Risk People as at 22 August 2016

New Appointments
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Zurich appoints new Asia-Pacific CEO, adds to risk specialist team, Marshall leaves
Zurich's newest appointee in the chief position for the Asia-Pacific region is Jack Howell, who moves across from Generali. Howell will take over from interim chief executive Stuart Spencer. Additionally, three new members have been appointed to the risk specialist team: Jessica Brady, Danielle Visser, and David Rees. National sales strategies manager, Andy Marshall, has left Zurich. 

Departures
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QBE CEO steps down, new underwriting officer
QBE Insurance Australia's chief executive Tim Plant is being replaced after a year due to poor company performance resulting in a 46 per cent annual profit drop. Chief financial officer Pat Regan is to become interim chief. The newly-created role of chief underwriting officer will be filled by Declan Moore, QBE's current group chief actuary. 

Awards
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Female adviser scholarship launched for working students
Griffith Business School and Sunsuper have introduced a scholarship for women in the financial services industry. Recipients will receive $5,000 to put towards studies, and be offered work experience at Sunsuper or be allowed to attend a Sunsuper professional development day. Applicants must be a full-time Bachelor of Commerce student majoring in financial planning, and currently working in the industry. Apply

PlanPlus 2016 Global Financial Planning Award
Australian David Reed - 2015's AFA Adviser of the Year, has won an international financial planning award for financial planning excellence. Reed is principal at The Retirement Advice Centre. Advisers must submit a financial plan that was previously given to a real client, one per entry. The prize is an all-expenses paid trip to the global Financial Planning Association's (FPA) annual conference in the United States. 

Education
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Kaplan adviser skills test launched
Education provider Kaplan Professional has released a tool to assess the technical knowledge and skills of financial advisers. The tool - KUDOS - offers scientifically-validated assessment of those between Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) Levels 5 to 8 with the current average assessment set at AQF Level 6, or Advanced Diploma Level. Results are set into Bands 1 - 4, with 4 being mastery.