Canada Life today has appointed Kris Black as head of annuities and Alice Watson as head of home finance within its retirement business.
In the newly created roles, Black and Watson will each take responsibility for the end-to-end product and proposition life cycle and strategy for the annuities and home finance product lines respectively.
Previously, Black served as head of commercial within retirement at Canada Life, where he led the pricing teams for both annuities and home finance.
Prior to joining Canada Life, he held senior roles at Willis Towers Watson and Aviva, bringing wider market insight and leadership experience, alongside deep expertise in annuity pricing.
Watson was previously head of B2B marketing at Canada Life and has significant experience in the home finance space.
In her most recent role, she was responsible for defining and implementing the marketing strategy and plans that support the UK business strategy across retirement, protection, wealth and asset management.
Prior to this, she held several roles within the home finance product line, focusing on customer insight, proposition development and adviser support.
Black’s appointment was effective from 1 March and Watson’s will take effect upon her return from maternity leave at the end of the second quarter.
Canada Life managing director, retirement Pete Maddern says: “The Retirement business is a critical component of Canada Life’s long-term success and Kris and Alice’s appointments reflect the investment we are making to strengthen our team to deliver our ambitious strategy.”
“Growing customer demand and regulatory change is creating significant opportunity in both the annuities and home finance markets and these new roles will ensure we are well positioned to turn this opportunity into sustainable growth.”
“Having worked with both Kris and Alice for a number of years, I am confident their leadership expertise and deep knowledge of the retirement market will be invaluable as we continue to evolve our proposition and deliver for our customers.”
