Wotton + Kearney in partnership with the Australian Professional Indemnity Group are pleased to announce that James Skiba of DUAL Australia has won the 2018 W+K APIG Scholarship. James received the award at the Annual APIG National Conference Dinner held in Sydney on 6 September.

James’s submission was selected by the judging panel for his detailed analysis on how the rise in Securities Class Actions will impact on D&O insurance policies, and the need for reforms to continuous disclosure obligations and litigation funding to maintain shareholder rights in a manner which doesn’t restrict corporate activity or access to adequate insurance cover. He also demonstrated a pro-active role as a young insurance professional engaging in industry training and skill development.

W+K Chief Executive Partner, David Kearney, and a member of the judging panel comments:

“W+K is proud to sponsor this important scholarship which recognises an outstanding contribution to the Australian insurance industry by a young APIG member each year. The standard of entries was once again excellent and demonstrates the great depth and talent we are fortunate to have in financial lines insurance in Australia. We congratulate James and look forward to hearing about his experience at the 2019 PIF Conference and hosted visit to Lloyd’s in London.”

APIG President, Jeremy Scott-Mackenzie, also a member of the judging panel added:

“We were delighted to see such a high calibre of submissions addressing a wide range of emerging trends in financial lines insurance from the perspective of our members. This scholarship is an important part of APIG’s commitment to providing educational opportunities to our members, and we congratulate James who will be the fourth recipient to benefit from this outstanding career experience thanks to the generous support of Wotton + Kearney.”

As part of the scholarship prize, James will attend the Professional Indemnity Forum Conference to be held at Cambridge University, England in July 2019 – with a grant of $7,500 towards flights, accommodation and spending courtesy of W+K.

Launched in 2015, the annual Australian W+K APIG Scholarship was established to support the development of young professionals practising in professional indemnity and financial lines insurance in Australia.

L to R: Suzanne Craig (Partner, Wotton + Kearney), James Skiba (DUAL Australia), Jeremy Scott-Mackenzie (APIG President).