Partners brings in actuarial expert

Partners Life has made its first in-house recruitment for Appointed Actuarial services.

Tuesday, October 12th 2021, 8:35AM

It has brought in highly experienced Appointed Actuary (AA) Kate Dron.

Appointed Actuaries have a critical legislated role in the insurance industry to measure and report on material risks that can threaten the financial condition and solvency of an insurer, the Reserve Bank said when it conducted a thematic review of the Appointed Actuary role last year.

"Importantly, the role also entails providing impartial advice to an insurer’s board of directors and senior management to assist with sound decision making. This support can greatly strengthen an insurer’s risk and capital management and lead to the increased security of policyholders," it said.

in its report it recommends "the Appointed Actuary considers policyholder interests and communicates these when relevant in providing advice.”

Dron’s most recent role was as AA for the Suncorp Group.

She joined Suncorp NZ in 2016 and previously served as Consulting Actuary in a financial and actuarial services business; as a General Manager at Sovereign Assurance; as Head of Risk in wealth and private banking at ANZ; and in key roles at Tower and Asteron, among other firms.

For the past 10 years, Partners Life has utilised the services of an external consulting firm to provide AA services to the company’s Chief Actuary Anton Gardiner, the management team, the board and regulators.

Partners Life managing director Naomi Ballantyne says, “As Partners Life has grown in scale and become increasingly important to the New Zealand industry, our needs across all disciplines of the business have become deeper and significantly more complex – and none more so than in Actuarial, which is the core discipline for all insurers.

“The board determined that the company will be best served into the future by bringing the AA function in-house. This will provide us with full-time and real-time access to our AA, which will significantly enhance the service provided to all stakeholders."

Dron says the opportunity lets her "focus again on my real passion, life and health insurance."

"I am also looking forward to once more working alongside Anton, dating back to an earlier time in our respective banking and insurance careers.”

Tags: actuary