International Adviser is well known and respected as one of the mouthpieces of the industry, so it is not at all surprising that its annual awards are regarded as a reliable indicator of who is outperforming the rest.

The International Adviser team takes great care when choosing the winner in each category and to be asked to lend expertise to the judging process is an honour.

Last year deVere Group’s founder and CEO, Nigel Green, was welcomed to the panel and this year it was my turn to cast an eye over the nominees. This is the third time that the IA team has requested my participation, so it was a particular pleasure to help out by evaluating the performance of the main contenders.

In order to ensure that the process is completely fair, the various categories are divided into geographical areas: Europe, Asia, Middle East and UK Offshore. There is also a Readers’ Choice section, where subscribers can vote for Best International Life Company Global and Best International Life Company UK, this year’s winners being Standard Life and Axa Wealth International respectively.

2013 IA awards

This year the panel was especially impressed by Skandia International, the company walking away with 16 awards. The nearest competitor, Zurich International Life managed five while Friends Provident International, Axa Wealth International, Canada Life International, Generali International and SEB Life International also picked up at least one honour.

The point of the International Adviser Awards is to offer an expert peer-to-peer view on which companies are performing strongly and offering the best products and services.

This year’s victors will doubtless make sure that prospective clients are fully apprised of their status as IA award winners; as a slice of free and prestigious marketing and deserved recognition an IA trophy is hard to beat.