Unity is Opportunity

Pioneer in the renewables market, Dato' Guntor Tobeng led us out in Kuala Lumpur with his keynote speech. Having entered the renewables market back in the 90s, it was fascinating hearing from a business leader who’s been right at the cutting edge of one of the most important industries to emerge in the last century.

He talked about the challenges of starting up a garden solar light business in the early years, and convincing banks to invest in the renewables market long before it was established.

He’s now working side by side with the Malaysian government and playing a key role in accelerating the country’s transfer to greener energy.

A big thank you goes to Dato' Guntor Tobeng for such a fantastic opening speech.

Our insurer partners were back for their super panel, and the opportunities around AI in insurance and employee benefits were a big talking point.

How the technology can pick up trends the human eye might miss. Or analyse and translate them into better insights for brokers and clients. As Kathleen Ellis from CNA said: “It’s not about taking jobs, it’s about giving us more interesting things to do.”

Thank you to Daniel de Swaan (Meijers Assurantien B.V), Alexandra Cowley (Zurich), Kathleen Ellis (CNA), Janette Hiscock (UnitedHealthcare Global), Antony Lee (AmCham Malaysia) and Paul O'Neil (Sompo International).

This session was all about learning and capitalizing on past wins. We heard from members about their recent sales and prospect opportunities, and how they leveraged WBN to their advantage.

The WBN HQ team also took to the stage to update the network on the many tools and resources available to support our members and help them win more business.

Six WBN leaders, from six continents, updating us on the latest trends and market conditions in their region. One universal trend that stood out was the role of the broker, and how we’ve never been more important for clients in the current climate. From helping them fight cyber, retain talent, harness data, technology and predictive modelling, we’re no longer just an insurance broker. As Lisa Hawker put it “we have become the central point for organizations for the things that keep them up at night.”

Thank you to Cristina de Uriarte (Grupo Concentra), Lisa Hawker (Hylant), Walid Nehme (Associated Insurance Brokers), Gautam Mahey (Pacific Prime), Gabriel Rico (Fidex), Peter McLachlan (EBM).

ERM, ESG, and DEI – the acronyms keeping every board and business leader up at night. This session was a welcome tonic to help our clients and members sleep a little easier. Bringing a new level of sophistication to the conversation, our panel helped our attendees see their strategies from a whole new perspective.

Thank you to Corey Gooch (B. Riley Advisory Services), Mervyn Rea (Zurich), and April Rowe (Newfront).

Ron van Overhagen from WBN member Soderberg & Partners has an extensive background in multinational pooling, and he provided a great overview of the advantages for clients putting their local employee benefit plans into a pool.

From profit sharing, to better rates and conditions on local contracts, to online tools and wellness services and more. All available at no extra cost or risk to the client.

Yuson Liao from Swiss Life Global Solutions then broke down how clients can get these benefits through our exclusive pooling partnership.

Thanks so much to Yuson and Ron for such a useful pooling masterclass.

We always talk about a culture of care at WBN – it’s our promise that wherever in the world our multinational clients work with us, we make sure they get the same level of service.

That’s why we always invite clients to our conferences. Hearing from them in our client panels and collaborating with them across the week allows us to get closer to their businesses and risks, and make sure we’re always getting ahead of the game for them.

The world is always moving at breakneck speed, and clients are feeling the pressure to specialize and make the most of their strengths and opportunities. Our client panel got into how they’re meeting new employee expectations, getting serious about DE&I, and using emerging technologies and trends to transform their business.

Thank you to Jimmy Gopalakrishnan (Airtel) and Prakash Satagopan (Western Digital) for their valuable insights, and Gurpal Dhingra at our member firm Prudent for guiding the conversation.

The WBN Catalyst Program fast tracks the careers of our network’s rising stars. We’re proud to be the only global network that offer an initiative like it.

Catalyst is for people new to insurance at our member firms. Not only does it give them a network of likeminded people to lean on and collaborate with, but they also get access to our formal training program: The Catalyst Academy.

Combining leadership coaching, industry-specific training, and workshops at our global conferences, the program is there to help accelerate them up through the ranks and into leadership roles in their firms.

Once they graduate, they then move onto our Board Mentorship Program, and are guided by some of the most experienced leaders in our industry.

Catalyst is there to shape the next generation of our network leaders, and we hope many of our grads will go on to sit on the WBN Board. When they eventually take their seat, they’ll look back on this session as the start of that journey.

In an intimate setting, they got to hear from our current Board about their career journey and the long-term vision for the network.

One of the big benefits of being part of Catalyst are the endless opportunities connecting with people in the industry who can inspire them.

In Kuala Lumpur, Catalyst members had access to an exclusive session with our Super Sponsor Panel, getting guidance from some of the leading experts across the insurance and benefits industries.

We celebrated more graduates passing through the program at Kuala Lumpur – huge congratulations to Hannah Butler (Brown & Brown), Toby Cowling (Towergate), Jack Keilty (Price Forbes), Cameron Lock (Newfront), and Sasha Sem-Sandberg (Soderberg & Partners).

Now it’s on to the Board Mentorship Program, where our Board members will help shape and guide the next stage of their career.