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Tower is reinventing insurance for the modern world.
www.tower.co.nz
twitter.com/towernz
emily.davies@tower.co.nz
(+64) 21 815 149
Level 5/136 Fanshawe Street,
Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010
Read on
2017 - Present
Tenure at
current position
22
Years in the industry
WINNER:
Tower Insurance
NZ General Insurer
of the Year
Leo Abbruzzo
Managing Director
Australia & New Zealand
Damien Coates
CEO
DUAL APAC
Leo Abbruzzo has been in the insurance industry for 30 years, with various Underwriting and Management roles across Asia Pacific. In March 2004, together with Damien Coates, Leo founded DUAL Australia, starting with six employees. Leo has held many roles at DUAL Australia over the years including Underwriting Manager, Claims and Risk & Compliance Manager, and his latest role as General Manager. Leo is passionate about giving back to the industry which has given him so many opportunities. He believes insurance has much to offer across underwriting, accounting, legal, management, marketing, human resources and information technology and is eager give others the opportunities he’s received.
Managing Director - Australia & New Zealand
Leo Abbruzzo
Damien has worked in the insurance industry for over 30 years including time in London working for FAI. He founded DUAL with Leo Abbruzzo in Australia in 2004. Over the last 17 years he has overseen the growth of the business to $320m (as at Sept 2021) with offices throughout Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
Damien is a long-term supporter of various charities especially those relating to mental health and well-being, completing numerous cycling, running and adventure challenges to raise money and awareness. He now has a more active role with the Black Dog Institute, as a Mental Health Ambassador, whilst also being on the Advisory Board for Mental Wheels Foundation
CEO DUAL APAC
Blair Turnbull
Using innovation matched with over 150 years of experience, Tower gives Kiwis and their communities an insurance experience they can rave about.
Today, Tower now has more than 312,000 customers, accounting for 9.3% of New Zealand’s insurance market. But Tower serves more than just Kiwis, they also operate across eight Pacific Island nations.
Life moves fast. That's why Tower is always thinking ahead.
Products
Paula Harris
General Manager
New Zealand
Paula has a seven year tenure with DUAL in roles ranging from Senior Underwriter to Regional Manager (New Zealand).
Over the last three years as Regional Manager (New Zealand) Paula has led the team to through considerable change whilst developing the SME underwriting strategy, launching the WebRater, working with our Broker Partners creating digital engagement and APACs first acquisition of the IUA business.
The role of General Manager New Zealand is a testament to Paula’s commitment to the success of DUAL through her dedication to our People First philosophy, focusing on the Team empowering them to drive the growth and development of the business.
General Manager New Zealand
Paula Harris
www.facebook.com/TOWERNZ
www.linkedin.com/company/tower
Blair Turnbull
Chief Executive Officer
Michelle James
Managing Director
Tower Direct and Digital
Paul Johnston
Chief Financial Officer
Ron Mudaliar
Chief Underwriting Officer
Steve Wilson
Chief Claims Officer
Jonathan Beale
Managing Director
Partnerships
Digital and Data Officer
James Brownell
Acting Chief Risk Officer
Blair has 20 plus years’ experience in the financial services industry, largely focused on insurance in New Zealand, Asia Pacific, and the United Kingdom.
Most recently, Blair was Managing Director, UK Digital, UK & International with Aviva Group, and prior to that, was Executive General Manager, Wealth and Insurance at ASB Bank.
Blair brings extensive international experience to Tower’s business, with a proven global track record in large-scale digital and data innovation, and delivering disruptive, customer-focused models.
Chief Executive Officer
Blair Turnbull
Greg Moore
Tower offers a range of insurance products that Kiwis and Pacific Island nations can trust – with more in the works!
During the past five years, Tower has been on a journey to remove cumbersome legacy systems to assist with building deeper relationships with their customers. This has involved simplifying products, leveraging data insights, and improving access to its digital offering.
Delivering simple and rewarding experiences
Tower doesn’t believe in standing still, instead, they’re all about solving problems before you even know about them.
Additionally, Tower’s partnerships have extended into digital and data, facilitating Tower to make more informed decisions and ultimately, improve customer outcomes.
Wherever possible, Tower partners with smart organisations to drive innovation and continued improvements in delivery.
Nurturing and developing unique partnerships
This enables Tower to be increasingly nimble in responding to challenges and capitalising on opportunities.
Michelle is responsible for Towers’ direct to consumer business as well as the company’s brand, marketing and digital customer experiences. She has 20 years’ experience in executive and senior leadership roles on both sides of the Tasman, specialising in transformation and the creation of innovative customer and digital experiences.
Having returned to NZ in 2011, she joined Tower from Spark Digital where she was the executive responsible for the organisation’s turnaround programme.
During her 13 years in Australia, Michelle held a number of senior customer and product leadership roles at Telstra Corporation, leading significant cross company transformation and simplification programmes.
Managing Director, Tower Direct and Digital
Michelle James
With 25 years’ experience across multiple industries, particularly in the insurance and financial services sectors, Paul brings extensive international, strategic, and operational finance expertise to Tower.
Before joining Tower, Paul was based in Tokyo as the Chief Financial Officer and Far East Region Director for Chubb, one of the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance companies.
Prior to this, Paul spent almost sixteen years in in the UK with Chubb, AIG, Nomura Investment Bank and Deloitte.
Chief Financial Officer
Paul Johnston
Ron joined Tower as Head of Underwriting in October 2016 with more than 30 years’ experience in the insurance industry in New Zealand, London and India. Ron’s previous roles include executive management of large operational teams (150+), risk and compliance overview of operational and sales teams, NZ Integration Lead for merger of two large Australian general insurers and managing large portfolios of intermediated and partner businesses.
Ron has led business ownership of large transformation programmes predominantly for migration of legacy business to new products and platforms.
Chief Underwriting Officer
Ron Mudaliar
Steve brings more than 20 years’ of insurance experience to Tower, specifically in large operations throughout Australia and Asia. He joins Tower after five years at QBE Insurance, where he served as the Regional Head of Claims for Asia, across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Pacific Islands.
Prior to working at QBE, Steve worked for IAG for over 17 years, in both the Australian and Asian markets.
Chief Claims Officer
Steve Wilson
Jonathan has over 25 years of financial services experience in leading sales teams, with a specialist knowledge on advice and customer experience. He has held leadership roles across a number of high performing businesses in New Zealand and the UK.
In New Zealand, Jonathan has held roles with AMP, Westpac and ASB. At ASB he led the Wealth & Insurance business and was accountable for the advice, service and distribution of multiple product lines including the ASB KiwiSaver Scheme. Jonathan has been instrumental in many transformation projects and regulatory change programmes focused on providing wonderful customer experiences.
Managing Director, Partnerships
Jonathan Beale
Risk-based ratings A new tool revealing Kiwis’ residential flood risks by providing a low, medium, or high rating for every residential address in New Zealand, to accurately reflect potential flood risk and the estimated cost of replacing or repairing flood damage.
GoCarma A mobile app available to everyone (not just Tower customers!) that rewards customers for being a safe driver. GoCarma connects to your car's in-built Bluetooth and tracks your driving habits using a wide range of factors, including smartphone use and speeding.
Quick Quote A new system that automatically pulls information from publicly available sources and pre-populates information that Tower customers have previously provided. The result is Tower asks fewer questions, while still ensuring an easy, fast and accurate quote.
WriteMark™ Plain Language
Standard Approved
Complicated is out. Simple is in. Tower is the first general insurer in New Zealand to tackle complicated insurance language head-on.
Charlie the Chatbot Customers can access Charlie 24/7 to help them navigate My Tower and answer frequently asked questions.
People & culture Tower puts their people first, their ability to continue delivering customer innovations as a leading digital and data business, is only possible with a strong team and a positive workplace culture.
This is just the beginning of solving wicked customer problems and finding new ways to deliver beautifully simple and rewarding experiences for communities in New Zealand and the Pacific.
Life moves fast. That's why Tower is always thinking ahead.
And winning awards along the way
Greg brings 20 plus years’ experience in the digital and data sector to Tower, from a range of industries including insurance, telecommunications, motoring and tourism.
A digital and information technology specialist, Greg is passionate about enabling compelling digital, customer-focussed experiences through technology and data driven decision making
Previously, he was the Chief Digital Officer at 2degrees Mobile, prior to that, he was the Head of Digital Services for the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland. During his earlier career Greg spent several years as CIO with Cellnet Group, an ASX listed distributor of mobile phone accessories and IT equipment.
Digital and Data Officer
Greg Moore
Boat Insurance
Landlord Insurance
Content Insurance
Home Insurance
Car Insurance
Business Insurance
Travel Insurance
Pet Insurance
Rural Insurance
Motorhome Insurance
James has 14 years’ insurance and risk experience and has held a wide range of operational roles across the London insurance market, including leading Willis Towers Watson’s risk consulting practice in the UK.
Prior to joining Tower, James spent three years as a Director at KPMG based in New Zealand, focussing on risk, compliance and conduct in the insurance, banking and wealth sectors.
Acting Chief Risk Officer
James Brownell
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WINNER:
NZ General Insurer
of the Year
Tower Insurance
Blair has 20 plus years’ experience in the financial services industry, largely focused on insurance in New Zealand, Asia Pacific and the United Kingdom.
Most recently, Blair was Managing Director, UK Digital, UK & International with Aviva Group, and prior to that, was Executive General Manager, Wealth and Insurance at ASB Bank.
Blair brings extensive international experience to Tower’s business, with a proven global track record in large-scale digital and data innovation, and delivering disruptive, customer-focused models.
Chief Executive Officer
Blair Turnbull
Michelle is responsible for Towers’ direct to consumer business as well as the company’s brand, marketing and digital customer experiences. She has 20 years’ experience in executive and senior leadership roles on both sides of the Tasman, specialising in transformation and the creation of innovative customer and digital experiences.
Having returned to NZ in 2011, she joined Tower from Spark Digital where she was the executive responsible for the organisation’s turnaround programme.
During her 13 years in Australia, Michelle held a number of senior customer and product leadership roles at Telstra Corporation, leading significant cross company transformation and simplification programmes.
Managing Director, Tower Direct & Digital
Michelle James
With 25 years’ experience across multiple industries, particularly in the insurance and financial services sectors, Paul brings extensive international, strategic, and operational finance expertise to Tower.
Before joining Tower, Paul was based in Tokyo as the Chief Financial Officer and Far East Region Director for Chubb, one of the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance companies.
Prior to this, Paul spent almost sixteen years in in the UK with Chubb, AIG, Nomura Investment Bank and Deloitte.
Chief Financial Officer
Paul Johnston
Ron joined Tower as Head of Underwriting in October 2016 with more than 30 years’ experience in the insurance industry in New Zealand, London and India. Ron’s previous roles include executive management of large operational teams (150+), risk and compliance overview of operational and sales teams, NZ Integration Lead for merger of two large Australian general insurers and managing large portfolios of intermediated and partner businesses.
Ron has led business ownership of large transformation programmes predominantly for migration of legacy business to new products and platforms.
Chief Underwriting Officer
Ron Mudaliar
Steve brings more than 20 years’ of insurance experience to Tower, specifically in large operations throughout Australia and Asia. He joins Tower after five years at QBE Insurance, where he served as the Regional Head of Claims for Asia, across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Pacific Islands.
Prior to working at QBE, Steve worked for IAG for over 17 years, in both the Australian and Asian markets.
Chief Claims Officer
Steve Wilson
Jonathan has over 25 years of financial services experience in leading sales teams, with a specialist knowledge on advice and customer experience. He has held leadership roles across a number of high performing businesses in New Zealand and the UK.
In New Zealand, Jonathan has held roles with AMP, Westpac and ASB. At ASB he led the Wealth & Insurance business and was accountable for the advice, service and distribution of multiple product lines including the ASB KiwiSaver Scheme. Jonathan has been instrumental in many transformation projects and regulatory change programmes focused on providing wonderful customer experiences.
Managing Director, Partnerships
Jonathan Beale
Greg brings 20 plus years’ experience in the digital and data sector to Tower, from a range of industries including insurance, telecommunications, motoring and tourism.
A digital and information technology specialist, Greg is passionate about enabling compelling digital, customer-focussed experiences through technology and data driven decision making
Previously, he was the Chief Digital Officer at 2degrees Mobile, prior to that, he was the Head of Digital Services for the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland. During his earlier career Greg spent several years as CIO with Cellnet Group, an ASX listed distributor of mobile phone accessories and IT equipment.
Chief Digital and Data Officer
Greg Moore
James has 14 years’ insurance and risk experience and has held a wide range of operational roles across the London insurance market, including leading Willis Towers Watson’s risk consulting practice in the UK.
Prior to joining Tower, James spent three years as a Director at KPMG based in New Zealand, focussing on risk, compliance and conduct in the insurance, banking and wealth sectors.
Acting Chief Risk Officer
James Brownell