Appointment brings actuarial function in-house for Partners Life.
Partners Life has made its first in-house recruitment for appointed actuarial services, bringing in highly experienced appointed actuary (AA) Kate Dron.
Dron’s most recent role was as AA for the Suncorp Group; her new appointment is effective from November 9, when she will also join the Partners Life executive team.
Dron 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 said: “As Partners Life has grown … 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 [to bring] the AA function in-house. This will provide us with full-time and real-time access to our AA… We are delighted to welcome Kate, who will help shape and drive the future for Partners Life.”
Dron said: “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to 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.”
Dron holds a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from the University of Auckland. She is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (UK), a Fellow of the New Zealand Society of Actuaries, a member of the Institute of Directors and, since 2020, a member of the Institute and Faculty of Actuary Covid-19 Taskforce – National Narratives.
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