Former APRA member to join Heartland board

Geoff Summerhayes is set to sit on the board of Heartland Group from October, following a five-year term as board member with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

Heartland had flagged plans to grow its Australian business during its recent 2021 financial year results, with Mr Summerhayes’ commercial and regulatory experience expected to boost its director capability.

Previously, Mr Summerhayes held executive roles with NAB, including chief executive of wealth management arm MLC, and he had also been CEO of Suncorp’s life and wealth businesses in Australia and New Zealand.

He had served as an executive committee member on the insurance global standard-setting body, International Association of Insurance Supervisors, where he chaired the audit and risk committee.

Mr Summerhayes had also completed work on climate change-induced financial risk through APRA, IAIS and the UN Environment Programme, where he chaired the Sustainable Insurance Forum.

Since leaving APRA, he became a senior adviser for Pollination Group, a specialist climate change advisory and investment firm.

Meanwhile, Heartland Bank director Kate Mitchell is also set to the join the parent company’s board from October.

She has been a director of the banking subsidiary since March 2019 and will continue in the role, while commencing at the Heartland Group board.

Previously, she worked in investment banking in the UK, holding senior and management roles across Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank.

Recently, Heartland reported profit growth of 20.9 per cent year-on-year in FY21, to $83.4 million.

The group saw its Aussie reverse mortgage business generate 5.5 per cent more in net operating income, but a booming property market had resulted in historically high repayments.

The reverse mortgages loan book also passed $1 billion, with around 53 per cent of business coming from intermediaries.

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