Integral Insurance Services’ Mitchell Wight – this year’s Victorian/Tasmanian Young Professional Broker – and 2021 winners from WA and SA/NT for the national Warren Tickle Memorial Award, backed by long-term sponsor Vero.

“Brokers like our state finalists are the reason that Vero has been a proud supporter … for more than three decades,” Vero State Distribution Manager for Queensland Peter Roberts said.