Early intervention yields results
Keristi Price from Sunsuper was awarded the Life Insurance award at the 2016 Women in Financial Services awards, Jassmyn Goh writes.
Thinking outside the square in the life insurance space has led Sunsuper manager of insurance product, Keristi Price, to take out the Life Insurance award at this year's Women in Financial Services awards.
Price launched innovative product, TPD Assist, which encourages early intervention and helps members return to work as it focuses on their working capability rather than their disability.
Price said her philosophies included affordability, simplicity, sustainability, and flexibility.
"We try and make sure that our products have all of those features because insurance is complex enough. We need to make sure that the product we develop is adequate to everyone. Especially as we know that a lot of Australians are underinsured," Price said.
"The product won't help the underinsurance problem but hopefully it will get members back to work so that they can continue to contribute to their retirement. The product helps them get back to work without touching their money so that they have some money when it comes to retirement."
The judges praised Price for her significant innovation in the superannuation life insurance space.
"[It is] a new product design for disability insurance that resulted in a $36 million saving in insurance premiums for members. This nomination demonstrated leadership, quantifiable results, and strong referees," the judges said.
MetLife business sponsor, Maria Crocker, was also praised for driving change through innovation in product design, reporting, health and wellbeing programs, and optimising the services delivery model.
ClearView Wealth's state manager, NSW/ACT, life distribution, Kathryn Williamson, was a finalist for the role she played in developing the firm's new cloud-based adviser portal.
LIFE INSURANCE
Winner
Keristi Price
Manager, insurance product
Sunsuper
Finalists
Kathryn Williamson
State manager, NSW/ACT, life distribution
ClearView Wealth
Maria Crocker
Business sponsor
MetLife
Monique le Roux
State manager, WA
AIA Australia
Nicky Serret
Product manager
AIA Australia
Ana Kosic
Product manager, life insurance
BT Financial Group
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