Our Board

Ms Theresa Gattung
Non-Executive Chair

Theresa Gattung joined the AIA Australia Board as an Independent Director on 20 May 2009 and was appointed Chair of the Board on 15 March 2010.

From October 1999 to June 2007, Theresa was CEO and Managing Director of Telecom New Zealand, a telecommunications business operating in New Zealand and Australia and listed on the NZX, ASX and NYSE. During her tenure as CEO she led Telecom through world-changing technology developments and the evolution of the business from a traditional telco to the number one IT provider in New Zealand.

From July 2008 to March 2011, Theresa was Chair of Wool Partners International. In this role, she led the company’s drive to reinvigorate the international market for New Zealand’s strong wools.

Prior to her CEO role at Telecom New Zealand, Theresa held roles there as Group General Manager, accountable for revenues of NZ$3 billion and responsibility for over 3,500 staff, and General Manager, Marketing. Prior to joining Telecom, Ms Gattung held a number of marketing roles in the financial services sector.

Ms Gattung is a leading New Zealand business personality and author of her best-selling autobiography Bird on a Wire. Named in Fortune magazine’s list of the 50 most powerful women in international business several times since 2002, she was also included in Forbes’ list of the world’s 50 most powerful women across any sphere in 2006.

Mr Peter Yates
Independent Director

Peter Yates joined the AIA Australia Board as an Independent Director on 4 May 2010. In addition to his position with AIA Australia, Mr Yates is Chairman of the Peony Capital General Partnership and a director of Oceania Capital Partners Limited and MOKO.mobi.

From 2004 to 2007 Mr Yates was Managing Director of Oceania Capital Partners (formerly Allco Equity Partners Limited), a listed private equity fund specialising in private equity and activist corporate situations. Mr Yates was Chief Executive Officer of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited from 2001 to 2004. Until 2001 he worked in the Investment Banking industry including 15 years with Macquarie Bank. He has also worked for Morgan Stanley in Australia and Booz Allen Hamilton in Tokyo. Mr Yates holds a Doctorate of the University (Murdoch) and a Masters degree from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a Commerce degree from Melbourne. He speaks Japanese, having studied at Keio University in Tokyo.

Mr Yates is also the Chairman of the Royal Institution of Australia, the Australian Science Media Centre and the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne. He is Deputy Chairman of Asialink and Asia Society AustralAsia Centre and a Board Member of the Myer Foundation, the Australian-Japan Foundation, the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation (Victoria), the Melbourne International Art Festival and The Centre for Independent Studies.

Ms Elizabeth Flynn
Independent Director

Elizabeth Flynn was appointed as an independent Director of AIA Australia on 22 February 2011. In addition to her role on the AIA Australia Board, Elizabeth is currently a non-executive Director of Bennelong Funds Management and General Counsel and Company Secretary for Save the Children Australia.

Ms Flynn has strong practical board and governance experience, including being a former director of NULIS Nominees, Aviva Australia’s superannuation trustee company, former chairperson of Aviva Australia’s Due Diligence Committee and a member of its Asset / Liability Committee and Risk Management Committee. Elizabeth held several roles at Aviva Australia during the period 1998 - 2010, including Chief Legal Counsel, Group Company Secretary and Group Compliance Manager. She was appointed to the company’s Executive Team in 2004.

Prior to joining Aviva Australia, Elizabeth spent 18 years at Minter Ellison, one of the largest law firms in Australia, where she practiced as a commercial lawyer with special expertise in the areas of superannuation, securitisation and collective investments.

Elizabeth is a graduate member of AICD and a Fellow of Finsia and of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and Chartered Secretaries Australia.

Mr Paul Costello
Independent Director

Paul Costello joined the AIA Australia Board in November 2011. He is also the chairman of The Blackstone Group (Australia) Pty Ltd, a New York based alternative assets manager.

Paul was the General Manager of the Future Fund, the sovereign wealth fund set up by the Australian Government in 2006 to defray the cost of public sector pensions from 2020. In this role he was responsible for building the organisation from its inception and for leading the management team responsible for providing the Board of Guardians with recommendations on the investment strategy for the Fund and for the implementation of this strategy. Prior to this role he undertook a similar role for the New Zealand Government with the establishment of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. Paul's career in Australasian financial services spans more than 20 years and includes a number of roles, including chief executive of the Superannuation Trust of Australia - which merged with the Australian Retirement Fund to form AustralianSuper, the largest industry fund in the country.

During 2011 Paul assisted the Government with its superannuation reform agenda by acting as chairman of the Peak Consultative Group for the Stronger Super reforms. In early 2012 he was appointed as an Associate Commissioner to the Productivity Commission charged with reviewing arrangements for the nomination of default superannuation funds in industrial awards.

Paul holds postgraduate qualifications in business administration and is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

Mr Peter Crewe
Chief Executive Officer – AIA Australia

Peter Crewe joined the AIA Group in 1994 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer for AIA Australia effective 1st December 2011.

He began his career in the life insurance industry in 1988 at Crown Financial Management Ltd. and Swiss Life (UK) Ltd in 1992, focusing primarily on Pension, Managed Fund, and Employee Benefit programs.

From 1994 to 2002 Peter held various senior positions in the AIA Group. Peter was then assigned to Brunei as the Country Manager of AIA in 2002. He moved back to Hong Kong in late 2003 to take on an expanded regional role and responsibilities for annuities, pensions and mutual funds. Effective 2004 Peter had regional responsibility for Corporate Pension and he concurrently served as Senior Vice President & Managing Director of AIA Pension and Trustee Co. Ltd. which operates in Hong Kong and also served as Chief Executive Officer of American International Assurance Company (Trustee) Limited.

Peter’s breadth of responsibility was subsequently expanded in 2008 overseeing Employee Benefits and the distribution of AIA Group Individual Life and Savings products through brokers and independent financial advisers in Asia Pacific.

In early 2010 he was assigned to AIA Financial in Indonesia as President Director where he remained until his appointment in Australia.

Mr Gordon Watson
Director

Executive Vice President & Regional Managing Director, AIA Group

Gordon Watson is Regional Managing Director with full responsibilities for all aspects of our operations in Hong Kong, Korea, Philippines and Taiwan.  He also has oversight for Group Corporate Solutions.

Gordon’s deep and broad knowledge of the AIA Group and its operations, together with his track record in managing businesses and executing strategic change, make him a valuable member of the Group Executive Committee.

Gordon has been with AIG/AIA for over 25 years in various leadership positions New York, London, Africa, the Middle East, Japan, Korea and Hong Kong.

Prior to rejoining AIA Group in January 2011, he was Global Vice Chairman and Regional CEO of ALICO Japan and Asia.  In addition to overseeing the Japan operation – ALICO’s largest region – Gordon also had responsibility for global marketing, distribution, strategy, corporate solutions across 54 countries.  Prior to this role, he was ALICO’s Global Chief Operating Officer.   Gordon has also played a key role in the completion of the sale of ALICO to MetLife.

Before joining ALICO, Gordon was Deputy President of AIA with responsibilities for Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.  Prior to this role, he was President and CEO of AIG Life Korea.  Under his leadership, AIG Korea delivered strong results with market share surpassing a number of foreign insurers.

Married with two daughters and one son, Gordon holds an MBA from University of Hull in the UK and is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute.  Gordon has a keen interest in art ---specifically oil paints and photography --- and also enjoys football and golf.