Summerhayes steps down at Suncorp
Suncorp Life chief executive, Geoff Summerhayes, will step down at the end of September and will be replaced by Vero New Zealand chief executive, Gary Dransfield, on an interim basis.
Suncorp announced the changes to the Australian Securities Exchange today saying that Paul Smeaton, the current executive general manager of Statutory Claims, Commercial Insurance, would be appointed chief executive of Vero, New Zealand.
The announcement said Summerhayes would stay with the business in an advisory position until 1 January, next year, during which time he will represent the company in relation to the Trowbridge Report and on the board of the Financial Services Council.
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Policy and advocacy specialist Benjamin Marshan has left the Council of Australian Life Insurers after less than a year, having joined in March from the Financial Planning Association of Australia.
The declining volume of risk advisers meant KPMG has found a rising lapse rate for insurance policies arranged by independent financial advisers, particularly in the TPD and death cover space.
The Life Insurance Code of Practice has transferred from the Financial Services Council to the Council of Australian Life Insurers.
The firm has announced it will no longer be writing new life insurance policies in the retail advised and corporate group insurance channels, citing a declining market and risk adviser numbers.
