Tower Limited has appointed Len Elikhis (pictured) as chief financial officer – a hire that brings actuarial expertise and experience building an insurer from scratch into a general insurer that is simultaneously executing its largest distribution expansion in years while managing a material slowdown in premium growth.
The appointment was announced July 21, 2026, on the NZX, pending completion of regulatory processes under the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act 2010 (IPSA). Under a proposed IPSA amendment bill currently before consultation – with legislation expected to be introduced to Parliament in 2027 and substantive changes targeted for 2028 – the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) would be required to formally pre-approve CFO appointments at licensed insurers.
Elikhis joins from PPS Mutual, a mutual life insurer that received its RBNZ licence in July 2025 and officially launched in New Zealand on Aug. 4 of the same year. He joined PPS Mutual in late 2023 as one of its first employees, leading the establishment of the New Zealand business from the ground up. Before that, he held senior executive roles at AIA New Zealand and Sovereign – both life and health insurance operators. He is a Fellow of both the New Zealand Society of Actuaries and the Institute of Actuaries of Australia, with a professional background across life and health insurance, actuarial functions, capital management, pricing, investments, and business transformation.
Tower CEO Paul Johnston said: “Len’s commercial insight, proven experience delivering growth, and strategic leadership will be a valuable addition to Tower’s executive team as we continue to strengthen our customer proposition and deliver long-term value for shareholders.” Elikhis said: “Tower has a compelling strategy, a track-record of disciplined execution, and a customer-focused culture. I am excited to join the ambitious Tower team and help drive its next phase of growth.” Tower has publicly stated growth targets relating exclusively to its general insurance portfolio and has not indicated any product diversification into life insurance.
The appointment arrives at a specific inflection point in Tower’s performance. Following the company’s HY26 results, released May 21, 2026, Forsyth Barr downgraded Tower from outperform to neutral, citing a material deterioration in GWP growth expectations. Although Tower’s HY26 underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) of $36.8 million was in line with analyst expectations, the company revised its full-year GWP growth guidance down to low single digits – from the 5% to 10% range it had entered the year with – as lower average premiums offset solid policy volume growth. Tower’s customer base grew 5% year-on-year to 327,000, with New Zealand home insurance policies up 9%, but competitive pricing pressure is constraining top-line momentum.
Tower continues to guide for full-year underlying NPAT of $55 million to $65 million for FY26, assuming full utilisation of a $45 million large event allowance. That commercial context makes the choice of CFO profile meaningful. Elikhis’s experience at PPS Mutual – where he helped steer a new entrant through RBNZ licensing, product development, distribution build-out, and market launch – is directly relevant to the execution demands Tower faces: managing the Westpac partnership ramp-up, a Kiwibank referral arrangement, a claims transformation programme, and ongoing technology investment, all while defending operating leverage in a softening premium environment.
From July 1, 2026, Tower replaced IAG NZ as Westpac NZ’s underwriter for house, contents, motor, and landlord insurance – ending a relationship between Westpac and IAG that had lasted more than 30 years. IAG’s bank partnership channels contributed $616 million in GWP in its most recent reporting period, with Westpac estimated to represent $150 million to $200 million of that figure. Forsyth Barr analysts James Lindsay, Will Twiss, and Georgio Toulis estimated the deal could add approximately $70 million in GWP to Tower by 2030, if Tower captures 35% of Westpac’s existing insurance book – though the analysts also cautioned that immediate GWP impact is unlikely, as existing Westpac policyholders continue to renew with IAG rather than switching to Tower, according to Interest.co.nz.
The New Zealand general insurance market is profitable but competitively pressured. According to KPMG’s New Zealand Insurance Update 2026, the industry’s insurance result after reinsurance increased 50% from $1.291 billion in 2023/24 to $1.939 billion in 2024/25, driven by an 8% rise in insurance revenue and contained claims. However, KPMG noted insurance revenue growth is slowing, and the government has launched a formal review into insurance premium affordability – a structural issue the sector is navigating alongside rising claims inflation. Gallagher’s March 2026 Insurance Market Update reported that IAG and Suncorp both posted GWP declines in their most recent New Zealand half-year results, consistent with broader soft market dynamics in which improved profitability coexists with shrinking premium pools.
Elikhis will join Tower on November 2. Johnston acknowledged Simon Hoole, who held the interim CFO role during the search period.
