CN&CO at the FIA awards

On Thursday 8 June, my CN&CO team mates and I celebrated, along with around 600 clients, partners and friends in the insurance industry, the finalists and winners of the eagerly awaited annual FIA awards #2017FIAAwards! CN&CO hosted and supported Lombard, Innosys, Purple Group, EuropAssistance, ITOO and many other legendary financial services clients.

Building on the success of previous years, the FIA team appointed Ask Afrika to take the survey to the next level. MD of Ask Afrika Sarina de Beer explained the very robust, statistically sound process – but of course a few people were surprised by some lesser known winners (funny that those same companies are never surprised when they win)   With over 8 000 insurance contracts surveyed, intermediaries certainly had their say – and it is not the biggest that win but those who make life easy for brokers and their clients. All participants get an abridged version of the results and will be able to see why the winners came out on top.

As had been publicised in the build-up, the awards changed to a cocktail affair – kicking off in the afternoon thus allowing everyone an early evening to get back to family (of course, I was celebrating  until 1am with our client Lombard whose UMA Leppard had won best underwriting agency – so no early night for me!) The cocktail event supported networking and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive – a few tweaks needed and mistakes were made, but all in all a good base for going forward.

As MC, Carel Nolte – CN&CO chief senor although I still think of him as my slower running partner … mentioned how important it is that your family knows what you do and that we should all share stories about our amazing insurance industry.

I won’t go into detail of who won what, our friends at Cover, FAnews and RiskAfrica have done a wonderful job of that and I hope you have read all about it! However, I will go into detail of Lizelle’s speech – Carel mentioned her honesty, integrity and passion after her emotional speech – and I thought it a wonderful way to start the evening.

 

Lizelle’s speech 

Welcome to all our guests

 On behalf of my team and the FIA board, it’s an honour to host you at our prestigious event

 The only rule for tonight is to enjoy yourselves and to network with your colleagues across our phenomenal industry. At times like today when the Cape is battered by storms and Knysna has massive fire destruction, the value that intermediaries bring to their clients and that underwriters – many of whom are recognised tonight – deliver in paying claims, underscores why insurance is an industry I am so proud to be a part of.

 The FIA would like to extend a special welcome to our key stakeholders:

 National Treasury

 the Financial Services Board

 SAIA

 ASISA

 BASA

 FPI and the IISA.

 Thank you for your support and contribution to the industry. It’s a pleasure getting to know you and we look forward to building a sustainable future together.

 To our members, you are the reason the FIA exists and our main role is to work with and for you as you continue to add immense value to consumers – Thank You! 

 The FIA Awards celebrate the financial services brands that provide the best overall product, relationship and service to the country’s financial advisers and insurance brokers. It is also an opportunity for us to highlight the value that intermediaries bring to the table by ensuring good financial outcomes for consumers. To all our members who contributed to the research – thank you, without your input, we would not be here tonight.

 To our National Partners for 2017 – Hollard, IUM, Liberty, SASRIA & Tracker, thank you for investing in the FIA. Our members appreciate your contribution and we look forward to an ongoing mutually beneficial partnership going forward.

 To our sponsors for tonight: CIA, Discovery Health, Discovery Life, Momentum Employee Benefits, Santam and Stratum Benefits – you have all enjoyed the success of being past winners and we thank you for your investment in the 2017 FIA Awards event.

  To Ask Afrika, Sarina and your team, you are thought leaders in service management and we thank you for the input. You have built on the past success of  these awards and you have improved the outcome and value of the FIA Awards this year. I am pleased to announce that 8000 insurance contracts were rated – the best ever in the history of the FIA.

 To the team responsible for the awards and tonight’s celebration – Gareth, Miekie Llani and all your fantastic suppliers – your energy to see this event through year on year is recognised and tonight is also about celebrating your efforts.

 To the newly elected Board of the FIA – my team and I welcome your energy, insights and strategic contribution as we continue to add value to our members.

 Enjoy!

Well done to Rikus from team CN&CO who, along with the rest of his excellent team, put on a great show. See you all next year.