ALUCA RiskeBusiness - Winter Edition

Welcome to the Winter Edition - click here to see all articles

EDITOR'S NOTE

My, my it’s Dry July already and what a remarkable year in life insurance so far!

Let’s see…. the final recommendations set down by The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry are being implemented, major M&As and restructures are no longer rare events, and risk advisers who we rely upon to sell our life products now require a degree qualification to continue in their chosen profession – with a third less remuneration. That’s more change than some industries have seen in decades! All indications are that there is more to come, our resilience will be tested but when the smoke clears our purpose-driven industry will land in a good place. That’s the overwhelming sentiment of those who attended the 2019 ALUCA Life Insurance Excellence Awards Night in Melbourne.

The 2019 ALUCA Life Insurance Excellence Awards Night was held at the iconic Melbourne Arts Centre on Wednesday the 22nd of May – and what a huge success it was! A seamless evening with the entertaining MC Dan Devine and a capacity audience cheered on 33 finalists and 11 winners across 11 divisions. Congratulations to all the winners! See the photos here

The keynote speaker was Dr Harry Eeman who is a Consultant Physician in Pain Management and Acting Medical Director at Barbara Walker Centre (St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne). Harry shared his amazing life story with us with plenty of laughs along the way. Against all odds Harry conquered extreme adversity to reach his professional goal (specialist physician) and in the process achieved his personal goal too (simply to be happy). A very inspirational man who certainly put things into perspective.

Speaking of inspirational people, Law Professor Ron McCallum was our 2018 ALUCA Life Insurance Excellence Awards Night keynote speaker at Darling Harbour. Ron has released his memoir â€œBorn at the Right Time” selling for RRP $29.99 and is offering you the opportunity to win one of two copies – check out the flier for details.

As always we have some thought-provoking articles for you….

In light of the Moratorium of Genetic Tests in Life Insurance that took effect on 1 July 2019, ALUCA Board Member Amanda Stow has written a very topical article “D-N-AYE OR NAY – arguments for and against genetic testing”. The objective of this moratorium is to ensure consumers can access a level of life insurance without being asked about the result of a previously taken genetic test. I was amazed to learn how cost effective genetic testing has become in a relatively short time. From 2017 the whole genome sequencing cost reduced to around USD1000 per test. If you think that’s a bit steep, try USD100M per test prior to that!

Munich Re CMO Dr Matt Paul has contributed an evidence alert on cardiac biomarkers above the 99th percentile. The research indicates that caution should be applied when claims assessors determine heart attack critical illness claims. A must read for claims assessors.

Commonly known as the cancer that men die with, not from – Hannover CMO Dr Monique Esterhuizen tackles the subjective topic of risk profiling prostate cancer. What is low risk? How is prostate cancer risk measured and what new method is on the horizon? Monique answers all of these questions in her article: “How ‘critical’ is low risk prostate cancer?”

Want to raise your professional brand? Want to learn more about the life industry with a chance to win great prizes? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, two of the most prestigious life industry essay competitions are here …..

• 2019 ALUCA-MLC Monash Award Scholarship Program – NOW OPEN
• 2019 ALUCA TurksLegal Scholarship – OPENS 15 JULY

Still not sure? A couple of suggestions…. form a small group at your workplace and submit a joint essay? And/or approach your employer and ask if they are prepared to fund a prize for the best essay in your work place?

Enough from me, keep warm and I hope you really enjoy this Winter Edition of ReB.

Cheers

Michael Reid

ReB Editor

feedback and comments - Michael.Reid@aia.com