Aviva Australia announced today the appointment of Grant Salmon as Asia Pacific Business Development Director.
 
Grant Salmon will be based in Singapore and reporting to Simon Machell, Chief Executive Officer for the Asia Pacific region. Grant's key responsibilities include strategy and business development, and brand development to support and continue Aviva's rapid growth as one of the leading players in the Asia Pacific region.
 
As a result of Grant’s new role, Aviva Australia has announced the appointment of Stephen Trist as Group Director - Distribution and Marketing, Frank Lombardo as Group Director - Operations and Sharam Hekmat as Chief Information Officer.
 
Stephen Trist has been appointed as Group Director, Distribution and Marketing. Stephen has over 20 years experience in the financial services industry specialising in financial planning, distribution and strategic roles. Stephen joined Aviva Australia in 1990, and is an original member of the Navigator team.  Stephen is responsible for Aviva’s strategic stake in leading dealer groups including Professional Investment Services (PIS), Meritum Financial Group, Infocus Wealth Management, Financial Technology Securities and AG Private Advisory.
 
Joining Stephen will be Frank Lombardo who has been appointed Group Director, Operations. Frank has been with Aviva Australia for over 15 years where he has held a number of senior management roles across both operations and product functions. Frank has been instrumental in driving the transformation of service levels throughout all areas of business at Aviva.
 
Also joining the executive team will be Dr Sharam Hekmat who has been appointed as Chief Information Officer. Sharam is a specialist in the development of next generation technology and has played a pivotal role in developing Aviva’s technology to lead in the financial services market.
 
Commenting on the new appointments, Allan Griffiths, Chief Executive Officer said, “Our sustained business growth and success, together with our continued focus on developing people and their careers has resulted in Frank, Sharam and Stephen being identified for these roles. Their combined commitment, expertise and knowledge will be instrumental in building on Aviva’s success.”
 
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High resolution photos of Grant Salmon, Stephen Trist, Frank Lombardo and Sharam Hekmat are also available.
 
Contact
Ariana Alvarenga
Public Relations
Phone: (03) 9829 8985
Mobile: 0409 187 487

About Aviva
We are the Australian face of the global Aviva group – a world leader in financial services.
 
Aviva is the world’s fifth-largest insurance group and the largest insurance services provider in the United Kingdom. We are the leading provider of life and pension products in Europe and are actively growing our long-term savings businesses in Asian markets, the USA and Australia.
 
We have premium income and investment sales of $103.35 billion and $764.66 billion of assets under management. Our 57,000 employees serve over 45 million customers.
 
Aviva has over 150 years of continuous operation in Australia, where our main activities are life insurance, investments and superannuation.
 
Aviva’s consistent record of innovation in the financial planning market dates back to the early 1990s when its Navigator technology and platform first allowed a range of investments to be consolidated into one portfolio. Today, Aviva continues to lead the industry with award-winning wealth creation and wealth protection products.
 
Together with Portfolio Partners, a funds management company which is also part of the Aviva group, we manage or administer more than $23 billion in funds for more than 300,000 customers (as at 30 June 2008).

*Aviva plc figures quoted are at 31 December 2007 and in Australian dollars.