Macquarie Life exec appointed Head of Strategy at Zurich Life

Zurich's Life & Investments division has appointed Macquarie Life's Daniel Longden as head of strategy & propositions, in anticipation of Macquarie Life joining Zurich later this year.

In the new role, Longden will join the Life & Investments' executive team and will oversee the development and implementation of strategy and key initiatives, as well as proposition management and development across Zurich's life risk and investments portfolios.

Longden has 20 years' financial services experience. He held senior roles at Asteron including chief actuary ANZ, as well as CFO for Australia, joining Macquarie Life in 2008. He is currently Head of Commercial Management, managing Macquarie Life's product and actuarial teams, and is a member of the Macquarie Life board.

Fellow new recruit and Macquarie Life exec Dave Evans will also join Zurich as national sales manager, retail risk.

Commenting on both appointments, Zurich Life & Investments CEO Tim Bailey said: "We're delighted that Daniel and Dave will be joining Zurich. Both are respected and well- known leaders in our industry, and bring complementary skills and knowledge across strategy, propositions, business development and service. Importantly, they also bring with them the philosophy and approach that has underpinned the success of the Macquarie Life business, and made it such an attractive acquisition for us.""

Longden and Evans are due to join Zurich on 1 October 2016, the date currently being targeted to finalise the Macquarie Life acquisition.