Outlook bright for award winner

Insurance advisers are in a privileged position and need to make their value proposition clear to clients, says the winner of this year's Insurance Adviser of the Year award.

Friday, June 19th 2015, 6:00AM 3 Comments

by Susan Edmunds

The award was given to Katrina Church, from Insurance People in Auckland, at the National Advisers Conference Gala Dinner.

Simon Fisher, chief sales officer at Partners Life, said Church was unique in that she was a successful and professional adviser in her own right but also led a successful sales team.

"In addition she has great relationships with her clients and providers and is always working to achieve the best outcomes for the parties she deals with."

Church said insurance advisers held an honourable position and were often the first call people made when they received a serious diagnosis, after telling their immediate family.

That sort of relationship would never be superseded by an online model, she said. "People want to know who they are dealing with and know someone is going to care."

She said advisers should focus on how they could stay relevant and keep up with what their clients needed.

"The outlook is very positive if you continue to make a difference and be a champion of the industry."

She said advisers who bought into the fear that the industry's rules were going to change and force them out, or that big providers would take over, could get dragged down.

Church has been an adviser for 17 years and nominated once previously.

"One of the things I pride myself on is being very open and trying to learn."

She said she had been able to prove her own relevance and value proposition as an adviser by helping clients who would ordinarily find it difficult to get cover. She had arranged life cover for two women, with children, suffering terminal illnesses. "You won't get that from a direct or bank policy."

Tags: Income Protection Life insurance