New leadership team and structure at TOWER 

TOWER Limited Chief Executive Officer designate Jim Minto today announced a new senior TOWER Limited management structure to align its business operations with a strategy for growth.

Mr Minto said the new structure would bring a greater focus on core business lines with increased management accountability designed to deliver ongoing improvement in operating earnings and enhanced profit quality.

"TOWER's management structure will fit with the strategic priorities we have in Australia and New Zealand," Mr Minto said.

TOWER's focus remains as a specialist risk provider which offers related niche investment solutions. The group has three core business lines:

"We will see a flattening of our structure with increased accountability to drive success in each of the business areas," he said.

"Direct business is very different from intermediated business in both cultural and management terms. Similarly the requirements for success are different between Risk and Investment."

"Chief Executive Officers will lead business performance in each of the strategically important business areas in the different markets.  We will be tightly focussed on the competitive strategy to succeed."

The key positions are:

• Group Chief Financial Officer covering all financial performance and reporting aspects
  
• Group General Manager covering Risk Management, Compliance, Internal Audit and IT. This position reflects a heightened priority on these very key issues especially with a likely increase in market Compliance requirements in New Zealand.
  
• Chief Executive Officer Risk Australia  - the primarily intermediated pure risk business
  
• Chief Executive Officer Investment Australia  - the primarily intermediated investment business which includes subsidiaries Beacon and Pivotal
  
• Chief Executive Officer Direct New Zealand which is the primarily retail direct New Zealand General Insurance business
  
• Chief Executive Officer Intermediated Risk New Zealand which is the Health & Life business
  
• Chief Executive Officer Investment New Zealand which includes the Award winning TOWER Asset Management business and other wholesale and retail fund offerings.
  

Four of these positions will be filled immediately with internal appointees. An external process has commenced to fill the remaining three positions. The following changes are effective immediately:

John De Zwart, previously Chief Financial Officer TOWER Australia Limited, is appointed Group Chief Financial Officer.

William Giesbers, previously Group Chief Financial Officer, is appointed Group General Manager.

David Callander, previously Head of Operations for TOWER Australia Limited, is appointed Chief Executive Officer Risk for Australia.

Tony Hildyard, who has been with TOWER Asset Management for over 15 years in a variety of roles and who is currently Chief Executive Officer Investment, is confirmed in that role.            

"This new structure will position TOWER well for the next phase of its growth," Mr Minto said.

"We will now be working on strategy and have set business improvement targets based around the building of shareholder value through improving competitive offers, efficiency and overall business performance."

"We have strong value growth aspirations for TOWER and this structure will help us deliver," Mr Minto said.

ENDS

BACKGROUND

Objective:

To align TOWER’s business operations with its strategy for growth through a greater focus on each core business line and increased management accountability.

Existing Position:

• TOWER has three core business lines – Risk insurance in Australia and New Zealand, Investment in Australia and New Zealand and Direct/General Insurance in New Zealand
  
• Each business line has different strategic and operational requirements; and
• the Australian and New Zealand markets have their own and different characteristics
  
• In New Zealand:

- TOWER’s three businesses have very different strategic challenges and issues that are culturally different

- General insurance operation is a direct business, with Health & Life being fully intermediated, and the Investment operation having multi-faceted distribution

New Zealand is also facing the prospect of significantly tightened financial services regulation. This requires a new set of controls, skills and strong compliance disciplines. It also brings the opportunity for TOWER to leverage its experience from a successful FSR transition in Australia.

• In Australia, the long-term positioning of TOWER Australia Limited as a specialist risk provider which offers related niche investment solutions remains a core focus. It is recognised that the Risk and Investment opportunities are quite different and need to be assessed and addressed separately.
  
• TOWER’s overall strategy requires focus and initiatives to drive the business lines in both countries. This must take into account that TOWER's operations on either side of the Tasman are in different phases of business maturity and value cycle.
  
• TOWER has moved away from a two-country CEO model to a flat structure with direct reports having heightened individual accountability for the core business lines.
  
• The CEO of each business line will be accountable for:

Strategy
Profit and loss
Competitive offer in marketplace
Products
Retention
Expense control
Operational plans
Service levels

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