Australian life insurer TAL has announced the appointment of experienced financial services executives and directors David Cohen and Annette King to the company’s Board.

Mr Cohen will join the Board on 1 April 2025, assuming the role of Chair from 8 May, replacing Mark Joiner, who stood down from the position in late 2024. Ms King joined the Board as Independent Non-Executive Director in December 2024.

Mr Cohen spent 16 years at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, latterly as Deputy Chief Executive Officer. Prior to CBA, he was General Counsel at AMP and a partner at a national law firm.

“I’m delighted to be joining the TAL Board and working with CEO Fiona Macgregor and the executive team. TAL is a great Australian business and I look forward to helping guide its future, for the benefit of all stakeholders,” said Mr Cohen.

Ms King is a former life insurance CEO and past President of the Actuaries Institute in Australia, with extensive experience as a Non-Executive Director.

“Life insurance plays a crucial role in protecting the financial security of Australians. I look forward to contributing to this next phase of TAL’s journey and its focus on customer leadership,” said Ms King.

Interim Board Chair Christine Bartlett welcomed the appointments, saying, “David and Annette both bring significant contemporary experience in transformation and growth to the TAL Board.

“As our new Chair, we welcome David’s strong emphasis on customer, culture and risk.

“On behalf of the TAL Board and executive team, I thank Mark Joiner for his leadership of the Board since June 2022 through a period of significant growth and change.”

About David Cohen

David has over 21 years’ experience in financial services and was Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) from November 2018 to December 2023. As Deputy CEO, David oversaw business divestments, supervised mergers and acquisitions, and progressed customer complaint resolution and remediation.

Prior to this role, David was Group General Counsel, Group Executive Human Resources, Group Executive Corporate Affairs and Chief Risk Officer at CBA. David’s roles prior to joining CBA include General Counsel at AMP and a Partner at Allens Arthur Robinson.

David was recently appointed as an independent Non-Executive Director of Westpac and is a Panel Member at independent corporate advisory firm Adara Partners.

David holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney.

About Annette King

Annette is an actuary with over 30 years’ experience as a company director, CEO, CFO and CMO of significant financial institutions in Australia and Asia-Pacific, including Swiss Re, AXA, Manulife and Mercer.

Annette has deep experience in insurance, wealth management, superannuation, investments and broader financial services – particularly growing and transforming businesses through differentiated client/member experience, organisational culture, and innovation via data, digital and technology enablement.

Previously, Annette was a Non-Executive Director of MLC Super, a past President and Chair of the Actuaries Institute in Australia and also served as President and Chair of the Life Insurance Association of Singapore. She is a member of Chief Executive Women.

Annette is currently an independent Non-Executive Director of HCF, Australian Finance Group and U Ethical Investors. 

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Annette King

The Federal Government’s revised 2022-23 Budget, delivered tonight by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, contains fiscally responsible measures which are essential at a time when the nation’s growth trajectory confronts severe domestic and global challenges, the Actuaries Institute said.

The Institute believes the Budget acknowledges myriad challenges including rising prices due to inflation, an extremely large public debt burden and significant funding demands across the domestic economy including the NDIS, aged care, infrastructure, education and healthcare.

“Standout features we commend in this budget are the further strengthening of commitment to address climate change to improve resilience, support for greater access to housing, and setting the stage for the move to well-being budgets in future,” said Annette King, Actuaries Institute President.

“While possible reassessment of tax cuts has been deferred, overall, the Budget has a commitment to fairness and equity that are guiding principles for the Institute when we assess major public policy developments,” Ms King said. “It is especially pleasing to see the broadening of focus beyond economic and fiscal outcomes to also consider outcomes in housing, education, social programs, the environment, and health and disability.”

Amid forecasts of a nearing global recession, the Budget papers show that Australia’s economic performance remains impressive, with growth of 3¼% expected this financial year before slowing to 1½% next year. Unemployment remains low at 4½% through to 2023/24.

Treasurer Chalmers said government debt has risen sharply, with further pressure on the domestic economy due to high domestic and global interest rates. Inflation is expected to peak at 7¾% later this year and then gradually ease to 3½% through 2023-2024.

Referring to longer term structural issues, Actuaries Institute Chief Executive Elayne Grace, said: “The Government will need to tackle economic and social pressures arising from the ageing population, demands on the health, disability and education systems, and concerns about intergenerational wealth distribution including from superannuation and retirement benefits now available from the tax system.”

“The Institute strongly welcomes the Government’s increased statements of commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and investment to help achieve that goal,” Ms Grace said. “In particular, the Institute commends the support for greater take up of electric vehicles, the Powering Australia Plan, and infrastructure around the Climate Change Authority, Safeguard Mechanism and Annual Climate Change Statement to Parliament.

“She said these Budget measures set Australia on a solid path to achieving its global commitments and help reduce the worst risks of a changing climate. “We know that vulnerable Australians are especially exposed to these risks through, for example, the most affordable housing being in the most climate exposed areas,” Ms Grace said.

“The frequency of extreme weather events and natural disasters across the country in recent years highlights the need for collaborative and urgent action to improve resilience.”

The Institute also welcomes the Government’s policies around housing, and in particular to further encourage downsizing through changes to the assets and income tests and super fund investment in affordable housing. Importantly, these measures will help address housing supply issues. The Institute notes because super funds must act in members’ best financial interests, it is a high bar for funds to invest in affordable housing. However, with the continued projected growth of the superannuation sector and economic role it plays as sophisticated investors, it is important to find win-win solutions to address Australia’s most pressing challenges. The Institute looks forward to seeing the policy details as they develop and strongly supports the foreshadowed consultation with industry stakeholders.

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Elayne Grace

The Actuaries Institute this month celebrates 125 years of guiding government, business and the wider community through insight, independent advice, and rigorous data analysis.

From a small group of like-minded individuals in 1897 to the diverse, successful organisation it is today, the Institute has always focussed on what data can predict about the future.

“Today is the age of the actuary because it is the age of data,” Actuaries Institute President Annette King said. “And our relevance continues to increase as artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science change the world we live in. Actuaries will be there to harness, integrate and question that data; to ensure it is used wisely and well – and for good.”

Elayne Grace, Chief Executive Officer of the Actuaries Institute, said the Institute had served the public interest since it began – from underpinning financial institutions like life insurance companies and friendly societies to the varied services actuaries now offer across insurance, superannuation, and consulting but also in areas of public policy such as climate change, intergenerational equity, data ethics and cyber security.

“When we began, we protected Australians from an uncertain future. Our professionalism, our independence, and our ability to wrest the truth from data helped people and organisations to plan and adapt,” Ms Grace said. “Our essence has not changed, but everything else has and we have continued to evolve with it.”

Australian actuaries work in a wide range of disciplines – insurance, superannuation, banks, data science, government, risk, climate change, energy, health, fintech, finance and investment. They are strategy-focused leaders who work with the exploding world of data and data management techniques to balance stakeholder interests, manage risk, optimise outcomes, price products and solve complex business and social problems.

Increasingly, they drive public policy. “Actuaries’ rigorous skills work in public policy because we combine them with a tradition of independence and an ethical framework that has always been built on a sense of equity,” Ms King said.

The Institute now boasts 5500 members, 50% under 35 years of age and 25% working in Asia, having started with 17 members in 1897. The member base is 34% female and 66 % male, but with increasingly strong female representation at the highest levels.

Annette King is the eighth female president; the first was Catherine Prime, appointed in 1991, and there have been 5 in the past 10 years. Hoa Bui was the seventh female and first Asia-born president when appointed in 2020. The Institute currently has a female CEO (Elayne Grace), with the first CEO being Catherine Beall in 1999.

Professor Alfred Pollard established the first Actuarial Studies degree at Macquarie University in 1968 and now seven Australian and one New Zealand university offer actuarial training accredited by the Institute. More than 700 members volunteer their time on the Institute’s committees, task forces and working groups – to shape the profession and engage with industry, government, academia, and the media.

“Wherever you stand in this profession, you stand on the shoulders of giants,” said Ms King, “the presidents, councillors, volunteers, and countless others who led a profession that continues to help shape Australia. We are who we are today because of their work and their traditions of excellence, integrity, curiosity, innovation – and courage.”

The Institute will be hosting the International Congress of Actuaries, a global meeting of the brightest actuarial minds, in Sydney next May/June. The five-day ICA2023 will bring together 500 speakers from more than 50 countries to discuss data analytics and AI, climate change, cyber risk, the rise and rise of Asian financial services, the impact of IFRS 17, the age of the consumer and many other topics.

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Annette King

The Actuaries Institute has issued a detailed report urging government, businesses, and insurers to collaboratively address significant insurance gaps in protection against cyber attacks that have already cost the Australian economy billions of dollars.

In its Green Paper, Cyber Risk and the Role of Insurance, the Actuaries Institute analysed the vulnerability of organisations, from SMEs to large corporates, and the role of cyber insurance in setting best practice standards for cyber resilience as part of a robust risk management framework.

“For cyber insurance to influence best practice in a major way, there are several gaps that need to be addressed by government, business and insurers,” said the report’s lead author Win-Li Toh, a principal at analytics and actuarial consultancy Taylor Fry.

“Adding to these challenges are escalating cyber losses that have reduced insurer appetite for this class, significant shortage of capacity to provide the levels of protection needed across the market, and premium hikes in the double/triple digits over the past two years,” she said.

Actuaries Institute President Annette King said the Green Paper identifies pathways for key stakeholders in the Australian economy to prevent further significant damage from cyber attacks.

“Sitting back and doing nothing shouldn’t be an option when cyber attacks cost the Australian economy $33 billion last financial year,” Ms King says, noting the Green Paper’s recommendations including scenario planning and a joint approach towards training and skills development.

“The issues may be complex, yet it is clear that protection is vital for economic resilience given the headline-making losses we too often read about here and around the world.”

In its assessment of economic losses, the Green Paper notes that only 20 per cent of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) have cyber insurance compared with 35 per cent to 70 per cent for larger organisations. In 2021, 75 per cent of ransomware attacks were on companies with fewer than 1,000 people.

In addressing these issues, Ms Toh said: “importantly, good cyber hygiene and security – not insurance – are the first line of defence.” She noted government entities are a long way off baseline standards of cyber security and many businesses are also behind in their resilience against rapidly shifting risks.

“A vibrant cyber insurance market will do more than provide financial recompense for risks that break through the first line of defence. It can also strengthen that first line, by offering clear signals and incentives to business – in the form of eligibility, pricing and sharing of insights – on best-practice standards,” she said.

Key gaps in achieving this best-practice approach include:

• a severe shortage of qualified cyber security personnel
• limited understanding of the role of cyber insurance among Boards
• limited education on cyber risks among SMEs
• achieving sufficient capacity and profitability in the market
• managing accumulation risks.

On a global basis, Ms Toh said cyber risk is growing at unprecedented levels, with ransomware attacks more than tripling in two years.

“The accessibility of Ransomware as a Service (malware products), combined with the development of crypto currencies enabling untraceable payments has super-charged the growth of cyber attacks.

“This has brought more organisations of different types and sizes under the widening net of cyber criminals to the point where it is now clear that no firm is immune. This is why a vibrant and resilient risk management framework and infrastructure for cyber risk is crucial, of which insurance is one part,” she said.

The Green Paper also notes that with no geographical boundaries, a computer virus can spread quickly around the world and results in many companies making a claim under their cyber insurance policy. “This is the accumulation risk challenge for an insurer – the potential for a single event to trigger losses across business lines and global borders,” said Ms Toh.

Another issue is the difficulty in defining Acts of cyber War (or terrorism) that are excluded from insurance policies, with Lloyd’s recently giving directions to underwriters towards excluding liability for losses arising from any state-backed cyber attack.

Ms Toh said, “finding the right balance between guidance, education, mitigation, cover and regulation, will be central in creating a robust risk management framework for cyber risk and cyber insurance.”

Read the report.

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Elayne Grace

The Federal Government’s 2022-23 Budget, delivered tonight by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, outlines measures to guide Australia’s economy to continued prosperity but longer term public policy changes will eventually need to be addressed, the Actuaries Institute said.

It said the Government delivered a budget that reflected the strength of the economy, seeking to reduce the high debt burden while addressing immediate cost of living pressures for low-income earners and retirees.

The Actuaries Institute welcomed the digital economy package outlined in the Budget, tax offsets and cost of living payments, and limited changes to superannuation.

“Specific policies designed to deliver better outcomes for women, low-income earners and retirees will improve equity for all Australians,” said Actuaries Institute President Annette King. “But more needs to be done on climate change, and mitigation for those in flood and fire prone areas.”

Ms King welcomed policies centred around Australia’s digital economy and changes to employee share ownership schemes that will benefit start-ups, measures she said would result in “greater business and professional innovation”. The Institute urges the Government to be ambitious in seizing the opportunities of the digital and data revolution.

The Institute commended the Government’s digital economy announcements:

• $1 billion Technology Investment that provides a tax deduction bonus to small businesses that digitalise their operations
• $18.6 million to protect Australia’s national interest in critical and emerging technologies standards
• $3.9 million to support women in mid-career transitions to the tech workforce.

Ms King added, “While the budget is dominated by hip pocket measures which might correctly be viewed through an electoral lens, it does also meet most of the fairness and equity objectives that the Institute looks for when assessing major public policy announcements and programs.”

The Actuaries Institute strongly supports the $6.7 million for ongoing encouragement of women in STEM, and $3.9 million to support women in mid-career transitions to the tech workforce. “We also welcome the Government’s commitment to narrowing the gender pay gap and the gender superannuation gap by continuing to support increased workforce participation; this has long been a priority of the Institute. However, the lack of announcement to pay SG on paid parental leave continues to disappoint,” Ms King said.

Actuaries Institute Chief Executive Elayne Grace said that a more robust and effective retirement income system that better links public and private sectors, along with sound and accessible advice for retirees, should be central to the Government’s longer-term agenda.

“This is crucial for the wellbeing of all Australians,” Ms Grace said. “The objective of the retirement system must be to provide for retirees so that they have a reliable, secure and adequate income, to live with dignity in retirement.”

“For many years superannuation and retirement settings have been subject to frequent and significant changes. A period of consolidation to implement the already significant reforms underway, including the ongoing adaptation to the Your Future, Your Super changes (especially the ‘performance test’) and introduction of the retirement income covenant from 1 July 2022 is welcomed.”

The Institute also welcomes the announcement earlier this week the Government will consult to ensure the non-arm’s length expenditure and income rules will operate as originally intended and not disproportionately affect superannuation member balances.

“The Institute notes the Budget emphasises significant spending on disaster recovery over proactive investment in resilience, mitigation, and adaptation measures to reduce such future outlays.

“While this is necessary in the current environment in which many Australians have very recently been impacted by natural disasters, greater investment in resilience measures is necessary for long-term sustainable impact,” Ms Grace added.

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