Judges gathered yesterday at the Pan Pacific Hotel in London for the Insurance Insider Honours 2023 judging day: the process of selecting winners from a shortlist of submissions for this year’s awards ceremony, which will be held in London in the week before the industry heads off to the Rendez-vous de Septembre in Monte Carlo.
“I’ve loved taking part in the judging process, it’s been fantastic”, effused Kirat Kaur Nandra, DE&I Leader and CGM Credit Control Manager at Chubb. “It’s been a wonderful opportunity to see all the good work that goes on in the industry and the awards will be a great way to recognise that.”
Also on the judging panel was Karen Graves, Chair of GreenKite. “The Honours are a great way to celebrate the industry, and we don’t do enough of that,” she said.
For the first time since Covid, this judging day took place in person, which the judges appreciated as it allowed for more robust debate on the various merits of the nominated entries. “Having sat on a number of judging panels, I really appreciate the way the Honours are judged,” said Ed Gaze, CEO and co-founder of Innovative Risk Labs. “The in-person element of today’s judging has been a great experience.”
Overall, winners were chosen in 16 categories, from employer of the year to insurtech product of the year, with some new categories for 2023, including operational innovation of the year and the women in insurance award.
The panel of judges present for judging day, selected for their expertise across the industry, also included Caroline Wagstaff, CEO of the London Market Group, David Croom-Johnson, former CEO of Aegis London, George Beattie, Head of Innovation at CFC, Richard Askey, Managing Director and Head of Insurance at Lloyds Bank, Rob Jarvis, Head of Innovation at Tokio Marine Kiln, and Romaney O’Malley, Group CFO at bolttech.
The judging day was a culmination of a months worth of online review and scoring of over 170 entries. An additional nod should be afforded to Suneeta Padda of Padda Consulting, Mike Keating CEO of the Managing General Agents Association and Peter Ford, Executive Vice President & Head of European Insurance for Allied World, who could not make the judging but whose contribution has been invaluable.
The judging itself was rigorous, with the panel challenging and defending their points of view on the merits of the submissions, with some close calls earning honourable mentions, but ultimately, winners were determined in all categories by the judges.
The shortlist announcement for each category will go live on the Honours homepage on July 13th – to find out who will win, you’ll need to attend the ceremony, which will take place at The Hilton on Park Lane on September 7th. To reserve your seat, please contact Pierre Aghabala.
