On 6 September 2023, the Council of Australian Life Insurers (CALI) launched ReCALIbrate: a chance for women to reshape life insurance. The inaugural program will provide $2,000 grants to five mid-career, female financial risk advisers to attend the Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) Congress on 20-22 November 2023 in Adelaide.
“CALI believes it is important to play our part to foster the next generation of female financial risk advisers to ensure a strong pipeline of talent and leadership while also addressing the decreasing number of financial advisers in Australia. CALI is passionate about finding ways to make life insurance more inclusive so that our industry reflects the community we serve,” said Christine Cupitt, Chief Executive Officer at CALI.
“Men outnumber women at industry conferences for many reasons, including juggling family and carer responsibilities with day-to-day work. We want to do more to create opportunities for women in our industry,” said Ms Cupitt.
CALI Board Member and Managing Director of Clearview Wealth Limited, Nadine Gooderick, said “risk specialists play an important role in helping people understand their life insurance needs, secure adequate cover and, at claim time, get benefits paid. Women have traditionally been under-represented in financial services but that is gradually changing and we want to do our part to encourage women to pursue a career in risk advice and foster a diverse, inclusive industry.”
“We applaud CALI’s ReCALIbrate initiative and have a shared desire to encourage engagement among female financial risk advisers and foster the next generation of female talent. We look forward to welcoming the ReCALIbrate recipients to the FAAA Congress in November,” said Sarah Abood, Chief Executive Officer at the Financial Advice Association Australia.
To ensure women continue to engage with the industry and benefit beyond the event, each ReCALIbrate recipient will be paired with a senior female life insurance industry leader and have the opportunity to have two in-person or virtual meetings. The purpose of these meetings will be to provide a forum for mentorship, learning, support and advice.