Business Update – June 2024

In this edition: New and returning team members, first aid, expos, ‘movie stars’, and London.

Welcome to our mid-year newsletter (yes, already!). Keystone has seen some rapid change and growth in the last few months.

New Melbourne Team Members
Keystone welcomed Bridget Batson and Emma Garland to the team at the beginning of February. Bridget is learning the ropes of insurance in her first office role and helps with the varied aspects of underwriting. Emma is a lawyer who enthusiastically assists with underwriting and the requirements of our claims team. Once again, welcome ladies! They recently attended a Young Insurance Professionals event in Melbourne.

First Aid Fun
Most of the team and family members participated in learning important life skills with National First Aid in February. We were given practical training in how to respond to an emergency, giving us the skills and confidence to know what to do.  We were ably assisted by Kym Eden who is a very knowledgeable and experienced practitioner and author of the student handbook we were all given as part of the course participation, ‘Fun with First Aid’.

Life Sciences Ramps Up
Keystone’s Life Sciences offering is gaining momentum after our launch in November last year. It covers companies from startups to fully established trading businesses, providing cover for manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers, as well as for research and development companies. We have been pleased to bind the first few policies for medical cannabis producers recently and look forward to providing further assistance in this fascinating field.

Hitting the Ground Running
Enthusiastic Keystone team members took up the challenge of a Fun Run on the Tan that surrounds Melbourne’s botanic gardens on a fine evening in early autumn. The goal was to run a single lap, or for some who ran eight kilometres, two laps. Well done to all participants who challenged themselves to step up their fitness and pace the track.

Canberra
Ben Gray once again flew the Keystone flag at the Underwriting Expo in Canberra on 5 March. He met with a steady flow of brokers interested in Keystone’s wide product offering.

Expanding in Brisbane
The Keystone team has been delighted to welcome Michelle McKellar to the group in our Brisbane office in mid-March. It’s great to have her as part of the team bringing over 20 years of experience in general insurance. She has performed senior underwriting and broker development roles in multiple lines of business during her career.

Welcome back Georgia!
We were delighted to welcome our colleague, Georgia Brown, back to the office in April after her maternity leave.  She was hard at it on her first day back as the above picture attests!  She is focused, organized and efficient.  She very ably provides much needed support to the team with the end of financial year rush well and truly underway and business having grown significantly in the past year.  We love having you back, Georgia!

New Look KeyQuote
Keystone’s online broker portal, KeyQuote, is going very well with a steady stream of brokers signing up every day to use this very easy quoting technology. A fresh new look and functionality have been released to provide even more benefits and improvements to brokers.  Have you joined up yet? It’s easy to get on board and get quotes out to clients. Give us a call today.

Quiet on Set!
Michelle’s first week was an unusual start, flying to Melbourne to get involved in the corporate filming run by Zebra Vision. The whole team spent the day being the movie stars of Keystone! We had interviews, discussed the different aspects of the business, and demonstrated how we collaborate with shots of the office environment. The resulting scenes are a credit to the team and the hard work of the Zebra Vision group who did the professional filming and editing.

CQIB Roadshow
Susann Rosenthal of our Brisbane office has been on the road a lot lately with one of her trips involving the roadshow with CQIB (Council of Queensland Insurance Brokers). She spent a week visiting Queensland regional centres with the Keystone stand introducing herself to regional brokers and strengthening existing connections.

Gold Coast Expo
Kelly Ross-Howard flew to the Gold Coast at the beginning of April to meet up with Susann Rosenthal of our Brisbane office for the Underwriters Council of Australia (UAC) Gold Coast expo. Susann and Kelly had a very busy morning greeting the Queensland broking community to spread the Keystone word. There was lots of interest in liability cover which is Susann’s specialty and Kelly’s expertise in Life Sciences insurance.

Ben visits the Brisbane team
Keystone’s Queensland team of Susann Rosenthal and Michelle McKellar hosted a visit in early May from Ben Gray of our Melbourne office. He continued Michelle’s induction into Keystone and was there to provide general support and company.

UAC Melbourne
Meanwhile, most of the Melbourne team staffed the Keystone stand at the UAC in Melbourne at the Exhibition and Convention Centre on 7 May.  Kelly Ross-Howard, again made herself available to discuss all things Life Sciences and Keystone’s general product offering.  All the team were kept very busy answering broker queries and handing out merchandise at the well-attended event.

London vibes
May continued to be a productive and well-travelled month for Keystone with John King and Susann Rosenthal meeting up in London to visit our key stakeholders in the Lloyds market. It was great to have them in town reinforcing important relationships and being able to do business face-to-face. They also caught up with Kaleb Forster, a Keystone Underwriter who is on an extended sabbatical working with one of our London brokers.

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