Virgin Money has appointed a new managing director – NRMA’s David Wakeley – to replace Rohan Gamble who left in March this year. Wakeley is currently general manager commercial at NRMA and will join Virgin in June.
“We did a pretty wide search for a candidate obviously with strong commercial and financial experience,” a spokesperson for Virgin Money said. “It’s a bit of an exciting time for the business with David coming on board to spearhead our existing products and explore new product opportunities.” At NRMA Wakeley was responsible for non-membership revenue and the financial outcome of business motoring, vehicle inspections, retail motoring and travel touring products. He was also in charge of new business development for the NRMA Motoring & Services portfolio. Gamble joined Virgin Money in May 2003 when it launched in Australia with its first credit card. He was also in charge of the launch of Virgin Super last year. “With the launch phase of the business successfully completed and the business about to go through a new phase of growth, Mr Gamble and the Board have mutually agreed that it is the right time to get in a new leader to take the business forward,” Virgin Money said in a statement in March. Virgin launched a low cost home loan in March and is expected to launch insurance products later this year.
There is one investment area where Insignia’s $180 billion super arm has not lost money for the past 17 years, which is what it calls the insurance-related investments. The alternatives strategy is gaining popularity among asset owners due to its diversification benefit, but Insignia’s super and asset management investment chief Dan Farmer warns it is a space where investors can suffer if they “stumble in without doing the homework”.
Darcy SongJanuary 23, 2025
