Zurich appoints Iain Howie as CFO

Zurich Financial Services Australia has appointed Iain Howie as its chief financial officer (CFO).

Howie has 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, having previously worked as CFO of Zurich Asia Pacific Middle East, as chief operating officer of Zurich Japan, and between 2004 and 2005 as strategy planning director for Zurich’s then Asia Pacific division.

Before joining Zurich, he held senior roles with Prudential in Asia, the UK and the US.

“Iain has a diverse and challenging background in business management, especially with his extensive international experience. Through his various roles, he has proven experience in business strategy formulation, operations management, business transformation and financial management,” said Zurich chief executive David Smith.

Zurich also announced that Greg Della has been appointed to the newly created role of head of corporate development, reporting directly to the chief executive. Della has been with Zurich for more than 25 years. Following an international role in Hong Kong as the director of life businesses, Asia, Della returned to Australia as the head of strategic finance and chief life actuary and, more recently, as the acting CFO.

In this new role, Della will be working with the chief executive and his colleagues on the leadership team in developing the ongoing growth strategy for the Australian and New Zealand businesses.