Recipients of the 2019 round receive professional development packages, which include a 2019 AFA Conference registration, attendance at AFA events including Masterclasses and ongoing events, along with networking and support from MetLife Australia.

Amongst the winners is Cassandra Scoble, who applied for the grant because she recognised the opportunity to expand her skills in financial advice, along with other accomplished women in the finance industry. Commenting on the opportunity, Ms Scoble said: “I’m thrilled to receive this professional development grant from MetLife and AFA – I know it will be a great way for me to further my career and do the best I can for my clients. The client landscape for financial advice is changing and we need to keep pace with that. This is a great way to make sure women, who are still outnumbered by men in the industry, have the development opportunities they need to succeed. I’m really grateful for that.”

MetLife Progress was created to advocate for greater diversity in the industry by helping women in financial advice achieve their career goals.

AFA CEO, Philip Kewin said of the winners, “The AFA is proud to support the professional development of emerging female advisers and paraplanners with this grant. We are very impressed by the high standard of the grant applications we received and we are confident that both the profession as a whole and the recipients themselves will reap the rewards of this initiative.”

MetLife’s Head of Retail Sales, Matt Lippiatt said, “I want to congratulate the inaugural MetLife Progress recipients. They are a high calibre group of women who are each blazing trails in their own way within the profession. We are delighted to be able to partner with the AFA to bring this initiative to life. Not only will these advisers benefit from this opportunity, but so too will their clients.”

The other MetLife Progress grant recipients are Rhianne Rees, Rochelle Leese, Emma Fowler, Ewelina Barilka, Samantha Henry, Amanda Montesin, Indee Herath, Rebecca Maher, Errin McDowall, Angela Reade, Cara Williams, Melissa Robin and Katherine Hope.

The judging panel was made up of  Rachel Towell (MetLife), Jeff Thurecht (Evalesco Financial Services), and Natalie Kleibert (AFA).

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Rachel Towell has been appointed as State Manager New South Wales and ACT. Towell previously spent eight years with AIA Australia, most recently as State Manager New South Wales and ACT.

Stuart White has been appointed as State Manager Queensland. White was most recently a Senior Client Development Manager at AIA Australia. Before this, he was a Business Partnership Manager with AMP Financial Planning and a Business Development Manager with ING.

Simon Dent has been appointed as National Retail Underwriting Manager for New South Wales and Queensland, responsible for managing relationships between MetLife’s underwriting team and licensee and adviser partners. Dent spent 10 years with MLC, most recently as Head of Underwriting & New Business, and worked previously as Regional Underwriting Manager at Zurich.

Adrian Young has been appointed as National Retail Underwriting Manager for Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia. Young was most recently Victorian State Underwriting Manager at BT Financial Group and was previously a Life & Disability Underwriter with Fidelity Life in New Zealand.

Fiona Quinn has been appointed as Senior Retail Underwriter. Quinn was most recently Manager Underwriting Services and Operations Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia and before that was a Principal Underwriter at AMP.

Hadley Fredericks has been appointed as Senior Retail Underwriter. Fredericks was previously a Senior Underwriter at Zurich Life and Macquarie Life and a Field Underwriter with AMP/AXA and has extensive experience in insurance industry operations and new business.

MetLife Australia Head of Retail Sales Matt Lippiatt said he was excited to grow the retail team with a group of experienced and highly capable professionals.

“At MetLife, Sales and Underwriting work closely together with a one team mindset to support licensees and advisers. These appointments significantly strengthen our capabilities, and I’m delighted to welcome our newcomers,” Lippiatt said.

“Richard’s new role signals our commitment to delivering a consistent end-to-end adviser experience from new business through to policy administration.

“Rachel and Stuart’s experience and insights will enable us to build trusted, mutually productive relationships with licensees and advisers.

“We also know how much advisers value direct access to experienced underwriters who deliver consistent and pragmatic outcomes. Simon, Adrian, Fiona, and Hadley all have proven reputations at blending commercial risk assessment with solid understanding of advisers’ business needs.

“Most importantly, our new team members all share our passion at MetLife Australia to lead the market by providing the fastest, easiest, and most caring life insurance experience for advisers and their clients,” Lippiatt said.

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