Fidelity Life has announced the appointment of Melissa Cantell as its new CEO, with chair Brian Blake saying she was the “standout candidate” following a robust recruitment process.
Cantell joins Fidelity Life after over five years as Chief Operating Officer at IAG, where she has also been acting as COVID response director since March of this year. Commenting on her new role, Cantell says she is excited to be joining an independent New Zealand-owned company with a “great heritage, a strong financial base, and a vision for a very exciting future.”
“Melissa’s strong executive leadership experience running successful commercial operations and building high performing customer-centric cultures, across a range of industries, is impressive,” Brian Blake said.
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“Combined with her passion for the role insurance plays in the community, her experience leading business transformations and building great customer and people experiences, especially in times of change, are very relevant for the journey we’re on at Fidelity Life.”
Blake says Fidelity Life is making good progress with the customer-focused transformation it started in 2019, and is aiming to grow sustainably over the coming years.
“Melissa will look to build on that momentum, even as we continue to deal with COVID-19 and the economic uncertainty ahead,” he said.
“The year ahead is really important: successfully completing our digital transformation project, evolving our customer and adviser experiences and moving to brand new offices are just the start of an exciting new era for the whole Fidelity Life team.”
Chief Distribution Officer Adrian Riminton and CFO Simon Pennington will continue acting as joint CEOs until Cantell takes over the role on 25 January 2021.
