International Women's Day 2022 Panel

Happy International Women’s Day 2022 from ANZIIF. To mark the occasion, ANZIIF Writer Anna Game-Lopata led a panel of three prominent women in insurance to learn their experiences as diverse women in the industry, to discuss the state of play in gender equity and nominate what changes we would like to see by International Women’s Day next year.

Our panellists were:

• Annmaree Bell, Head of Strategic and Business Insights for Zurich’s General Insurance business in Australia
• Seema Bangera, Executive Manager, Claims and Customer Solutions at Asteron Life, a division of Suncorp New Zealand
• Efy Karagiannis, Chief Officer, Victorian Managed Insurance Authority’s Domestic Building insurance program

About the speakers:

Annmaree Bell has more than 20 years’ experience working in financial services. Annmaree joined Zurich in 2010 initially as the Change Manager, for the Z.stream project, and she has a track record of delivering strategic projects across general insurance.

Annmaree is a member of Zurich's MindFit Steering Committee which directs our people, client and customer strategy on Mental Health. She is also an active participant and mentor for the Women's Innovations Network and an active steering committee member for Zurich RAP program. Annmaree also has a passion for the arts and has produced many films that have screened around the globe.

Seema Bangerra has spent 18 years in the New Zealand life insurance industry, including in leadership roles at Westpac and Kiwi Insurance. She stepped into her first leadership role at 21 when she became the Contact Centre Manager for HSBC Bank in India and joined Suncorp New Zealand in 2018 as the Manager Income Protection Claims before moving into her current role in 2020.
Seema’s role focuses on supporting customers in their time of need and she is an advocate for the positive impact that life insurance has on people’s lives. As a leader, she is also passionate about bringing diversity of thought and action into organisations and motivating and supporting those around her to be successful and grow their careers.

Efy Karagiannis is responsible for the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority’s Domestic Building insurance program, delivering insurance services and solutions to over 15,000 residential builders across Victoria. She has a Bachelor of Applied Science & Construction Management from RMIT and was previously a member of the Victorian Architects Registrations Board and National Occupational Licensing Authority. Efy is a passionate supporter of advancing