Born in Australia and raised in the small town of Kerikeri in New Zealand, Toni Ferrier came from a family that was always struggling to make ends meet.

‘I was constantly told that I’d need to earn my own money as I was never going to inherit any,’ says Ferrier, CEO of AIG New Zealand. ‘I chose law because my 17-year-old brain figured lawyers made money.’   

One of the few in her secondary school year level to go on to further education, Ferrier completed her law degree at the University of Waikato.  

Making the move into insurance

An opportunity to set up an in-house legal team at Royal & Sun Alliance (now Vero) was the catalyst for her move into insurance, having previously worked in law as a senior associate in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.  

The role led to several others across many different functions at the company, including claims, national broker sales and distribution. 

More recently, Ferrier has held executive positions at Lumley Insurance through its acquisition by both Wesfarmers and IAG, and at Crombie Lockwood. She has also served as a Commissioner for the Earthquake Commission and has sat on the boards of a range of organisations, starting with Accuro Health Insurance in 2017 (retiring in December 2019) and continuing with tech business Fergus Software, as well as the Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ). 

Leading through adversity

Ferrier is a firm believer in the leadership mantra ‘we are better together’. And having taken over the CEO reins at AIG in early 2020 — just as the pandemic was unfolding — it is a mantra that has stood her in good stead.

She is incredibly proud of her team at AIG, who displayed ‘the utmost professionalism when dealing with a new chief executive, other leadership changes and COVID all in the same three months’.  

‘There’s nothing like a crisis to bring people together,’ she says. ‘The best thing a leader can ask for is a diverse team of people who all want to make a difference, know how to collaborate and play to each other’s strengths.

‘That’s what I look for in leaders and what I hope I deliver. In addition, great leaders need to be resilient, curious, open minded, commercial and outstanding at selling a clear vision and bringing their team on the journey.’

Targeting the SME market

Ferrier says AIG’s current challenge is to bring its rich heritage and expertise in the corporate segment across several specialist lines into the small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) segment at scale.

‘We’re committed to increasing the number of New Zealand businesses and brokers with access to the insights and products we’ve developed,’ she says.

‘We’ve got a great team that is focused on this shift in our business model and customer focus to better support and benefit our SME customers and their brokers.’

Premium

You need to login to access this

Login

What are CIP Points? About ANZIIF Membership