AIA New Zealand has changed its executive leadership responsibilities, with Executive Committee members Alex Kühnast and Ben Lovelock swapping roles effective from May. Kühnast has been appointed chief risk officer, and Lovelock has moved into the role of chief product and marketing officer.
Chief executive officer Nick Stanhope said the changes reflect the insurer’s approach to leadership continuity and governance across its New Zealand operations. “Alex and Ben each bring distinctive and complementary strengths. This transition positions AIA NZ well to continue delivering strong customer outcomes, disciplined growth, and robust risk and governance practices,” Stanhope said. AIA New Zealand said its strategy and customer commitments remain unchanged, with the adjustments focused on how senior leadership accountabilities are allocated.
As chief risk officer, Kühnast is responsible for AIA New Zealand’s governance and risk management frameworks, including prudential, operational, and conduct risk oversight. He joined AIA NZ in 2022 and most recently served as chief product and marketing officer. Kühnast has held senior roles at KPMG, Aegon, and Hollard Insurance and was chief executive officer at KGA Life. His experience spans actuarial leadership, strategy, executive management, and consulting in multiple markets. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and of the New Zealand Society of Actuaries, and holds dormant fellow memberships of the Actuarial Society of South Africa and the Royal Dutch Actuarial Association. He also has a management certification from Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.
In his new position, Lovelock has responsibility for AIA NZ’s product development, propositions, brand, marketing, and the AIA Vitality programme. He previously served as chief risk officer for the New Zealand business. Lovelock began his career as an actuary at AMP Australia and qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia. He spent nine years in Asia, including in the actuarial services practice of PwC Hong Kong, before joining AIA Group in 2018. His prior group roles include director in the group chief actuary’s office and head of ratings in group treasury. He holds a master’s degree in applied finance from Macquarie University and a bachelor’s degree in commerce (actuarial studies and information systems) from the University of New South Wales.
The executive moves sit alongside changes to AIA New Zealand’s distribution leadership structure and adviser support model, following a review of how the insurer organises its distribution activity. As part of the revised structure, AIA NZ has appointed Matt O’Rourke as head of strategic accounts and retail, effective April 20. O’Rourke joins from BNZ’s Commercial Agri and Business Banking team, where he was a senior partner, and previously spent about 35 years at ASB, including as head of private and premium banking.
In the aligned advice channel, AIA NZ has appointed long-serving executive Travis Higgins as head of aligned advice. Higgins has 18 years’ experience with the insurer across claims, underwriting, new business, and existing business leadership roles. The insurer has also named Kushla Glauser as head of ASB partnership, effective July 1. Glauser joins from Tower, where she is head of brand and acquisition marketing, and has more than 15 years’ experience in growth, customer acquisition, and partner-led distribution within regulated financial services. At a national level, AIA NZ has appointed Nick Brunner as national sales manager – retail. He joins Pippa Leydon, national sales manager – strategic accounts, in the national sales leadership. Brunner moves into the position from his role as AIA NZ’s ASB national sales manager, while Leydon continues to lead strategic accounts.
Alongside the leadership appointments, AIA NZ has revised its distribution operating model, with support structures differentiated by adviser size and distribution segment. Under the updated framework, strategic accounts will comprise the insurer’s largest nationwide adviser groups and will receive coordinated, cross-functional support via dedicated panels focused on enterprise-level growth. Retail advisers will work with regionally aligned panels, with business development manager allocation based on defined value and activity measures. The company said this structure is intended to direct distribution resources to specific adviser segments and geographic areas in a more targeted way.
