Wotton Kearney is delighted to announce the five finalists of the 2024/25 W+K Turning Point competition.
The 2024/25 competition, which was launched in July, threw out a challenge to the insurance industry’s most creative and progressive thinkers to outline their idea for a white paper that explores and leads the next generation of ideas in the Property, Energy & Infrastructure sector through the lens of an insurance ‘turning point’ market issue.
The award submissions were judged by a panel made up of Peter Kelaher (Division President, Continental Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Chubb), Steve Gibbs (Head of Claims – Asia-Pacific, AIG) and Adam Chylek (Head of Property, Energy & Infrastructure, Wotton Kearney).
The judging panel was impressed by the range of unique topics addressed in the submissions, and the novel ideas on tackling existing and emerging issues.
The finalists and the issues they will explore are:
| Finalist | Company | Topic |
| Andrew Bott, Executive Loss Adjuster | Chubb | Advantages and Risks of Complementary AI Assistance in Claim Handling |
| Sophie Henderson, Partner | Sedgwick | The ISR Mark IV Policy – the dangers of a formulaic approach to BI calculations for energy and resources businesses |
| Peter Henry, Senior Engineering Adjuster | Lloyd Warwick International (Australia) | Making the most of precedented times – how Australia can leverage international offshore experience |
| Jillian Pancott, Director | Sedgwick | Risks of not insuring industry in the face of ESG |
| Derek Martin, Head of APA Claims | Munich Re | Re-thinking the approach to SRCC and Political Violence in rising geo-political uncertainty – the Reinsurance perspective |
The five finalists will now be paired with a senior W+K Property, Energy & Infrastructure lawyer, and will have six months to co-author a 2,000 word white paper on their chosen topic.
The white papers will be assessed by the judging panel, with the winner announced on 27 May 2025. All white papers will be published in 2025.
The competition winner will receive A$10,000 towards a key industry conference of their choice, such as the Lillehammer Energy conference in Norway, PICS in London, the Asia Pacific Energy Conference or the Asia Power Forum in Singapore. Each finalist will receive travel vouchers in their jurisdiction to the value of A$2,500.
More information about the competition can be found here.