Kris Black has been named as head of annuities at the UK division of international insurance firm Canada Life.
In conjunction, Alice Watson has been named as head of home finance within Canada Life’s 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.
Black was previously 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. 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.
Pete Maddern, managing director of retirement at Canada Life, said: “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.”
Black’s appointment has been effective from 1 March, and Watson’s will take effect upon her return from maternity leave at the end of Q2.
