iExtend collaborates with Australians, their advisers and their insurers, to extend their Life insurance in the years when they need it most.

Our purpose is to help Australians retain valuable Life Insurance cover.

We believe that’s possible through collaborations.

Getting insurance is a smart decision that many Australians make. However, too many never see the true value of their insurance. So we set out to help make life insurance last for more people.

By taking on the ongoing responsibility for Premiums, we take a financial risk that allows the relationship to continue between policyholders, their advisers and their insurers.

iExtend has financial backing from private and institutional investors, and a leadership team that’s deeply connected with the needs of policyholders, advisers and insurers.

In Collaboration with

Leadership Team

David Sarkis

CEO

Ruth Keaney

Head of Risk

Anthony Julien

Head Of Growth

Protip Dasgupta

Head of Distribution

Michael Edwin

Chief Financial Officer

Distribution Team

Peter Clifford

Distribution (QLD)

Leanne Bailey

Distribution Manager (SA/NT)

Ian Knight

Distribution (VIC/TAS)

Customer Care Team

Kos Cuaresma

Head of Operations

Estelle Fouche

Client Care and Onboarding

Board of Directors

Peter Cassidy

Chairman

 

David Sarkis

Managing Director | Founder

Peter Bennetto

Non-Exec Director | Founder

Anthony Julien

Executive Director

Advisory Board

Geoff Lloyd

Chair

Peter Bobbin

Adviser

Kevin Goss

Adviser

David Sarkis – CEO, Executive Director

David has 30 years of finance industry experience across Australia, Japan and Hong Kong in managing multi-asset investment portfolios. He is a seasoned investment and derivatives specialist with a global perspective and hands-on experience in portfolio management, alternative investments and asset allocation. He has led and advised on implementing and scaling risk, technology and business development.

He has held senior leadership positions at Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and RBS and, more recently, was the CEO of Silver Tree Asset Management. Career highlights include being a member of various global steering committees, risk committees and governance working groups.

On iExtend

I’m fortunate to be able to bring together my deep understanding of structuring, investment banking, actuarial studies and asset management to help build what we believe will be a positive contributor to the lives of many Australians. Much will be lost if they have no other choice but to cancel. We aim to innovate and drive our strategy so we can save clients from having to do that.

Ruth Keaney – Head of Risk

As the Head of Risk, Ruth leads the risk assessment team, oversees risk research, education and policy portfolio management. She is a highly experienced life insurance leader with 25 years of underwriting, claims and risk management expertise in Ireland and Australia. Ruth holds Diplomas in Business and Medical Underwriting from the Chartered Insurance Institute of Great Britain.

Before joining iExtend, Ruth was a management consultant for 8 years, was head of KPMG’s Claims and Underwriting team, and was formerly Chief Underwriter and Head of Underwriting & Claims Strategic Solutions at CBA.

Anthony Julien – Head of Growth

Anthony has built companies across a broad range of industries, including IT, mining, media and wholesale/distribution in Australia and Japan. Anthony has had extensive experience in the mobility software business, developing, building and selling significant businesses in that space. In 2013 Anthony joined The Sentient Group, a private equity firm that specialised in early-stage exploration investment in the commodities industry. Anthony ran a special purpose investment vehicle for Sentient that had investments in Canada, UK, Netherlands, USA and Brazil. In 2018 Anthony joined Moss Ridge as the Investment Director, investing in a diversified portfolio of small-to-medium sized companies across a wide range of industries.

On iExtend
“We felt it was unfair that life insurance policies, where clients had been paying premiums for 20-plus years, would become unaffordable when they’re needed most. By enabling policyholders to extend their policies, we’re meeting a social responsibility that also benefits the policyholders’ beneficiaries.”

Protip Dasgupta, Head of Distribution

Protip has been in the distribution business for 20 years and spent much of that time in retail life insurance. At iExtend, Protip develops and implements business strategies to achieve the organisation’s goals.

Before joining iExtend, Protip was with OnePath / ING for 10 years. He held several roles — from running distribution teams to being a Strategic Partnership Manager for the wider retail distribution arm. He holds an MBA in Finance from UTS, Sydney and a baccalaureate in Economics and Commerce.

Michael Edwin – Chief Financial Officer

Michael is a financial services professional with extensive accounting and tax experience. Most recently Michael served as the Head of Financial Control and Head of Tax at Axi, and previously managed the tax function of Equifax Australia and New-Zealand. He also has a wide range of experience working in professional services in Australia and overseas, having worked for both Deloitte and KPMG. Complemented by a strong legal background and technological acumen, Michael is passionate about helping accelerate companies’ growth and finding innovative solutions to tax, accounting, and systems challenges.

Mark Stubbings – Head of Alliances

Mark has had a lengthy career in Financial Services across Australia and New Zealand. In particular, he has worked in a number of Licensee, Financial Advice and Product Provider roles. Recently, he spent 5 years at Sunsuper and then a year at Aware Super, where he designed, launched and further developed their respective offers to the IFA market.

Mark is an accountant by profession and holds an MBA and a number of financial planning qualifications. Prior to the formation of FAAA, Mark was State Chair of AFA QLD. Mark is now part of a working group formulating the structure of State Committees for the merged entity.

Peter Clifford – Distribution Manager (QLD)

Peter is highly skilled in fostering trusted relationships with senior stakeholders and business partners to identify strategic opportunities and deliver business outcomes. With 30 years’ experience in the Financial Services Industry, he has held several insurance specialist roles with Insurance Providers, Adviser Licensees and Corporate Superannuation.

Prior to his career in Financial Services, Peter was a professional cricketer and earned a living doing the sport he loves. Peter is excited to join the iExtend team and help build the future of life insurance in Australia.

Leanne Bailey – Distribution Manager (SA & NT)

Leanne Bailey has spent the last 20 years delivering results in both the investment and retail banking space. She brings a vast range of experience and knowledge having worked with end clients, adviser and intermediaries in business banking, structured products, life insurance and superannuation. She has held positions with Macquarie Bank, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, RBS Morgans, TAL, AIA, and AMP.

Leanne is passionate about driving results and determined to add value to adviser’s practices and clients. She holds a Bachelor of Business, Bachelor of Educational Studies, Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning and post Graduate in Business Administration.

Ahmer Sheikh – Distribution Manager (NSW/ACT)

Ahmer’s passion is in sales strategy and cultivating adviser and stakeholder relationships to develop businesses in the IFA market.

Having previously worked at AMP, IRESS, Zurich/OnePath and most recently, BT Financial Group, Ahmer brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in life insurance distribution.

Ian Knight – Distribution Manager (VIC/TAS)

Ian has served two distinct ‘working careers’ – law & order & financial services! Ian’s first ‘career’ was 5 years with the Victorian Law department then twenty years as a Victorian police officer rising to the rank of Detective Senior Sergeant. Post career one Ian looked to financial services & has worked in entities such as AXA, Financial Wisdom, Colonial First State, Bank of Melbourne (Westpac), CommInsure (CBA) & Synchron. He has held various roles including Practice Development Manager, Head of Financial Planning, State Manager, National Account Manager & General Manager, Operations. Ian also holds a BA, Grad Dip Bus Mngt, Adv Dip Financial Services & a MBA

Ian believes “Every Australian should have a regularly reviewed financial plan so they can achieve their financial goals & i-Extend may form an important component of that journey”.

Voula Makris – Distribution Manager (VIC/TAS)

With industry experience of over 20 years in the retail advice industry, Voula Makris brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her role as the Distribution Manager for VIC/TAS.

Having held Senior Business Development Manager positions at Integrity Life, CommInsure, Colonial First State and AMP, Voula has worked with clients, advisers and intermediaries, receiving a number of accolades, including Money Management’s BDM of the Year.

With an Advanced Diploma of Financial Planning, Voula is passionate about going that extra mile for the financial advisers to help them find effective insurance solutions for their clients.

Wes King - Distribution Manager - WA

With over 25 years of experience in retail advice, Wes bring a wealth of experience to the Western Australian market.

Wes has held numerous roles across insurers, advice practices and Licensees, most recently as a Business partnerships Manager at Resolution Life. Prior to this, Wes was the State Manager at Integrity Life and spent 6 years as the Senior Business Development Manager at OnePath Life. He has also held senior positions at Comminsure, and Guardian Advice.

Wes holds an Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning. Along with his strong expertise and deep relationship with the WA advice community, this sees him achieve excellent results in helping local risk advisers service their clients with the right solutions.

Kos Cuaresma – Head of Operations

With a strong commitment to ensuring customer satisfaction, Kos has recently established iExtend’s high-performing Customer Care team. In her capacity as Head of Operations, she is also responsible for driving business efficiency through continuous evaluation of business operations and the implementation of new technologies and best practice.

She holds a Bachelor of Business Management from the University of Technology, Sydney. Prior to joining iExtend, she was the Head of Finance at one of the largest branded Real Estate companies in Australasia for 15 years, where she oversaw the financial management and operations of the organisation.

Estelle Fouche – Client Care and Onboarding Specialist

As our Customer Care Consultant, Estelle is the go-to for helping advisers and clients with iExtend admin. Originally from South Africa, Estelle worked as a PA and Client Liaison at Investec before moving to Western Australia in 2011.

Estelle worked in various admin roles across the real estate and finance industries before joining AFRM in a Client Services Role, where she helped clients with new business applications and existing policies across life insurers.

On the weekend, you can find Estelle spending time with family, including her 2 grandkids, working up magic in her dedicated craft room and caring for her many plants!

Peter Cassidy - Chairman

Peter started AMP’s private capital business in 1993 and managed A$4.3bn in open end and closed end investment funds across resources, infrastructure and manufacturing.  Major investments of public significance include establishment of Optus (Australia’s 2nd telecoms carrier), privatisations such as Melbourne Airport, Victorian electricity generation and distribution, prisons and water treatment. He founded the private equity firm The Sentient Group in 2001 and retired in 2017 having raised $US2.6bn across 4 funds focussed on delineation and development stage projects in the resources sector around the world.

Notable investments include Andean Gold (gold/Argentina), Norsemont (copper/Peru) and Queensland Gas (CSG/Australia). The Sentient Group managed capital for institutional investors such as endowments, family offices, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies in the USA, Europe and Middle East. Peter established Moss Ridge as a family office in 2017. 

Peter Bennetto – Non-Executive Director

Peter is an experienced banker, director, investor and environmental NFP leader. He co-founded H2OX, now part of Xpansiv, the global environmental commodities platform.

He is inspired by iExtend’s capability to make a positive difference to many families, particularly at times of change.

Geoff Lloyd – Chair

Geoff is an experienced listed company CEO with a proven track record in transforming and growing businesses. In September 2018, Geoff was appointed CEO of MLC. He built an exciting multi-year transformation and growth strategy designed to separate MLC from NAB. NAB announced the successful sale of MLC to IOOF in September 2020.

Before MLC, Geoff was CEO of Perpetual Limited, leading a transformation strategy designed to simplify, refocus and grow Perpetual. The strategy launched new asset management products, including a global equities business, a relaunched private wealth offer delivering 4x growth, the acquisition of The Trust Company and the divestment of 5 businesses.

Peter Bobbin

Peter is a solicitor and a highly respected figure in the financial services industry, having worked across Superannuation, Life Insurance, Estate Planning, Taxation and Litigation management. As a principal of the law firm Coleman Greig Lawyers, Peter has been instrumental in helping iExtend establish its unique business model.

Kevin Goss

Kevin joins the Advisory Committee of iExtend after almost forty years in the financial services industry working with financial planners and insurance professionals in both the United States and Australia. Most of his experience was focused on the distribution of retail life insurance starting as a financial services specialist with The Travelers Insurance Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In 1990, he took the opportunity to move to Australia and continue his career in financial services, holding leadership positions in both life insurance and superannuation across companies such as Zurich, ANZ Wealth (OnePath Life), CommInsure and MLC Life Insurance.

Kevin has had the privilege to head up sales teams with several leading insurance companies in Australia and is now looking forward to contributing his experience to the growth of iExtend.

We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which we work. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We celebrate the stories, culture and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders of all communities who work and live on this land.

The iExtend Life Co-Ownership Arrangement is issued by iExi Pty Ltd ABN 33 654 132 813 AFSL 555362 (iExtend). Please read our Financial Services Guide. The information provided in this document may contain general advice, but it does not take into account your client’s objectives, financial situation or needs.

Before acting on or making any decision in relation to the iExtend Life Co-Ownership Arrangement or any other financial product, you should consider the appropriateness of the information, having regard to your client’s personal circumstances, as well as the Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination for the iExtend Life Co-Ownership Arrangement.

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