Our Executive Team

Michelle is responsible for leading AA Insurance to its next level of success, building on our customer centric culture and shared vision to earn the trust of every New Zealander by protecting what matters most. Michelle has 20 years’ experience in executive and senior leadership roles on both sides of the Tasman, specialising in transformation and the creation of innovative customer and digital experiences.

Michelle has held a number of executive portfolios at Tower and was an executive of Spark Digital. During her 12 years in Australia, Michelle held several senior customer and product leadership roles at Telstra Corporation, leading significant cross company transformation and simplification programmes.

Peter is responsible for the finance, customer resolution, and corporate affairs functions at AA Insurance, including managing relationships with the company’s bank, investment, and reinsurance advisors and partners. Peter is an experienced finance leader with deep expertise across some of New Zealand’s most complex organisations. Prior to joining AA Insurance, he was Chief Financial Officer at Southern Cross Healthcare and previously served as Group CFO at Auckland Council and CFO at the University of Auckland.

He has also held senior finance leadership roles at Christchurch City Council, where he played a key role in resolving longstanding insurance matters following the Canterbury Earthquakes.

Simon leads the company’s drive to give customers superior insurance protection and an excellent experience at claims time. He has spent over 25 years in the New Zealand insurance industry.

He first joined AA Insurance in 1997 as part of the company’s graduate programme, starting in customer service before working in a variety of roles within the company including Innovation, Pricing, Planning and Analysis, and Claims. Simon became our Chief Operating Officer in 2020 and spent over 12 months as our Acting CEO in 2022-2023.

Vanessa provides risk support and oversight for AA Insurance. She is accountable for second line of defence risk-related accountabilities including risk, compliance, quality assurance, internal fraud and regulatory affairs.

Vanessa is an experienced enterprise leader with 20+ years of experience in risk management leadership. She has expertise in a range of sectors, including Financial Services, Media and Telecommunications. She has worked across all three lines of defence and brings a wealth of multi-sector experience, having also held roles at ASB, ANZ, Fairfax Media, Spark New Zealand and PWC.

Vanessa is regarded for taking an enterprise view, balancing risk with financial, customer and people outcomes, and communicating effectively with stakeholders to build buy-in and trust. She is a values-driven leader, with a reputation for building high performing and engaged teams.

Neville is responsible for leading AA Insurance’s Digital, Data & Technology teams, ensuring technology services are reliable, secure, and continuously improving to support strong customer and business outcomes.

Neville is an experienced technology and operations executive with extensive cross industry experience across financial services, insurance, media, and technology in New Zealand, Australia, and Asia. Prior to becoming Acting Chief Information Officer, he held senior leadership roles across IT Operations and Outsourced Technology Services, where he led large, complex technology environments, uplifted service maturity, modernised core platforms, and supported major transformation programmes.

Neville is known for his pragmatic leadership style, strong governance mindset, and passion for developing high performing teams to deliver sustainable, customer focused outcomes.

Shaun oversees AA Insurance’s brand and customer-focused activities. His responsibilities include product, portfolio and pricing, customer communications and experience, marketing and brand.

Shaun has a wealth of experience as a senior executive and business adviser focused on delivering great experiences and outcomes for customers, stakeholders and communities. He has held a number of GM roles at Genesis Energy across customer, digital and delivery. Prior to Genesis, Shaun spent many years in Financial Services including 13 years at ANZ. He has also gained experience through shareholder advisory and board assignments, focusing on new business ventures, sustainability, and innovation.

Paula is responsible for people and capability including organisational development, health and wellbeing, performance, and talent acquisition at AA Insurance. Paula and her team foster a diverse and inclusive workforce, focussing on lifting performance while building strong leaders and a culture where everyone can thrive.

Paula is an experienced executive leader with a career spanning over 20 years in people, culture and communications roles. She has expertise across a range of sectors including banking, insurance, aviation, legal, media, technology, government and not for profit.

With an executive coaching background, Paula is highly experienced in senior stakeholder management while supporting teams to deliver innovative solutions that support business goals.

Jennifer is responsible for leading AA Insurance’s Sales and Service functions and supporting frontline and policy operations.

An experienced senior leader, Jennifer has spent more than a decade leading large-scale transformation programmes and managing large operational teams for insurance companies, both in New Zealand and overseas, and has helped build the foundations for AA Insurance’s transformation programme. She is passionate about turning strategy into action, creating the conditions for diverse teams to succeed and ensuring change delivers lasting value.

Her focus is on continuing to improve outcomes for customers to support AA Insurance’s ambition to help more Kiwi and their communities live life with confidence.