Partners Life has made its first in-house recruitment for appointed actuarial services, bringing in Appointed Actuary (AA) Kate Dron (pictured). She will join the firm’s executive team on 9 November.
Dron’s most recent role was as AA for the Suncorp Group and she previously served as Consulting Actuary in a financial and actuarial services business. She was General Manager at Sovereign Assurance, Head of Risk in Wealth and Private Banking at ANZ; and held key roles at both Tower and Asteron.
For the past 10 years Partners Life has used the services of an external consulting firm to provide AA services to the company’s chief actuary Anton Gardiner, the management team, board, and regulators.
Partners Life managing director Naomi Ballantyne says: “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 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.