Mr Cassidy was the founder of AMP’s private capital business in 1993 where he managed investment funds across resources, infrastructure and manufacturing. In this role, he was involved in major public investments such as Optus as well as privatisations such Melbourne Airport and Victorian electricity generation and distribution.

In 2001 Mr Cassidy founded private equity firm The Sentient Group which manages capital for institutional investors such as endowments, family offices, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies in the USA, Europe and Middle East. In 2017, he retired from The Sentient Group in 2017 to establish Moss Ridge family office.

Mr Cassidy holds a degree in Geology and a first class honours degree in Chemistry from the University of Tasmania and a PhD in Coal Science from Monash University.

iExtend CEO David Sarkis commented, “We are delighted to have Peter join iExtend as Chairman and are fortunate to have someone of his experience and calibre to help guide us in the next stage of our growth. Peter joins us at a busy and pivotal moment where we have the opportunity to scale our business with the adviser support we have built and further develop our enterprise solutions to elevate our industry-leading offering for licensees.”

In November, iExtend announced it would be granted a new retail Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). An AFSL provides clarity as to how iExtend can participate in the industry as well as providing further opportunities to educate and inform advisers about the offer.

It is expected 2024 will be a game changer year for iExtend as continues to build momentum and cement itself into the financial services industry.

“iExtend would like to thank former iExtend Chairman Rodney Payne for his tireless efforts and commitment to the business over the past three years,” said Mr Cassidy. “He helped the business mature from start-up phase and we wish him great success as he pursues new opportunities during the next stage of our growth.”

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Existing board members already include Geoff Lloyd, Peter Bobbin and Rodney Payne, and the addition of Goss brings further industry expertise to the role, as well as continued independence, strong guidance and more than a decade of recent experience with a number of the major insurers.

A former insurance executive, most recently Goss worked with MLC Life Insurance, where he was National Manager Debt Protection and Partnerships and a Regional manager, Bancassurance, Direct and Digital. Prior to this, he was Head of Adviser Distribution, Retail Advice at CommInsure where he was responsible for the businesses distribution strategy and managing the sales and support teams.

Goss was also Head of Insurance Retail Sales at ANZ Wealth and National Sales Manager, Life. Risk at Zurich Financial Services Australia.

According to iExtend CEO David Sarkis, the ability of iExtend to attract Board members of Goss’s calibre, demonstrates the integrity and value of iExtend’s proposition and its desire to bring the best people and opportunities to the table.

“We are delighted Kevin joins our Advisory Board adding further bench strength to our existing Advisory Board members who offer incredible industry insight and bring years of industry experience to the iExtend proposition and to understanding how it fits into a regulated market.”

iExtend launched last year and has been met with wide adviser support, offering them and their clients another option to the cancellation of life insurance policies.

“iExtend has a valuable role to play in ensuring the sustainability of life insurance, particularly in challenging market conditions such as now where the cost of living and rising premiums are making it harder for clients to view insurance as an asset,” said Sarkis.

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Geoff Lloyd

Market entrant iExtend has made a number of senior appointments to its leadership and distribution teams, adding further experience and resources to support financial advisers seeking a more flexible and cost-effective way to maintain their client’s valuable life insurance.

Joining the iExtend team is former CEO of Perpetual and MLC, Geoff Lloyd who has been appointed to Chair of the Advisory Board, while industry stalwart and former Bankers Trust Australia Director and global partner of Bankers Trust NY, Rodney Payne is Chairman and Co-Founder – together bringing close to 70-years’ experience to the offer.

According to Geoff, iExtend is providing those Australians who need it most, a no-cost lifeline in terms of maintaining a portion of their life insurance cover.

“iExtend represents an opportunity for the insurance industry to demonstrate its innovation and commitment to being there for Australians by providing life insurance policyholders who are committed to cancelling their policies with another option.”

Rodney Payne also brings considerable industry experience, bringing together and running profitable customer-centric businesses from Bankers Trust Australia to having founded Zurich Capital Markets in early 2000.

“iExtend truly addresses a gap in the market, one which if addressed, can provide a lot more certainty and sustainability to insurance by helping Australians maintain valuable insurance life cover even when their circumstances change,” said Payne.

iExtend partners with life insurance owners to take co-ownership of the life policy, paying ongoing premiums on the cover which could have otherwise been cancelled. Co-owning a life policy with iExtend means policyholders can eliminate future premium payments from the percentage of the policy that was to be cancelled, providing a greater portion of any eventual claim for the policyholder’s family as well as greater financial certainty for them at time when they may need it most.

Joining the iExtend distribution team, Peter Clifford has been appointed QLD Distribution Manager. Peter has spent more than 30-years in the financial services industry and held several insurance specialist roles with insurance providers, adviser licensees and in corporate superannuation. Peter will work alongside Mark Stubbings, further strengthening iExtend’s national presence.

iExtend’s Head of Distribution Protip DasGupta commented, “The recent hires, not only expands our national presence but brings together a deep team presence with experience across wealth insurance and superannuation.”

Commenting on the appointments across the business, iExtend CEO David Sarkis said he was delighted by the calibre of talent who have joined the iExtend family.

“We have an exciting, fresh and innovative offer and it is great to see that not only advisers are responding enthusiastically, but also experienced industry professionals who know iExtend is filling a gap in the life insurance market. We are fortunate to have leading industry professionals at iExtend working to ensure advisers understand our offering and are provided the opportunity to retain and support clients in their best interest, despite having elected to cancel their life insurance.”

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David Sarkis

Market entrant iExtend will address a gap in the life insurance market by providing life insurance policyholders who are committed to cancelling their policies with another option, saving desperate Australian’s billions of dollars of cover forgone every year.

iExtend has launched an innovative new life insurance offer which partners with life insurance owners to share co-ownership of the life policy, paying ongoing premiums on the cover which would have otherwise been cancelled.

By co-owning a life policy with iExtend, policyholders eliminate future premium payments from the percentage of the policy that was to be cancelled, providing a greater portion of any eventual claim for the policyholders family as well as greater financial certainty for them at time when they may need it most.

Benefits of co-owning with iExtend include:

• the opportunity for policyholders to maintain cover where health conditions may be impacting their life expectancy
• greater certainty over the inter-generational transfer of wealth
• increasing consumer confidence in the life insurance industry that it will be there when Australians need it most.

Currently many Australians facing retirement on reduced disposable incomes are driven to cancel their policies due to increasing insurance premiums which can typically rise 10-15% per annum. According to KPMG, the average premium increase per policy for risk products in the 12 months to 31 December 2021 was 12% per annum and 24% over the past two years.^[1]

iExtend estimates it will return approximately $25-$50 million in life insurance claim benefits over the next ten years to ordinary Australians who would otherwise have been forfeited as a result of a reluctant cancellation.

According to iExtend CEO David Sarkis, central to the iExtend business model is the desire to lead through innovation, integrity and social prioritisation to address a forgotten segment in the life insurance market.

“iExtend wants to fill a gap in the insurance market and to partner with financial advisers and insurance providers to ensure policyholders can continue the valued relationship they have with them by accessing a flexible, innovative and alternative insurance option.”

iExtend is currently working with adviser networks across the advice industry, including self-licensed advisers which represent the largest adviser segment (24%) of the 17,351 licensed advisers in the market.^[2] Advisers are responding to this unique opportunity to maintain the valued relationship they have with their clients and to deliver on their ‘best interest’ obligations.

At the heart of the iExtend offering and its market approach is its leadership team which includes industry stalwart and a former Executive Director of Bankers Trust Australia, Rodney Payne, a cofounder, who has been appointed Chairman and former CEO of MLC and Perpetual, Geoff Lloyd who is Chair of Advisory Board.

“We are excited to be bringing this flexible and innovative life insurance option to the Australian market and to provide a social wellbeing and quality of life benefit to those we partner with whilst also helping the insurance industry provide sustainable products and continue to service this market segment,” said Sarkis.

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[1] KPMG Life Insurance Insights 2021
[2] Adviser Musical Chairs Report Q4 2021

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