Luke Sharkey of Suncorp Commercial Insurance has won this year’s Aon Benfield Scholarship.

The Senior Strategic Adviser will receive his prize at the Australian Insurance Industry Awards on Wednesday night.

In his winning essay, Mr Sharkey calls for more “proactive” data collection.

“Despite the existing methods of data collection and analysis being reasonably mature in the Australian and New Zealand insurance industry, they are fragmented,” he said.

“There are potential advantages to be gained from moving to a more proactive and consolidated method of industry-wide data collection, including lower premiums for customers and growth opportunities for insurers.”