Handpicked for their skills and experience in general insurance, at Calliden we pride ourself on the quality of our people.
Calliden Executive Team
Nick Kirk - Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director
Calliden's Chief Executive Officer, Nick Kirk, joined the Calliden Group in March 2004 to build a new insurance group from the foundation of the successful run off of the old reinsurance portfolio.
Calliden obtained a new general insurance license from the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority in March 2005 and has grown into a top 15 general insurer in Australia. The Group focuses on niche areas of the small and medium enterprise and personal insurance market.
Nick has extensive experience locally, in the UK and mainland Europe, with over 25 years in the industry. Nick is a Chartered Insurer of the Chartered Insurance Institute, London.
“Through the dedication of our team and the skills and industry of our partners we have built a sustainable new insurance group that provides a valuable service to our business partners, intermediaries and their customers.”
Adrian Diggelmann - Chief Financial Officer
As Chief Financial Officer, Adrian is responsible for ensuring the financial integrity of Calliden and managing the finance and Governance team. The role includes monitoring and forecasting the financial performance of the organisation and reporting results to a variety of stakeholders including investors, regulators and Calliden’s executive team and Board.
Adrian has 12 years experience in financial services, gained largely in the general insurance and funds management sectors. He previously held a number of senior finance roles at MLC and GIO. Adrian is a Chartered Accountant, Chartered Secretary, Senior Associate and Certified Insurance Professional of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and holds a MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management.
Adrian sees the finance team’s responsibility as not only to deliver timely and accurate information to stakeholders but also to partner the business to help it reach its goals.
"Our focus is on getting the fundamentals right, maintaining a
solid financial and risk management framework, enabling us to
deliver on our strategy."
Mike Hooton - Group Marketing, Agencies & Ventures Director
Mike is an associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute UK and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Science specialising in Marketing. He also has a diploma in General Management from INSEAD.
“It is our goal to establish each of our propositions as either market leaders or genuine alternatives in their chosen sectors”
As Group Marketing, Agencies and Ventures Director, Mike Hooton is responsible for:
- Ensuring the group has a distinctive corporate identity and each specialist brand promotes its unique proposition clearly and effectively.
- Developing and managing the group’s specialist agency distribution network, from both a group investment perspective and to secure distribution for Calliden Limited and Calliden Insurance Limited.
Robert Walliser
As Distribution Director, Robert is responsible for the distribution of Personal and Commercial Lines insurance products through Calliden's network of authorised representatives and brokers across Australia. This role encompasses the management of Calliden's network of State Offices and the development of sales through our alliance partners.
Robert was Chief Operating Officer of Australian Unity General Insurance prior to the purchase of this business by Calliden. He joined Australian Unity in 2002, where he held a number of roles in the insurance arena including distribution, operations and insurance systems development. Prior to that he was a management consultant with KPMG where he consulted primarily to the financial services sector. Robert has worked both locally and internationally in South Africa and Switzerland.
He holds a PhD and Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of South Africa; and a Graduate Certificate in Business from RMIT. He has achieved his ASIC PS 146 Tier 1 status through ANZIIF.
"Key elements of our growth strategies focus on providing our clients with a competitive product range that is supported by superior service. Never content with our current offering, we are constantly reviewing our products, systems, and processes to ensure we deliver what our clients need."
Peter Bailey - Underwriting Director
As Underwriting Director, Peter is responsible for setting Calliden’s underwriting strategy and risk appetite and for developing the associated underwriting guidelines, framework and practices. He has operational responsibility for Calliden’s pricing and portfolio management function, the reinsurance function and also manages the product development and underwriting audit processes.
Peter has extensive experience locally and in the London market and joined Calliden from QBE where he held senior roles in underwriting management, risk management and reinsurance.
Peter holds a Bachelors degree in Mathematics and Statistics and is a Senior Associate of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF), and an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management (AIM).
At Calliden, Peter and his management team work closely with our sales and distribution divisions to ensure Calliden has the appropriate technical support, control framework and philosophy in place to grow and develop business profitability through the market cycle whilst at the same time achieving the company's benchmark return on capital.
"Our vision is to differentiate ourselves by the way in which we deliver value to our shareholders; service and solutions to our intermediary partners and customers; and opportunities to our employees."
Stephen Fay - Strategic Services Director
As Director Strategic Services, Stephen is responsible for the development and effective management of Calliden’s human and financial capital. This includes human resources, investment management, capital management, mergers and acquisitions and corporate strategic planning.
He has spent the past decade in strategic and analytical roles within the Australian insurance market, including roles at Suncorp, Re AC and APRA. Stephen has tertiary degrees in mathematics and economics, and holds an MBA through the Macquarie Graduate School of Management.
Stephen and his team will work to ensure that Calliden’s capital is managed and deployed to achieve appropriate returns for shareholders and that Calliden’s business model continually evolves to reflect market dynamics.
"We will continue to meet our intermediary and customer needs in a prudent and profitable way"
Glen Hickey - Information Technology Director
Glen is responsible for Information Technology. His driving motivation is to ensure that Calliden’s core insurance systems delivery innovation at a cost base that cannot be matched by competitors who are still reliant on legacy systems. At the same time, he remains focussed on building new processes which ensure efficient connectivity with our insurance delivery partners. Glen and his team work closely with clients to roll-out robust and market-leading systems and processes that support the growing insurance operations.
Glen has extensive experience in technology and financial services. Prior to joining Calliden, he was Chief Information Officer of Zurich Insurance and oversaw the implementation of their on-line systems for Insurance intermediaries. He has headed technology departments in both Investment Banking (Elders Finance) and Retail Banking (Adelaide Bank). He was a non-executive director of Cashcard Limited, the ATM and card processor. Glen also has hands-on experience of start-up ventures – most notably as Director of Investments for the online mortgage broker, eChoice.
Glen holds a BSc from University of New South Wales, a PhD from Yale and a Graduate Diploma in Finance and Investment. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon.
"We are not saddled with old mainframe technology so we are off to a flying start. But we also know that delivering tailored solutions to our chosen markets through intermediary partners is technologically complex; our commitment is to continue to master that complexity by pursing a development trajectory that delivers innovative solutions to partners while guaranteeing efficiency to clients ".
Jim Pappas - Central Services Director
In Jim’s role as the Director of Central Services he is responsible for the efficient delivery of a range of business processes. Key elements of which include claims services, credit control and business processing.
Jim has over 35 years experience within the Australian general insurance industry. He held a variety of senior roles at CGU Insurance, where he was employed for over thirty years. Prior to its purchase by Calliden, Jim was the Manager of Technical Services at Australian Unity General Insurance.
Throughout his career Jim’s focus has been on ensuring his team provide exceptional service to customers. His work history also includes achievements in the areas of profit centre management, information technology, re-insurance and claims management.
“My team works to ensure we have timely and efficient back office services which support the strategic direction of our organisation and meet customer objectives.”