About

Michael Tropea, general counsel and company secretary, leads the team of nine Australian lawyers and one company secretarial support staff providing service aligned to the strategic objectives of leading insurance company AIA Australia. Under Tropea’s leadership, the team has been restructured to provide dedicated legal partners to each business channel – a structure which enables each team member to enhance their understanding of the commercial interests and challenges faced by their respective channels and encourages collaboration across the business as a whole. Pina Sciarrone, chief retail insurance officer explains: ‘The AIA Australia Legal team is organised into dedicated business partnering teams to service each of the key channels, including the retail insurance team which I head up. This approach fosters closer working relationships between legal and business teams, and has allowed the legal team to gain a stronger understanding of the objectives of my team, the challenges we face and the environment we operate in. My team benefits from access to specialised legal advice and also allows the business to get a better understanding of the legal process at AIA Australia’. By assisting at every stage of the business lifecycle, the team provides valuable input from a commercial and legal perspective and supports AIA Australia’s shared-value strategy. In addition to supporting the day-to-day operations of one of the largest life insurers in the Australia, the team has provided vital support in relation to a number of award-winning product innovations, including AIA Vitality – a program which works with individuals to make a positive change to their health by rewarding healthy lifestyle choices and seeks to reduce insurance claims, TPD Assist – a total and permanent disablement insurance benefit design to promote rehabilitation outcomes for claimants by encouraging early claim notification, which has resulted in a $36m AUD reduction in insurance premiums for members of a group insurance client and RESTORE™ – an industry best practice occupational rehabilitation framework which provides an evidence-based approach to occupational rehabilitation services in the life insurance industry. Stephanie Phillips, chief group insurance officer is highly complementary of the team, explaining that ‘the three dedicated legal business partners within the legal team for the AIA Australia Group Insurance team have built a strong presence within my team. [It] always provides consistent, practical and commercial advice and has become trusted a business partner. Prior to working with my team, the designated legal business partners took the time to sit with my Group Distribution staff to really understand the business goals and challenges we face. This is typical of the lawyers at AIA Australia who have a passion for knowledge and embracing the collaborative approach encouraged at AIA Australia, to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes’. The team has also been instrumental in other initiatives, including the new health insurance brand, myOwn, which offers health insurance with AIA Vitality, and in securing novel life reinsurance and trust arrangements with offshore reinsurers that provide AIA Australia with a competitive advantage in a tight reinsurance market. Additionally, in a period of significant regulatory reform, the team has represented AIA Australia in industry discussions, working in collaboration with key stakeholders to identify and implement changes across the business within the relevant regulatory timeframes.