AIA has appointed Peter Yates as chair of AIA Australia and Theresa Gattung will continue leading AIA New Zealand as chair.
Yates had served on the AIA Australia board for more than 10 years, and as deputy chair since 2016.
The move would allow Gattung to focus on the New Zealand business and other interests, following 12 years with AIA Australia after joining as independent director in 2009 and chair in 2010.
Yates said it was a privilege to now lead AIA Australia as chair, having served as deputy chair, as well as chair of CommInsure Life.
“There are significant opportunities ahead, including AIA’s ongoing role as a champion of shared value, as well as the next phase of our journey to help Australians live healthier, longer, better lives,” Yates said.
Damien Mu, AIA Australia chief executive, said the insurer was pleased to have its deputy chair take the role.
“Peter has a wealth of experience and knowledge that we have benefited from and we look forward to the next phase of the journey,” Mu said.
“I also want to recognise and thank Ms Theresa Gattung for the outstanding role she played in helping steer AIA Australia over the past 12 years, which included a number of significant milestones for the business, including the launch of AIA Vitality.
“Ms Gattung’s business experience, leadership and commitment to AIA’s philosophy of doing the right thing in the right way has been a true asset, and no doubt will continue to make an ongoing and positive difference to the AIA New Zealand business.”
Yates was also chair of the Royal Institution of Australia, the Australian Science Media Centre, the Faculty of Business and Economics at Melbourne University, the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Shared Value Project and the NHMRC Centre for Personalised Immunology at ANU and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication.
In the June 2011 Queen’s Birthday Honours, he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for service to education, to the financial services industry and to a range of arts, science and charitable organisations and in 2017 was made a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE).
