Fidelity Life CEO departs

Cantell, who has been with Fidelity for just over two years, will finish up in June.

The company says she has left "an impressive legacy" which includes the acquisition of Westpac Life.

She is leaving to become the chief executive at Aon NZ. Cantell previously has spent more than five years in general insurance with IAG.

During her tenure at Fidelity the company has developed and launched a new tech platform and launched Career connect, a skills and training programme to grow the next generation of financial advisers.

With the acquisition of Westpac Life, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu (Ngāi Tahu Holdings) became a large shareholder.

On the product side Fidelity supporting customers dealing with cancer with its personalised Cancer companion programme.

In a statement Fidelity says: "Whilst it is disappointing to see Mel go, the board and the Fidelity Life team wish her well in this next stage of her career. The board will shortly commence a recruitment process to find our next CEO to lead us through the next phase of our journey.

"In the meantime, Fidelity Life is in a strong position and it’s very much business as usual. Our board, executive team and our people are united behind our purpose to give New Zealanders certainty to enjoy a more rewarding life, and are fully focussed on working with our partners and advisers to help more New Zealanders get the benefits of insurance protection."

Comments from our readers

On 20 January 2023 at 9:31 am Backstage said:

Really Phillip, did she write this and give it to you? Words in a previous article like "transformed the industry".. how? Seems Fidelity and the National Party enjoy a revolving door leadership style!

On 20 January 2023 at 5:14 pm RanDerson said:

Equivalent to Australian prime minister rotation. Since 2016 Jennings-Tereroa-Cantell, compared to Turnbull-Morrison-Albanese

On 26 January 2023 at 5:08 pm richard s said:

Certainly an eventful time as CEO

The Westpac deal seemed to be a good price and well executed so tick.

The new capital via new investors was needed so also tick.

However in terms of market share and an ability to talk in PR terms there seem to have been challenges.

I understand the Fid market share is down significantly and th recent interview on good returns showing amazing use of PR when the sales head at Fid described new business as a vanity measure.

Of course many things drive new business but advisers generally do the right things for clients so new business is a proxy for the quality of the product, the service and the approach to claims.

On 30 January 2023 at 4:00 pm From the Benchs said:

The culture of the Business along with its value propostion has been signficantly eroded since the departure of Milton Jennings - Yes would agree with a previous comment - this article is nothing but PR spin .

Fidelity Life CEO departs

Fidelity Life chief executive Melissa Cantell has resigned and will finish up later this year.

Friday, January 20th 2023, 8:54AM 4 Comments

Comments from our readers

www.GoodReturns.co.nz