Dr Christopher Wallace, chief executive of the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation (ARPC), has announced the appointment of Karin Rathbone as the corporation’s chief risk officer.
Rathbone brings extensive experience in risk management from various roles in consulting and corporate sectors within financial services. She joins ARPC from Colonial First State (CFS), where she also served as chief risk officer.
Prior to this new role at ARPC, Rathbone also held several senior risk leadership positions at CFS when it was part of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).
Earlier in her career, Rathbone was a partner at KPMG and a director at Deloitte, specializing in governance, risk, and conduct. Her corporate roles include risk leadership positions at BT Financial Group, Westpac, and CBA.
Rathbone moved to Australia from South Africa in 2013. She holds arts and law degrees from the University of Witwatersrand and a diploma in advanced banking from the University of Johannesburg.
“As ARPC’s chief risk officer, Karin leads a team of risk professionals supporting ARPC to identify, measure, and evaluate current, emerging, and future risks,” Wallace said. “She will work to enhance and maintain our risk management framework that aligns with our corporate plan and legislative and regulatory obligations.
A few months ago, the corporation also released an analysis suggesting an improvement in general insurance availability for residents in cyclone-prone regions across Australia.
According to insights from the ARPC, the financial stability of the cyclone pool remains consistent since its inception in July 2022. While the pool currently insures about half of all eligible properties, the premiums ceded are in line with original expectations.
ARPC has proposed no significant changes to the overall level of cyclone reinsurance pool premium rates for the time being, pending further market experience.
What are your thoughts on this story? Please feel free to share your comments below.
