Executive Team

Fiona Macgregor

Group CEO and Managing Director

Fiona Macgregor was appointed TAL Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director in October 2024.

Since joining TAL in 2014, Fiona has held various leadership roles across innovation, customer, brand and technology. She was Chief Executive – Individual Life from 2023-2024 and Chief Information & Innovation Officer from 2018-2023.

Fiona has over 20 years’ experience in financial services. She spent the first part of her career in consumer banking in the UK where she developed expertise in customer-led innovation, working both locally and internationally. Fiona has also worked as an independent consultant, focusing on innovation culture and growth strategy.

Fiona holds an MA (Hons) Business Organisation from Heriot-Watt University. She is a member of the Champions of Change Coalition and a Non-Executive Director of the Council of Australian Life Insurers (CALI).

Jenny Oliver

Chief Executive – Group Life & Retirement

Jenny Oliver was appointed Chief Executive – Group Life & Retirement in 2023, responsible for TAL’s partnerships with Australian superannuation funds.

Jenny’s team provides market-leading solutions to meet the evolving needs of the 4.5 million Australians we protect during their working lives with insurance through superannuation. Jenny’s team is also leading the industry in developing financial products and services which will help more Australians after they finish working to retire with confidence.

Prior to her current role, Jenny was TAL’s Chief Claims Officer, so she has a great appreciation of the importance of TAL’s Claims function. She has championed TAL’s investment in digitising the claims journey to improve the experience for our customers as well as increasing the speed and efficiency of the claims process, ultimately so claims can be paid faster.

Since joining TAL in 2001, Jenny has held a range of financial, operational and commercial roles within the organisation and has a deep understanding of the broader Life Insurance industry. Before joining TAL, Jenny worked at Deloitte Australia in Assurance and Audit. Jenny is a Chartered Accountant and holds a BEc and BComm from The Australian National University.

Gavin Teichner

Chief Executive – Individual Life

Gavin Teichner was appointed Chief Executive – Individual Life in October 2024 with responsibility for TAL’s Retail and Direct-to-Consumer businesses, including major alliances with Suncorp and Westpac. He is focused on industry leadership, ensuring TAL remains a top choice for Australians by delivering sustainable products and exceptional customer experiences.

Since joining TAL in 2009, Gavin has held several senior leadership roles. Most recently, as Executive General Manager – Individual Life from 2018, he had overall responsibility for the value and commercial outcomes of TAL’s Individual Life businesses, as well as the product and pricing, data and underwriting. Gavin has also previously held senior leadership positions in TAL’s direct insurance business, Insuranceline, where he was focused on improving Australian consumers’ understanding of life insurance.

Gavin has a strong focus on product sustainability—an important industry and community matter—and has led the development of many of the capabilities needed to ensure that customers can access insurance in a digital world.

Gavin is an Actuary and has an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.

David Lees

Chief Financial Officer

David Lees joined TAL in February 2020, bringing over 25 years’ experience in the Australian and UK financial services industry.

Prior to his appointment at TAL, David was the Deputy Chief Financial Officer at Westpac and he was the primary contact on the group’s financial, accounting and reporting matters. David was also the Acting Chief Financial Officer of Westpac from June 2018 to September 2018, where he held the responsibility for Westpac’s Finance, Group Audit, Tax, Treasury and Investor Relations functions.

David’s experience encompasses a range of executive positions including BTFG’s Chief Financial Officer, Chief Risk Officer, General Manager Super & Investments, General Manager of Business Transformation (leading the merger of BT and St George’s wealth operations) and General Manager Insurance & Investments.

Georgina Croft

Chief Claims Officer

Georgina Croft was appointed Chief Claims Officer in March 2024, leading TAL’s Claims function and responsible for delivering a sector-leading claims experience and outcomes for TAL’s customers.

With more than 25 years of financial services and legal experience, Georgina brings expertise leading large operational teams, including both front line customer service functions, as well as broader experience across mergers and acquisitions, large-scale transformational change, risk and compliance, and corporate governance.

Georgina joined TAL having spent 13 years at Westpac where she held a number of senior leadership roles, including Chief Operating Officer of the bank’s Insurance Division and most recently as Chief Customer Services Officer at BT Financial Group. In this role, she was accountable for customer administration services, accounting and tax services, delivery of transformation and regulatory change programs, escalated complaints, customer remediations and procurement services.

Prior to her time at Westpac, Georgina spent a decade as a lawyer at Herbert Smith Freehills specialising in private company corporate transactions and corporate governance advisory.

Georgina has a Masters of Law from the University of Sydney, as well as a Bachelor of Law (Hons Class 1) and a Bachelor of Arts. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and a member of the Law Society of NSW.

Chad Downie

Chief General Counsel

Chad Downie was appointed Chief General Counsel in April 2022, with responsibility for TAL’s Legal, Disputes, Regulatory Governance and Company Secretariat functions. Chad has practised as a lawyer for 20 years in the financial services industry, specialising in insurance. Chad was the General Manager at TAL for five years before being appointed to the Chief General Counsel role.

Chad has extensive experience as a representative of TAL and the wider life insurance industry in leading consultation with the Government and Regulators on key legislative and regulatory changes affecting the industry.

Prior to joining TAL, Chad was a leading financial services and corporate lawyer at Westpac, primarily advising the life insurance and general insurance businesses.

Chad began his career as a lawyer at Minter Ellison Lawyers, practising in litigation and disputes resolution, including advising and representing insurers in large professional indemnity and public liability matters.

Cameron Pelling

Chief Risk Officer

Cameron Pelling was appointed Chief Risk Officer in April 2020, with responsibility for enterprise risk management, compliance, resilience and security. Cameron brings to the role over 20 years’ experience in risk management.

Most recently, Cameron was General Manager, Risk at TAL for four years.

Prior to joining TAL, Cameron was a Division Director at Macquarie Bank, where he spent 10 years leading teams within operational risk and compliance across various Wealth, Personal Banking and Business Banking divisions of the Bank.

Cameron began his career in chartered accounting, initially with Price Waterhouse and then Enterprise Risk Services at Deloitte, working across the financial services, mining and telecommunications industries in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Alex Homer 

Chief Customer & Brand Officer

Alex Homer was appointed TAL’s Chief Customer & Brand Officer in December 2018. In this role, Alex is focused on delivering exceptional experiences for TAL’s customers and partners and TAL’s broader contribution to community and sustainability. He leads TAL’s enterprise Customer Experience, Design, Health Services, Brand, Innovation, ESG and Corporate Affairs teams as well as life insurance comparator, Lifebroker. Alex also chairs TAL’s Community Foundation.

Prior to his current role, Alex has held various senior leadership positions at TAL since joining in 2014—including General Manager, Office of the CEO, General Manager, Lifebroker and General Manager, Consumer, Comparison & Alliances.

Previously, Alex was Head of Strategy and a member of the executive team at Lloyds International, the Australian subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group, following roles across wealth management, retail and business banking with the Group in the UK, Europe and the Middle East.

Alex holds a BA (Hons), Business and Economics from Nottingham Trent University and completed the Harvard Business School Program for Leadership Development.

Ceri Ittensohn

Chief People & Culture Officer

Ceri Ittensohn joined TAL in October 2016 as Chief People & Culture Officer, bringing more than 25 years of experience in Human Resources both in Australia and Asia. 

Before joining TAL Ceri worked in General Insurance and the Global Hospitality sector, and led HR, Quality, Customer and Communications teams, bringing a commercial approach to their business contributions. She has a particular passion for working with purpose-led businesses that inspire their people to make a positive difference for customers, communities and investors.

Ceri holds an Honours degree in Organisational Psychology and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Hinesh Chauhan

Chief Information Officer

Hinesh Chauhan has over 20 years’ experience in financial services and technology. He joined TAL in 2018 as General Manager, Technology, was appointed Executive General Manager, Technology in 2022 and Chief Information Officer in 2023.

Since joining TAL, Hinesh has been responsible for end-to-end technology delivery and architecture, including leading the technology stream for the acquisition of Westpac BTLife insurance business and teams developing technology supporting TAL’s new digital insurance platform, TAL Connect. He led the technology stream following TAL’s acquisition of Suncorp Life where he was responsible for transitioning the business’s technology and infrastructure to TAL.

Hinesh is experienced in business and IT strategy, M&A, asset transitions, program and portfolio management, and digital engineering and delivery across financial services products and technology platforms. He has extensive experience across the wealth management and platforms business, leading large transformation and transition programs at Macquarie Bank from 2013 to 2016 as Division Director.

Hinesh has a BCom (Finance, Marketing) and a B. Sc (Computer Science, Mathematics) from the University of Sydney.

Kensuke Takashima

Chief Dai-ichi Corporate Officer

Kensuke Takashima joined TAL in April 2022 as Chief Dai-ichi Corporate Officer, reporting to the Group CEO. His role is to further develop the ongoing relationship between TAL and the Dai-ichi Life Group.

Ken has spent his entire career with the Dai-ichi Life Group, starting in the IT Department in 1998. In his most recent role, Ken was Head of the International Planning Group and formulated the overall international life insurance business strategy for the Dai-ichi Life Group, including capital, M&A, and other strategies. Ken also worked in Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company Limited, a Dai-ichi Life Group company in India, for 4 years, leading the financial planning department and maximising the corporate value.

Ken brings to TAL significant international life insurance experience and a wealth of knowledge about developing the business strategy of the Dai-ichi Life Group.