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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The appointment follows the promotion of TAL’s current Group CEO and Managing Director Brett Clark to the role of CEO and Managing Director of Asia-Pacific for Dai-ichi Life Group, TAL’s parent company, from 1 July 2024.

Leveraging her broad expertise across innovation, customer, partnerships, brand and technology, Fiona will be responsible for leading TAL through its ongoing strategy in the life insurance and retirement markets with a focus on digitally enabled market-leading customer and partner experience.

TAL Board Chair Mark Joiner said “Fiona Macgregor is an impressive leader with more than ten years in senior leadership roles at TAL. She has a strong track record of leadership in the business and has helped to grow and shape TAL.

“Fiona knows our business well and has a deep appreciation for the needs and expectations of our customers and partners in the evolving life insurance and retirement income markets. The Board has been carefully preparing for CEO succession and we are confident Fiona is the right person to lead TAL into the future.

“I would like to sincerely thank Brett for his leadership of TAL over the last nine years. He has built a strong executive team and provided the vision and leadership enabling TAL to grow and go from strength to strength to become one of Australia’s leading life insurers during a significant period of change for the life insurance industry.”

Incoming TAL Group CEO and Managing Director Fiona Macgregor said she is looking forward to leading TAL Australia through its next stage of development.

“Together with our partners, we want to continue to ensure Australians are wellprotected and supported in living the life they have planned for themselves and their families. We’ll keep working hard to ensure we deliver products that are relevant and valued, and a faster, better service experience.

“I’m immensely proud of the contribution we make and the help we provide to Australians when they need us most. I feel privileged to have this opportunity to lead the TAL team.”

Outgoing TAL Group CEO and Managing Director Brett Clark said “It’s been a privilege to lead TAL through a significant period of growth and industry change.

“TAL is a company with a long and proud history in Australia, and I’ve seen every day the difference that we make to the lives of our customers and their families.

“I’m excited by my new opportunity with Dai-ichi Life Group, and to be able to continue to support Fiona and TAL as part of my CEO role in Asia-Pacific.”

Brett and Fiona will work closely together over the coming months to ensure a smooth leadership transition.

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Ms Edwards’ leadership in the life insurance and superannuation sectors spans a 35-year career in Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. As Chair of Spirit Super until November 2022 Ms Edwards led significant transformation and merger activity during a period of substantial regulatory and industry change, overseeing the fund’s transformation from $1.5 billion funds under management 12 years ago to $25 billion today.

Ms Edwards has worked extensively in the ethical investments sector and was a Director of Australian Ethical Super and Chair of Australian Ethical Investment. An actuary by training, Ms Edwards was a partner of Deloitte, advising banks and life insurers on M&A, and she is the 2023 President of the Australian Actuaries’ Institute.

TAL Chair Mark Joiner said: “Naomi is a highly respected leader of the superannuation and life insurance sectors focused on delivering results for all stakeholders. On behalf of the board, I extend a warm welcome to Naomi and look forward to working with her as TAL executes the next phase of its corporate strategy.”

Ms Edwards said: “I have followed TAL’s journey and admired its culture and corporate values and am delighted to be joining the Board. I look forward to working with the Board and the executive team led by CEO Brett Clark.”

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Mr Joiner has more than 30 years of corporate and financial services experience and is the Chair of QBE Insurance Group’s Australian and New Zealand subsidiaries. He is also independent Chair of digital property exchange platform PEXA and an independent non-executive director of Latitude Financial Services. He has held senior executive roles in Australia, the UK and the US at National Australia Bank, Citigroup and the Boston Consulting Group.

Mr Joiner said: “I am delighted to be given the opportunity to contribute to the next phase of development for TAL. I have been impressed by the transformation that has taken place over the last decade to establish TAL as the leading life insurer in Australia and look forward to working with the team to maintain that momentum for the benefit of all our stakeholders.”

Mr Boyle oversaw the most significant period of growth at TAL in its 150-year history, including the acquisitions of the Australian life insurance businesses of both Suncorp and Westpac, as well as guiding the company through a period of substantial regulatory and industry change.

Mr Boyle said: “Under CEO & Managing Director Brett Clark’s leadership TAL has achieved much in the past few years and the company is in a strong financial and operational position. There is still more to do and TAL is well placed to continue to prosper in the future. I am delighted at Mr Joiner’s appointment and the extensive financial services leadership experience he brings to the role and I wish him and the team all the best for the next phase of TAL’s development.”

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Jacki Johnson

The leaders and senior executives of Australia’s major banks, superannuation funds, insurance companies, financial sector peak bodies, civil society and academia are coming together to set out a roadmap for realigning the finance sector to support greater social, environmental and economic outcomes for the country.

The Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative has today been unveiled – an unprecedented collaboration to help shape an Australian economy that prioritises human wellbeing, social equity and environmental protection, while underpinning financial system stability, in what it says is a ‘critical decade’ ahead.

Modelled on international best practice already seen in groups including the European Union’s High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance and the UK’s Green Finance Taskforce, the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative will be guided by a Steering Committee charged with developing a set of recommendations to enable the finance sector to contribute more systematically to the transition to a more resilient and sustainable economy.

IAG Group Executive Jacki Johnson, co-Chair of the Initiative, said: “The roadmap we create will include pathways, policy signals and frameworks that will better enable the financial services sector to contribute to delivering on international commitments, such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, while underpinning economic stability and prosperity for Australia.”

An Australian Sustainable Finance Roadmap will be delivered by the Steering Committee in 2020 with recommendations that will assist the financial services sector to:

1. Mobilise capital to deliver on national and global sustainable development and climate goals;
2. Enhance the sustainability, resilience and stability of the financial system by embedding sustainability, climate and human rights considerations into financial markets and products;
3. Ensure better informed financial decision making by enhancing disclosures and transparency on environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities; and
4. Deliver a financial system that meets community expectations around sustainability.

An Expression of Interest process in late 2018 called on experts active in sustainable finance to nominate to be part of the Steering Committee.

The following members and observers were appointed

Members

• Anna Skarbek, CEO – ClimateWorks
• Christina Tonkin, Managing Director Loans and Specialised Finance – Institutional – ANZ
• Damien Walsh, Managing Director – Bank Australia
• David Atkin, CEO – Cbus
• Didier Van Not, General Manager Corporate and Institutional Banking – Westpac Banking Corporation
• Emma Herd, CEO – Investor Group on Climate Change
• Eric Williamson, Executive General Manager, Corporate Finance – National Australia Bank
• Jacki Johnson (Co-Chair), Group Executive People, Performance and Reputation – IAG
• John Hewson, Chairman – Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia
• Mark Joiner, Chairperson – QBE Australia Pacific
• Mark Senkevics, Managing Director Head Australia and New Zealand – Swiss Re
• Matthew McAdam, Director Asia Pacific – Principles for Responsible Investment
• Michael Thorpe, Managing Director Institutional Banking and Markets – Commonwealth Bank of Australia
• Phil Vernon, Managing Director – Australian Ethical Investment
• Richard Brandweiner, CEO – Pendal Group
• Robynne Quiggin, Professor – University of Technology Sydney, Business School
• Sarah Barker, Special Counsel – Minter Ellison
• Simon O’Connor (Co-Chair), CEO – Responsible Investment Association Australasia

Observers

• Geoff Summerhayes, Executive Board Member of APRA, Executive Committee Member of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors and Chair of the Sustainable Insurance Forum.
• Eric Usher, Head of the UN Environment Program Finance Initiative, Economy Division, UN Environment

Simon O’Connor, Initiative Co-Chair and CEO of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA), says “Issues such as climate change and human rights have become material to business and the financial services community. Climate change was recently described by the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia as a ‘systemic risk’ to the stability of our economy, and APRA emphasised last week that climate risks are ‘material, foreseeable and actionable now’ ”.

“The financial services sector is both exposed to those risks, as well as having an essential role in funding and underwriting a future Australia, providing the capital necessary to deliver on sustainable development and climate-related commitments. Through a greater alignment between the financial services sector and these sustainability goals, the sector can both deliver for Australians while building a better, more stable and sustainable financial system.”

“This unique and high-level collaboration will set out a roadmap for achieving this goal and shows the willingness of the financial services sector to step up and play an active role in building a more sustainable and resilient economy for all Australians,” said Mr O’Connor.

Jacki Johnson says “a sustainable and resilient economy is a necessity, not an option, and is the foundation for ensuring Australia’s prosperity throughout the 21st century.”

“As we approach 2020, we are rapidly entering a critical decade for managing climate change and other risks,” said Ms Johnson.

“Australia has made a number of commitments to international targets. Achieving these goals extends beyond social or environmental objectives – it’s an economic and financial necessity. Our economy simply cannot prosper in an environment of ever-increasing severe weather events and the subsequent broader impacts these will have.”

“Delivering on these goals requires not just government policy and commitment, but business and finance leadership. Achieving these goals presents a sizeable economic and social opportunity.”

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