AIA Australia appoints Charlotte Ward as Chief People and Culture Officer

AIA Australia today announced the appointment of Charlotte Ward as Chief People and Culture Officer for AIA Australia and New Zealand.

In this role, Charlotte Ward joins the AIA Australia and New Zealand Executive team and will be responsible for building people capability and engagement. She joins AIA with 15 years’ experience in a range of Human Resource and Organisation Development roles: For the last eight years Ward headed up BP’s Global Capability Development and was a Director of the Global Leadership Academy based in London. Prior to that she spent two years with Prudential as Group Resourcing and Development Manager. Ward has a Masters of Organisational Psychology, Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) from Victoria and Massey University in New Zealand.

Eleanor Ottaviano, who previously held the position of Chief People and Culture Officer (formerly named Chief Human Resources Officer), has taken on a new role at AIA focusing on business transformation as part of the recent transaction with the Commonwealth Bank*. 

Damien Mu, CEO of AIA Australia and New Zealand, said: “I am delighted to welcome Charlotte to the AIA family. Our people are the ones that live and breathe our purpose to make a difference in people’s lives every day, and ensure we deliver on our promise to our customers and partners. Supporting our people to be their best is a critical responsibility and commitment we must deliver on as an organisation.”

The Chief People and Culture Officer role will be based at AIA Australia’s head office in Melbourne.

*On 21 September 2017, AIA announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire the life insurance businesses CommInsure in Australia and Sovereign in New Zealand. It will also enter into 20-year strategic bancassurance arrangements with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) in Australia and ASB Bank in New Zealand. Subject to the necessary government and regulatory approvals, the transaction is anticipated to be completed in 2018.

Contact:

Ingrid Nienaber
AIA Australia
T: +613 9009 4143
E: Ingrid.Nienaber@aia.com

About AIA Australia
AIA Australia Limited is an independent life insurance specialist with over 45 years of experience building real and sustainable partnerships. AIA Australia offers a range of products that protect and enhance the lives of nearly three million Australians and is widely recognised as a market leader in product innovation and development. AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively “AIA” or the “Group”) comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. It has a presence in 18 markets in Asia-Pacific.

AIA Australia is one of the country’s largest life insurers by market share and works closely with major financial institutions and corporate partners to provide life insurance solutions for their customers. In addition, AIA Australia is the fastest growing provider of retail life insurance products sold through financial advisers. AIA Australia also works with a network of affinity partners that distribute life insurance products. By having a partnership philosophy at the core of its business, AIA Australia is focused on building genuine relationships and delivering real value to its business partners.

In March 2014, AIA Australia introduced ‘Vitality’ – the world’s leading scientifically-backed health and wellness program, to the Australian market. AIA Vitality aims to be the catalyst for real change to the positive health outcomes of Australians.