Distribution-Commission Board Examiner — General Insurance

The mandate

Broker and affinity agreements combine placement commission, volume tiers, profit share, marketing support, service fees and clawbacks that depend on premium, cancellation, claims and customer outcomes. Finance accrues from contract summaries, while Conduct and Product assess value later. The committees cannot see whether incentives, accounting estimates and actual distributor behaviour remain aligned across channels.

Three days monthly will cover agreement and outcome review, private challenge with Distribution and Finance, and chair preparation; six Sydney committee sessions and four distributor-file reviews are included. The examiner will focus on material arrangements, discretion and customer-risk signals. A proposed exceptional incentive receives an evidence request within two Australian business days, not a remuneration decision.

The ten-month appointment closes after annual commission true-up and one customer-outcome review. A maximum two-month extension requires a named delayed distributor assessment, refreshed conflicts and both chairs’ approval. Unused days lapse, and the mandate cannot become broker negotiation, product approval, remuneration design, sales management, accounting production or conduct assurance.

The examiner has no line authority, executive responsibility, distribution mandate, remuneration decision, product approval, accounting-signing right, conduct determination, audit function or committee vote. Management owns agreements, estimates and customer outcomes; committees retain oversight. The examiner may expose inconsistent evidence but cannot approve or cancel a payment.

Interests involving brokers, affinity partners, reinsurers, comparison sites, service providers, advisers, auditors, regulators or competing insurers require disclosure. Prior design of a reviewed arrangement creates recusal. Compensation cannot depend on premium, commission reduction, claims ratio, customer result, accounting outcome or extension, and distributor information remains restricted.

Why the board wants this voice

Distribution teams pursue growth, Finance estimates contractual cost and Conduct reviews customer value, while each committee receives a different view of the same arrangement. Independent challenge can connect economics, behaviour and reporting without negotiating contracts, setting remuneration, judging product value or displacing management and assurance responsibilities.

What you will own

• Challenge placement, renewal, volume, profit-share, service, marketing, referral and clawback mechanics by arrangement.
• Trace premium, cancellation, claim, complaint, retention and service evidence into commission accrual and settlement.
• Examine whether incentives create product, pricing, claims, disclosure or customer-treatment risks requiring management action.
• Test estimates for contract version, eligibility, threshold, loss ratio, cut-off, true-up and manual override.
• Frame scenarios for volume step, catastrophe loss, complaint surge, portfolio transfer, termination and clawback dispute.
• Compare remuneration approval, accounting treatment, customer outcome and distributor behaviour without collapsing their ownership.
• Give committees an arrangement dossier, contradiction log, conflict record, follow-up triggers and outcome-review agenda.

Candidate qualifications

• Held senior insurance distribution finance, commission governance or conduct-remuneration authority across broker, affinity and bancassurance channels.
• Reconciled broker and affinity terms to premium, claims, customer outcomes, accruals, true-ups and cash across several product lines and reporting periods.
• Challenged profit-share and volume incentives where accounting and conduct evidence pointed in different directions.
• Presented sensitive distributor economics to board committees without negotiating agreements or approving remuneration.
• Worked with Distribution, Product, Claims, Finance, Conduct, Legal, Internal Audit and regulators across clear boundaries during contested remuneration remediation.
• Managed conflicts involving brokers, affinity partners, comparison sites, reinsurers, advisers and auditors across cycles.

Non-negotiables

• Can attend all six Sydney sessions and complete four controlled distributor-file reviews.
• Will disclose broker, partner, reinsurer, comparison-site, regulator, adviser, audit and competitor relationships.
• Brings insurance commission governance linked to customer outcomes; general sales compensation experience is insufficient.
• Accepts no distribution, remuneration, product, conduct, accounting, audit, executive or voting authority.

1. 49 words maximum. Describe a commission arrangement you challenged after claims or customer evidence changed.
2. 49 words maximum. Which current broker, affinity, reinsurer or adviser relationship could require your recusal?
3. 49 words maximum. What profit-share or clawback scenario would you place before both committees?