Bruno Santos has been appointed to the role of Senior Client Development Manager (CDM) in Queensland, following the recent promotion of Matthew Wakefield to National Key Account Manager

Bruno joined AIA Australia in 2012 as a CDM in New South Wales and has almost a decade of experience in the in the financial services industry having worked as financial planner and a Business Development Manager (BDM).

Additionally Josh Lawrence and Simon Bennett have been appointed as CDMs in NSW. Josh has seven years’ experience within the financial services industry both in Australia and London, including five years in business development and operational roles for TAL. Simon joins from BT where he worked as a business development officer in the IFA Distribution team.

In Western Australia, Reon Botha has been appointed as Senior CDM, Johnny Ng as Client Development Manager, and Deborah Clayton-Ford will become the State Underwriting and Operations Manager, covering both Western Australia and South Australia.

Mr Botha was previously an adviser and is experienced across the financial services industry. He has previously held BDM positions at Zurich and AXA where he was nominated for the Money Management BDM of the Year award and then went on to be awarded AXA’s BDM of the Year award for Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.

Mr Ng has held BDM roles in Life risk and general insurance and previously worked for Zurich Financial Services, General Insurance and Zurich Life Risk.

Ms Clayton-Ford has over 20 years’ experience in underwriting and has held various senior underwriting and management positions in the UK and Australia, and joins AIA Australia from BT Financial Group in Perth.

AIA Australia Chief Retail Insurance Officer Pina Sciarrone said the appointments are a reflection of the changing dynamics of the insurance industry.

“We recognise that advisers play a crucial role in providing access to quality, affordable and independent insurance advice for all Australians, and are vital to our success as a business.

“We also recognise that when it comes to a long-term approach to the reforms, we believe a partnership approach between insurers and advisers is paramount.

“The new appointments reflect our commitment to assist advisers to grow their revenue streams and retain clients in this environment,” she said.

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Kristen Lennis-Harvey has joined the business as its Head of Strategic Partnerships, and is responsible for managing AIA Australia’s relationships with licensees, aggregators and platforms – an increasingly important channel for life insurance. Kristen has over 19 years’ experience in financial services and joins the team from her most recent role at Zurich, where she was National Strategic Account Manager.

In addition, Melissa Crawford has been appointed to the newly created role of Distribution Strategy Manager and will work with the strategic partnership and distribution teams to create leading strategies and tools for licensees and advisers. Well-known to the industry, Melissa has over 20 years’ experience in life insurance at some of Australia’s largest organisations.

These external hires are supported by two internal promotions for Matthew Wakefield and Jeremy Bernardi, who also join the Strategic Partnerships team. Matthew will take on the role of Key Account Manager, overseeing a number of AIA Australia’s strategic licensee partners, while Jeremy Bernardi becomes Key Account Manager for Platforms and Licensees, increasing the focus on the use of platforms in life insurance.

AIA Australia Chief Retail Insurance Officer Pina Sciarrone said the changes to the team come at an ideal time for the business as it continues its growth trajectory in the Australian life insurance market

“At AIA Australia we understand that with the latest reforms to life insurance, advisers and licensees are facing a difficult change that affects the viability of their business, so by boosting our team with more experience we can better support our partners in future,” she said.

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