Editor’s Note – Winter 2016

Let me start by extending a warm welcome to our new ALUCA CEO, Amanda McKernan.

To avoid duplication I will leave Amanda’s introduction to Jim in Chatter From The Chair and Amanda herself in our new regular column, CEO Corner. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the outgoing Acting Executive Officer, John O’Leary for all of his support – I really appreciated it.

WHAT a bumper edition we have for you! ReB readership is definitely growing and so is our pool of contributors. I have been inundated with quality articles for this edition – a fantastic problem for an editor to have!

Today we launch the online version of ReB! You can now select only the topics that you wish to read, make comments at the conclusion of articles and plenty more. The existing full PDF version has been preserved.

I am pleased to publish our 2016 ReB survey results in this edition and thank all those who participated. I will act on your feedback and hope to see 100+ respondents for our next survey scheduled for May 2017.

Do you work in the TPD claims space? If so – want to lead the change and make a difference in how Employability Assessment (EA) TPD claims are reported? Margaret Black of the University of Sydney is researching EA TPD claims and would appreciate 15 minutes of your time to complete this survey. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Margaret’s body of work, she is a rehabilitation counsellor who has worked in the life insurance industry as a contractor, a rehab advisor at OnePath and as an external provider. Margaret is also a Fellow of the Australian Society of Rehabilitation Counsellors for her contribution to rehabilitation counselling.

Life Underwriting Guru Hank George speaks candidly about the future of underwriting in North America – and there are plenty of challenges both immediate and on the horizon according to Hank. Against the tide it’s encouraging that ALUCA is singled out as “the first national association to reach out meaningfully beyond its borders to create a larger professional community”

Who is our special guest for this edition of 5 Minutes With …..? He is a 30+ year Lifey who has held leading underwriting roles (including Chief) in both the reinsurance and insurer space, across Retail and Group lines, worked in four states, had a stint as a claims supervisor in his early career, renowned for spending large chunks of his time mentoring others, has been sporting a beard for a while now and was once hit repeatedly by a lady with a hand bag who was frustrated by the turnaround time of her claim. Final clue: first name is Andrew.

Finally I’d like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to our contributors who devote their valuable time towards our common goal of continuously improving ReB.

I hope you really enjoy this Winter Edition.

Cheers

Michael Reid
ReB Editor

Michael.Reid@aia.com 
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