Allianz Retire+ bolsters leadership

Allianz Retire+ has added two new executives to its leadership team and invited the head of the US parent onto the board.

The life insurer has welcomed Andrew Stewart as distribution head, Malcolm Weir as head of life protection and Jasmine Jirele as a board member.

Stewart began his career as business development manager at Asgard, before moving to Colonial First State, then on to head of distribution at IOOF.

He was most recently head of adviser Services at Ausiex after over a decade at CommSec Adviser Services.

Before that, he had similar roles at Core Equity Services Select Asset Management Australia.

Weir has held roles at Swiss RE in Zurich and GE Insurance London before relocating to Australia for a decade tenure at AXA/AMP.

He was also the general manager of life customer solutions for CommInsure and most recently head of insurance at NobleOak.

Jirele is the president and chief executive of Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America.

Before becoming chief executive last year, she led the growth and marketing team where oversaw strategy, new markets, global business development, and product innovation.

She is a former Wells Fargo executive.

Speaking on the appointments, Allianz Australia Life Insurance chief executive, Adrian Stewart said, "Andrew has over 28 years of distribution experience and brings with him deep relationships with the financial planning community.

"Andrew deeply understands the needs of planners and advisers. His experience and extensive network align with our refreshed distribution approach to deliver next-generation retirement income solutions on the platform."

"Malcolm's experience within life protection and insurance will be vital in guiding the business to achieve our renewed objectives. He brings 25 years of deep actuarial expertise and senior leadership."

As for Jirele, brings a wealth of experience building and leading Allianz's retirement business in the US. We welcome her knowledge and expertise in pioneering products that are tried and tested in a more mature market like the US," said Adrian Stewart.

Allianz Retire+ has spent the past 12 months focused on restructuring the business functions to strengthen product manufacturing capability.

Stewart said the company has made "significant" investments in technology and retirement solution infrastructure to support a pipeline of innovative products.

Following the retirement income covenant which came into effect in July, trustees and superfunds are increasing their focus on retirement solutions offered to members.

Life companies have the capital and scale to deliver lifetime guarantees. As one of the world's leading insurance companies, Allianz has a large, fortified balance sheet and the capital to manage this risk.

"We believe life companies have a significant role to play in solving the retirement problem within Australia and can deliver certainty by offering lifetime guarantees.

"We are ready to partner with superfunds and platforms to deliver these next-generation solutions," said Stewart.