February and early March saw noteworthy appointments across Australia and NZ’s financial services sectors, with insurance giants QBE, IAG, and AIG Australia picking up several key executive additions.

Australia

– QBE Insurance has appointed Andrew Horton as Group Chief Executive Officer. Horton assumes the role from acting CEO Richard Pryce, who stepped in last September following the sudden departure of Pat Regan. Pryce has announced he will retire at the end of 2021.

Horton was poached from UK-based Beazley, a global specialist insurer, where he served as Chief Executive for more than a decade.

– IAG has announced a number of key appointments to its executive team, which follows a move last year by the company to change its operating model and split its Australia Division.

• Julie Batch will move into the role of Group Executive Direct Insurance Australia after serving as acting Group Executive Intermediated Insurance Australia since last November, in addition to leading IAG’s Strategy & Innovation division. Batch previously served as IAG’s Chief Customer Officer.
• Neil Morgan has been appointed Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. As part of his role as COO, Morgan will retain accountability for technology and digital from his previous role as Technology and Operations chief, where he served for three years.
• Jarrod Hill will take on the role of Group Executive Intermediated Insurance Australia. Hill joins from Chubb Insurance where he served as Country President Australia & New Zealand. He will commence his new role at IAG in September.

– AIG Australia has appointed Lisa Jeffery as Head of Client and Broker Engagement as well as interim Head of Claims. AIG’s previous Head of Client and Broker Engagement Australasia, Jared King, left the insurer last August.

– Suncorp has appointed Jessica Gleeson as Head of Customer and Strategy, part of the financial group’s banking and wealth division. Gleeson previously served as CBA’s General Manager of Digital Banking.

– Rest has appointed Catherine Farrugia to the position of General Manager of Digital, responsible for digital strategy, design and delivery.

Rest has also appointed Steven Ahn as General Manager of Member Insights and Strategy, leading the super fund’s member analytics, data science, market research, ‘voice of customer’, and dashboarding teams.

–  MetLife Australia has appointed Nathan Rees as Head of External Affairs and Public Policy. Rees, former Premier of NSW, previously served as the Finance Sector Unit’s Assistant National Secretary.

– MLC Life Insurance has appointed Michael Rogers to the position of Chief Life Insurance Officer. Rogers replaces Sean McCormack, who left the business on 26 February.

MLC Life has also appointed Michael Downey as General Manager for Retail Distribution Partnerships, replacing Russell Hannah who is set to depart on 26 March.

– Munich RE has appointed Scott Hawkins to the position of Managing Director of Australasia. Hawkins replaces Ralph Ronnenberg who will assume a new role at Munich as Head of Reinsurance Controlling at the company’s head office in Germany.

– Colonial First State has appointed Adrian Fortescue as Head of Insurance. Fortescue formerly served as Munich Re Australia’s Head of Group Insurance.

– Cbus has appointed Kristin Miller as Group Executive, People and Culture.

Departures

– Medibank has announced the retirement of Chief Executive Craig Drummond, who will depart the business at the end of June 2021. Drummond has led the health insurer since 2016. The Medibank board is currently seeking his successor, considering “both internal and external candidates” for the role.

– CBA’s Chief Product Owner for Open Banking Gavin Leon has announced his departure from the bank. Leon joins software company Atlassian after nearly two decades served at Commonwealth.

– Westpac’s General Counsel and Enterprise Executive Rebecca Lim has announced she will step down after serving 20 years in the role. Lim is set to move into a part-time advisory role for Westpac.

New Zealand

– IAG has appointed Amanda Whiting as Chief Executive of its New Zealand division. Whiting has served as acting Head of IAG Direct Insurance Australia since November. She is set to take over the role from Craig Olsen in August.

– NZ’s chief financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has announced the resignation of Chief Executive Rob Everett. Everett is set to leave the regulator “towards the end of the year”, with the FMA currently seeking a replacement.

The FMA has also announced the departure of General Counsel, Nick Kynoch, who has assumed a new role as General Counsel for Generate Kiwisaver.

– ANZ Bank New Zealand has appointed Lorraine Mapu as Managing Director Business. Mapu has served as ANZ NZ’s General Manager Business since September 2020. She replaces Mark Hiddleston, who served five years on the bank’s New Zealand Leadership Team (NZLT).

– Westpac NZ has appointed Ben Turner as Treasurer. Turner will be responsible for managing Westpac NZ’s balance sheet, liquidity management, and access to on-shore and off-shore wholesale markets. He has previously served in treasury roles at Union Bank of Switzerland, Lloyds Banking Group, and Goldman Sachs.

– Delta Insurance Group has appointed Kent Chaplin as Chief Operations Officer, as the specialist liability underwriter looks to expand its footprint beyond New Zealand. Chaplin previously served as Lloyd’s former Asia-Pacific regional head.

Board

– The ASX has appointed Damian Roche as Chair of the ASX Board, following the announcement of Rick Holliday-Smith’s departure from the position. Holliday-Smith served 15 years on the board, the last nine as chair. Roche first joined the ASX board in 2014.

– The Bank of Queensland (BOQ) has appointed Mickie Rosen as a Non-Executive Director, effective 4 March 2021.

– Police Bank has appointed Pat Gooley as Director on its Board, following the announcement of the forthcoming departure of Mick Fuller.