New GM Appointed at Evergreen Life

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Former Managing Director of IDS, Barry Read, has been confirmed as the new General Manager of life insurance advice business, Evergreen Life.

Evergreen Life Managing Director, Michael Broadbent, says with the growth of their adviser team, they are developing easy to use insurance advice systems to deliver greater customer experience and insurance solutions.

Evergreen Life Managing Director, Michael Broadbent
New Evergreen Life General Manager, Barry Read

“As well as this we want to get an early start on being ready for the proposed licencing regime,” said Broadbent.

“To get licence ready we want to ensure our business meets industry best practice, and we felt Barry was the right person to lead the organisation through this growth phase,” he explained.

Read has already worked with Evergreen Life in a compliance support capacity for the past seven years during his time at IDS.

“…we want to get an early start on being ready for the proposed licensing regime.”

“I am looking forward to work with Mike and the team to develop a great advisory business for New Zealanders,” said Read, who has 31 years’ experience in the insurance industry.

Broadbent said, “We think the advised insurance sales business is due for a step change, clients’ needs are changing and how they utilise advice and insurance solutions will change as tech becomes more of a factor in the customer experience.”

He added the ability to sell the need for insurance to families and SMEs remains the business’ core focus.

“At Evergreen we think that consultative ethical selling of insurance is a great service for New Zealanders, and while the industry is under scrutiny from consumer groups, media and the regulators, this creates the opportunity for firms, like ours, to evolve and succeed by delivering great insurance outcomes for clients,” he said.