Our Executive Team

Peter Crewe
Chief Executive Officer

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.

Graeme Turner
Chief Strategy, Projects & Technology Officer

Graeme is responsible for the development of the Company’s business strategy and corporate planning across the organisation and response to policy and regulation. In line with this strategy, Graeme also has focused accountability for end to end delivery for AIA Australia through Strategic Projects and Technology.

Since joining AIA in 2009, Graeme has undertaken a range of project and strategy roles. In December 2011 he returned from 18 months working in AIA Financial in Indonesia where he led Strategy and Planning.

Prior to joining AIA, Graeme had over 25 years life insurance experience with AXA (National Mutual) in Australia. Since starting his career in operations, Graeme has been fortunate to have a variety of roles across the business and technology with a strong focus on project delivery, portfolio management and organisational wide programmes.

Julie Watkins
Chief Human Resources Officer

Julie brings to AIA over 20 years of HR experience in matrix multinational and Australian companies, with focus in the Asia Pacific region. She has worked in professional services, retail and healthcare sectors, in both line and HR roles. After commencing her career as a HR Associate at Coles Myer, Julie moved to Japan and worked for KPMG Peat Marwick in both Tax and then HR.

Following her return to Melbourne, Julie spent 15 years at GlaxoSmithKline in a range of roles including Human Resource Manager - Australia, Talent, Learning & Organisational Development Director - Asia Pacific and her final role was the Vice President, Human Resources - Asia Pacific. Julie’s professional qualifications include a Bachelor of Business and a Graduate Diploma in Business (major in HR), both obtained at Monash University. Two children and a husband ensure that she is ‘kept on her toes’ at all times!

Tim Chambers
Chief Actuary

Tim Chambers joined the AIA Australia team in November 2007 as Chief Actuary. Tim has had over 20 years experience as a qualified actuary in Australia and has held a number of senior actuarial positions in the life industry including Chief Actuary at AVIVA and, more recently, Chief Actuary at AMP. He has also had international experience in North America with four years as CFO for Manulife’s US Group Pensions Division based in Toronto, Canada and has also had consulting experience covering a wide range of clients and projects with Tillinghast Consulting Actuaries in both Sydney and Melbourne as well as experience running his own consulting practice. Tim holds a Bsc in Mathematics and Actuarial Studies from Southampton University in the UK and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia.

Damien Mu
General Manager, Life Insurance

Damien Mu has overall responsibility for Group Insurance, Direct Distribution and Individual Life channels, including product management and pricing within those channels. He is also responsible for the companies marketing functions. Prior to joining AIA Australia in May 2007, Damien was the Operations Manager at Superpartners. He has also worked in the Master Trust environment and as National Manager of Insurance and Claims Services for Superpartners where he was responsible for a portfolio of 2.5 million insured members across client funds.

Natalie Cameron
Chief Operating Officer

Natalie Cameron joined AIA Australia in January 2005 and was appointed to the position of General Counsel and Company Secretary in October 2007, and subsequently to the AIA Australia Executive Committee. In 2010, was also engaged in the local management of the Compliance function. In January 2012, Natalie accepted the role of Chief Operating Officer.

Natalie has a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in English, with minors in management and politics) and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from Monash University in Victoria.

Natalie was admitted as a solicitor in 2001, having trained at law firm Clayton Utz and ultimately settling into the insurance practice at the firm. In 2004, Natalie spent a year working within the Regulatory Policy division of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) during transition to the Financial Services Reform (FSR) regime. Natalie’s particular areas of legal specialty include regulation of the insurance industry, contract negotiation and litigation management. Natalie has participated in a number of major projects during her time with the company, and managed the provision of Company Secretarial services to the Board of Directors.

During her time at AIA Australia, Natalie’s focus has been on transforming the support functions under her care to provide best practice service and a positive customer experience. Natalie brings to the Chief Operating Officer role a continuing focus on quality and excellence in customer service.

Harry Efthimiou
Chief Financial Officer

Harry Efthimiou joined AIA Australia as CFO in May 2010. Prior to joining AIA Harry spent eight years with Aviva in a range of roles including Group Finance Manager, General Manager Financial Management & Risk, General Manager Risk Management, Head of Mergers & Acquisitions for Aviva PLC in the UK and Head of Aviva Finance Integration following the take over of Aviva by MLC/NAB Wealth.

Harry commenced his career working with KPMG in Scotland and after moving to Australia with KPMG joined Ansett as Group Finance Manager. Harry holds a Bachelor of Accountancy Honours Degree from Glasgow University in Scotland and is a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Michael Tropea
General Counsel and Company Secretary

Michael Tropea joined AIAA as Associate General Counsel in October 2010, and was appointed as General Counsel & Company Secretary in February 2012 (after serving as Acting General Counsel from January 2012). Michael has a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Melbourne. Prior to joining AIAA, Michael was International Vice President & Asia Regional Counsel at New York Life International, based in Hong Kong, and also worked previously at law firms Baker & McKenzie and Allen & Overy in Hong Kong, and Mallesons Stephen Jaques in Sydney and Melbourne. Michael’s particular areas of specialty include contract drafting and negotiation and mergers & acquisitions.