SYDNEY: BT Financial Group, the wealth management arm of the Westpac Group, is set to drive aggressive growth in the insurance sector following the appointment of a head of direct.
Nathan Dawes, the former global head of direct and eCommerce at Barclays, returned to Australia last month to take on the role, which includes the insurance business for the Westpac, St George, Bank SA and Rams brands.
Dawes is responsible for customer insight, segmentation, product design, development, management, sales and marketing for all direct channels including digital, direct marketing and telephony.
Dawes said the insurance sector was a "key focus for BT Financial" which has "rapid growth plans".
"BT Financial Group has aggressive growth plans in Australia," he said.
"[The sector is] highly competitive due to customers becoming more sophisticated and product simplicity and adaptability is expected.
"Direct is the fastest growing category for [BT Financial Group] and there are real opportunities to build the business and enable consumers to utilise their preferred channel to communicate with our brands."
Dawes said BT Financial Group was responding to the growth of digital and direct channels, which is due to changing customer behaviours and demands.
Dawes previous roles include head of marketing and web at Barclays Stockbrokers, based in London. He was also group marketing manager at Ninemsn Australia, and has held direct and digital roles at Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi in Australia.
BT Financial Group's creative and media agency's are Host and OMD respectively.
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