MLC Life hires from Spirit Super

MLC Life Insurance has appointed Chris Porter as its new head of fund partnerships, hiring from Spirit Super.

Porter spent nearly 13 years working at MTAA Super and was most recently executive manager of operations, departing the industry fund when merged with Tasplan to create Sprit Super.

Before joining MTAA Super, Porter also held relationship management roles with Superpartners and Aon.

"Chris is a well-respected and admired leader in the superannuation industry, and we welcome him to our team," MLC Life chief group insurance officer Mark Puli said.

"He has significant experience in the sector, and I'm confident will play a key role in strengthening our partnerships with superannuation funds this year."

Puli joined MLC Life in December from ESSSuper where he most recently was chief executive.

"Now that we are a separate, standalone function, and backed by strong talent, experience, and support from Nippon Life, we are confident we can support the needs of growing superannuation funds," he added."I believe we are poised to grow our presence in the market and take on the more dominant players in group insurance.

Puli has held senior roles at Aviva Australia, Merrill Lynch Investment Management, and Mercer.

For his part, Porter said he looked forward to building the insurer's partnership capability this year and, ultimately, to support the group insurance offering to funds and their members.