2024 Council Members

David Whittle, President

FIAA, BSc(Hons), BEc, GAICD

David Whittle is President of the Actuaries Institute and a seasoned actuary with 30 years’ experience in the insurance industry, with executive roles in general and life insurance, multinational insurers and consulting firms.  

Having previously held the role of Chief Risk Officer for CBA’s Wealth & Private business, as well as Chief Reserving Actuary for Zurich’s Asia-Pacific general insurance business and Partner at KPMG, David is passionate about leading people in the management of insurance risk. 

For David, his breadth of experience spanning reserving, pricing, underwriting, general management and risk management is a testament to his actuarial training which, combined with an ethos of embracing change, allowed him to follow a varied and fulfilling career path.   

Having witnessed the diversity of opportunities available to actuaries and the impact their work can make, David is committed to fostering the growth of the actuarial profession to help shape the world of tomorrow. 

Win-Li Toh, Senior Vice President

FIA, FNZSA, FIAA

Win-Li is an actuary with more than 25 years of consulting experience in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. She joined Taylor Fry in 2002, and is the Appointed Actuary to several Australian and New Zealand insurers.

She has a keen interest in cyber and the role of insurance in mitigating this risk. Win-Li was previously Chair of the Actuaries Institute General Insurance Practice Committee and joined the Board in 2022. She is a regular keynote speaker and facilitator on the general insurance landscape.

Scott Reeves, Vice President

FIAA

Scott is the Head of Underwriting at Munich RE Australia, responsible for leading underwriting teams to deliver technical assessment of Property & Casualty reinsurance deals. As a Fellow of the Actuaries Institute, he has extensive experience in actuarial and non-actuarial roles over more than 30 years. This includes broader roles in reinsurance Client Management, business management in the GI sector, and in consulting outside of insurance. Scott has gained valuable cultural experience through working in Australia, pan-Asia, North America, and Europe.

Jeffrey Chan

FIAA

Jeffrey is an actuary with more than 12 years of experience in data and analytics, helping clients to build end-to-end data solutions which result in significant business impact.

He has served various industries in corporate, start up, and management consulting environments, including FMCG, retail, government, banking, insurance, and loyalty programs. He is currently working as a Senior Principal under Proposition Analytics team in AIA Hong Kong.  

Jeffrey joined the Young Actuaries Advisory Board (YAAB) in 2020 and was the President of the YAAB in 2021.

Elaine Collins

FIAA, BSc(Hons), MEc, FAICD

 Elaine is a Non-Executive Director, having been on the Board of Zurich Insurance for ten years, currently holding four Boards roles: RACV, ANZLMI, ARPC and Ivory Insurance. She chairs Board Committees, including Risk, Audit, Customer and Pricing. At the same time, she is a Professor of Practice in the School of Risk & Actuarial with the UNSW Business School, enhancing linkages between the university and industry. 

Elaine has 25+ years’ insurance industry experience with expertise in capital efficiency, strategic risk and effective governance within organisations. Previously, Elaine spent over ten years in Appointed Actuary roles, firstly with KPMG, then as Partner of Deloitte. She served on several Institute Committees, including the GIPC and the Professional Practice Committee. 

Elaine is committed to contributing to the Institute's strategic priorities, particularly our members’ unique skills in deriving key insights from data analysis to business and the community. 

John Maroney

FIAA

John is CEO of the Global Asia Insurance Partnership. His prior experience includes extensive senior management, Board and consulting roles in superannuation, insurance, Australian and international financial regulation, actuarial and risk management plus managing professional and industry associations.

He has been employed by large and small employers and consultants, within the private and public sectors, within Australia and internationally and he also was self-employed for several years while he developed a successful consulting firm.

Key prior roles include CEO of the Actuaries Institute, Australian Government Actuary and Head of Capital and Solvency at the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, which is hosted by the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.

Alan Merten

FIAA, FNZSA, FSAS

With a background including corporate general management roles in financial services in various countries across APAC, Alan is the Lead Partner for Deloitte Australia’s Actuarial & Insurance Solutions offering.  In that role, he leads multi-disciplinary teams to help clients improve performance of their businesses.

His main area of focus is life insurance, and he has over 35 years’ experience in broader financial services. This includes leading or consulting on the full value chain from customer and distribution, through to product and operations as well as the financial aspects of running businesses.

Maathu Ranjan

FIAA

Maathu is a qualified actuary with over 13 years of experience in the disability, general insurance and government sectors. 

Maathu is a Sir Roland Wilson PhD Scholar at the Australian National University’s Crawford School of Public Policy and a Councillor of the Actuaries Institute. She is currently on leave from the Australian Government, where she was most recently a Senior Actuary at the National Disability Insurance Agency, leading the Actuarial Strategic Initiatives team to evaluate key Scheme initiatives and priorities.

Her doctoral research investigates the impact of government support schemes on the increasing prevalence of autism.

Jon Shen

FIAA, CERA

Jon is a Data Science Actuary who has designed and delivered successful AI initiatives across all areas of insurance and banking, including pricing, customer personalisation, claims operations, web and mobile app development, and intelligent automation. He believes actuaries have an integral role in managing the responsible use of AI in society.

Jon has actively participated in all aspects of the Actuaries Institute’s data science strategy. He advocated for the inclusion of data science in the education program, wrote content for the Data Science Principles and Data Science Applications courses, and served as the independent examiner of these subjects. He has also contributed to public policy submissions on AI regulation in Australia, and is a regular speaker in data conferences and podcasts. 

In 2022, Jon was recognised as one of the Top 10 Analytics Leaders in Australia.

Brett Ward

FIAA

Brett Ward is currently the Group Chief Actuary of IAG.  Brett has spent his entire 30 plus working years as a general insurance actuary. 

From 1990 to 2000, Brett worked with actuarial consultancies including MIRA Consultants and KPMG Actuaries focusing on liability valuations, specialising in workers compensation. 

In 2000 he started his corporate career as the Chief Actuary at Royal & Sun Alliance, where he had responsibility for actuarial services in Australia and South-East Asian countries.  Brett was the Chief General Insurance Actuary for Promina before joining IAG in 2007. 

At IAG, Brett has held a variety of roles across pricing, risk and technology and Group strategy.