Southern Cross industry update - senior staff movements and product opportunities

Southern Cross has made changes to its senior management team and has also announced its entire product suite has been made available to all advisers.

Thursday, May 13th 2021, 2:45PM

by Matthew Martin

Margaret Smith.

In a recent industry update, the health insurer says it now has 884,000 people insured under the Southern Cross banner.

"We’ve also delivered new products to market with our CareHQ virtual GP service, and our enhanced cancer care module Cancer Cover Plus," the industry update states.

Southern Cross says it has delivered significant change over the last few years to bring its adviser and direct channels closer together, including the following;

- Its entire product set is now available for sale by advisers
- New group business opportunities are priced the same in the market regardless of channel

- The creation of a national sales manager role for advisers to support the BDM team and its Premium Partner network
- Closer engagement for our Premium Partners with the Southern Cross executive team

In its efforts to support its adviser channel, Southern Cross has made some new appointments.

Margaret Smith (pictured above) has been appointed to the new role of head of business engagement.

Smith used to run the company's adviser channel and her new remit is to "strengthen growth and align teams in the adviser and corporate markets right across the country".

Her team now incorporates all of Southern Cross' B2B account managers across the country.

Janet Osborne (left) will continue to lead the BDM team, with her prime responsibility being the Premium Partner programme. She will report to Margaret Smith and be supported by Jamie Mellow as her BDM key account manager.

Southern Cross is also hiring a new BDM executive to alleviate pressure on existing BDMs to allow them to be more responsive to Premium Partners.

Ryan Koppens has been appointed to the new role of head of sales experience. He will be picking up all of the company's operational and support teams that service adviser channels and the direct sales teams. He will also have responsibility for customer-facing sales teams (phone-based and in-person).

Tags: Southern Cross Southern Cross Partners