Back for a second year, with a few useful additions
Last year the Risk Practice of the Year Award ran for the first time. Six shortlisted firms, all of them very different, all of them making a serious case for what good risk advice looks like. Personal Risk Professionals took out the inaugural award.
It’s back for 2027, sponsored again by PPS Mutual, and Risk Hub is once again an award partner.
Applications open Tuesday 4 August 2026 and close Monday 14 September 2026. That’s a six week window, so it’s worth pencilling in now rather than in the last fortnight.
Who can enter
The award is open to practices generating more than half their annual new business revenue through life insurance related advice. If you’re multi-disciplinary, you qualify where risk advice features in more than half of your new client recommendations.
Which means a small specialist firm and a risk arm sitting inside a larger practice are both in the running.
What the judges are looking for
Entries are assessed across five categories:
- Customer Excellence. Client outcomes and service.
- Commercial Strategy. Building a sustainable risk business.
- Continuous Improvement. Innovation and ongoing refinement.
- Cultural Strength. A positive, values-driven workplace.
- Industry Contribution. Supporting and advancing the profession.
Having sat on the panel last year, the thing I’d pass on is this. The entries that stood out weren’t the biggest firms. They were the ones that could clearly explain why they do things the way they do.
Two things that are new this year
Anyone can nominate a practice. Clients, associates and industry peers can now put a firm forward. If you know a practice quietly doing excellent work, you can nominate them and they’ll be invited to apply. That takes the awkwardness out of it for firms that would never nominate themselves.
Every applicant gets into the workshop. All practices that apply receive an invitation to an online workshop facilitated by Sue Viskovic of Vital Business Partners, on what high performing advice firms are doing differently right now. It’s built as a facilitated discussion rather than a webinar, so participants contribute their own challenges and ideas. Worth entering for that alone, frankly.
What’s involved, and what the winner gets
The application is an online form plus a short three to five minute video covering how you’re building capacity and capability, how you support clients through claims, and what keeps your team doing this work. Finalists then provide further detail against the five criteria, along with a client feedback survey.
The winner receives a spot sharing their story at the Riskinfocus 27 events around the country with travel and accommodation included, a table of eight at their home town event, and a marketing and PR package covering an SEO review by Jaywing, custom social content, graphic design, and a media release distributed by Maddens & Assoc.
Last year’s winner and finalists have both spoken publicly about the value of it, with Hewison Private Wealth noting that leads came in purely off the back of the exposure.
On a personal note
Through my work with Risk Hub I’m keen to shine a light on the practices doing their part to lift the industry. Reading through last year’s entries was one of the more encouraging things I did all year. There’s a lot of quiet, excellent work going on that never gets talked about, and this is a rare chance to have it seen.
I’ll be judging alongside Peter Sobels of Riskinfo, Angus Woods of Adviser Ratings, Sue Laing of The Risk Store Consulting, and Sue Viskovic of Vital Business Partners.
[Apply from 4 August] | [Nominate a practice] | [Full award details]
Marc Fabris
