Excellence and Professionalism Revealed at the Ausure Awards for 2023
Ausure Insurance Brokers is proud to celebrate professionalism and excellence in the insurance industry over the past year. The winners and finalists of the prestigious Ausure Awards for 2023 were announced recently amid much fanfare at the Awards Gala Dinner in the Ballroom of the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Hobart, Tasmania. The evening was sponsored by the Gold sponsor of the conference, QBE Q nect. This event took place as the sparkling finale to the highly successful Ausure Conference held in Hobart from 5 to 7 March 2023.
“ABICO is a respected, professionally run insurance brokerage who are highly deserved winners of this prestigious award, “ says Graeme Lilley, Ausure’s General Manager – Distribution
“Runners up last year, ABICO strived to become the best business within the Ausure Group and were led from the front by David North and his motivated team. Always working to find the best way to do things, they strived to be better and improve their service to both clients and internally. They achieved above-average growth, purchased another Ausure business and integrated that business seamlessly, opened a new office in Macarthur to better service their clients.”
“The ABICO team are respected in their local community and by their peers and have a great team and work ethic where only the best will do.”
The award for the Fastest Growing Business was scooped up by Astute GI, Cairns, Northern Queensland:
“Astute GI started their broking business in July 2020 at a very challenging time in Cairns. We have seen the hard work and dedication that Rebecca Flynn and her team has put into growing the business, with the past year being an outstanding year for them. I am confident they will continue to grow their business to become a major player in the North Queensland insurance broking market,” comments Graeme.
Ausure’s Young Achiever Award was taken out by Josh Legudi who runs Ausure Insurance Services with multiple branches across Victoria.
“With so much young talent coming through the Ausure group, it was a hard job selecting the winner,“ reveals Graeme. “Josh Legudi is definitely a worthy winner of this award. I have seen Josh grow personally and professionally into an accomplished broker, managing director and entrepreneur. His management over a fast growing business with multiple locations, improving their compliance, broking standards and profitability has been outstanding. Any business would be proud to have such a young, talented leader in their business.”
Ausure Insurance Services run by Josh Legudi and original founder Gaye Legudi, has grown and continues to expand their presence in Victoria, doubling in size in the past year. They are now in the Top 5 largest broking businesses in the Ausure Group. This incorporates Rutherford Street Insurance Services in Swan Hill, Ausure Port Melbourne, Ausure Deniliquin and now with recent acquisitions last year, Seymour and Euroa, as well as client bases in Mildura and Horsham.
Insurer and Underwriter of the Year Awards: The immense support and contribution of Ausure’s suppliers of insurance was also amply acknowledged through two awards at the Ausure Conference in Hobart this year:
The Mike Dunn Insurer of the Year Award was won by CGU Insurance and
Underwriting Agency of the Year was awarded to NTI.
Ausure Award of Excellence
There are multiple factors which judges take into consideration in selecting the winner of Ausure’s Award of Excellence. The professional criteria include factors such as excellence in client service, steady business growth, the family values of caring, loyalty and integrity which have been part of the Ausure culture, as well as focus on personal development and training, good communication, compliance and overall professionalism of the branch. This award is known internally as the Jim Mcilveen Award of Excellence, honouring the insurance veteran Jim Mcilveen who inspired Ausure’s Founder in many professional and positive ways.
Winner: ABICO Insurance Brokers, Wollongong and Oran Park, NSW
Finalists: Ausure Unified Insurance Brokers, Toowoomba, Gatton, Warwick & Beaudesert, QLD and Asset General Insurance Services
ABICO Insurance Brokers, the winning Ausure branch, have their name engraved on the floating Jim Mcilveen Award of Excellence Shield and $3000 gift voucher compliments of Ausure Pty Ltd. Thank you to Ausure’s Managing Director Troy Brown for presenting this award to ABICO Insurance on the night.
Ausure Fastest Growing Business Award
The Fastest Growing Award looks at the Ausure branch with highest growth in earnings for the calendar year 2022, when compared to calendar year 2021. The winning branch will have been an Authorised Representative with Ausure Insurance Brokers for at least two years and a minimum income of $200,000 in 2022.
Winner: Astute GI, Cairns, Northern Queensland
Finalists: Bridgewise Insurance Brokers, Maroochydore, Qld and Ausure Insurance Broking Services, NSW
The winners, Astute GI, have their name engraved on the Fastest Growing Award floating trophy and $1000 gift voucher compliments of Lion Underwriting. Thank you to Kurt Nilsen of Lion Underwriting for presenting and sponsoring this award.
Ausure Young Achiever Award
This award is presented to a young Authorised Representative of Ausure who demonstrates an outstanding level of professionalism and integrity. The candidate must be 35 or younger and can be nominated by anyone within the Ausure Group. They must demonstrate commitment to teamwork, professionalism, integrity and continued self-development. They are someone who is seen as being an asset to their business and uphold the values of being a respected insurance broker in the industry.
Winner: Josh Legudi of Ausure Insurance Services which incorporates Rutherford Street Insurance Services in Swan Hill, Ausure Port Melbourne, Ausure Deniliquin, Seymour, Euroa, as well as client bases in Mildura and Horsham
Finalists: CJ Behne of OnCover Insurance Brokers, Brisbane, QLD and Alicia Hanrahan of Ausure Insurance Brokers Orange, NSW
Thank you to Steve Talbot for presenting and QBE Q nect for sponsoring this award.
The winner, Josh Legudi, receives an invitation to attend the QBE Q nect Insure Your Business Success Course. This exclusive course is designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of Authorised Representatives.
Mike Dunn – Insurer of the Year
For this award, Ausure insurance brokers were asked to vote on insurer performance by rating each of them in the following three categories:
- Underwriting Performance
- Claims Performance
- Overall Performance
Winner: CGU Insurance
Finalists: Allianz Insurance and Chubb Insurance
Ausure’s CEO Scott McCarthy presented the Ausure Insurer of the Year award to CGU.
Underwriting Agency of the Year:
For this award, Ausure insurance brokers were asked to vote on Underwriting Agency performance by rating each of them in these three categories:
- Underwriting Performance
- Claims Performance
- Overall Performance
Winner: NTI – National Transport Insurance
Finalists: GT Insurance and Fortem Underwriting
Ausure’s CFO Ellie Laidlaw presented the Ausure Underwriting Agency of the Year trophy to NTI.
