Jeff Howells has been appointed to the new GM position at A&I Member Services (AIMS), the joint venture between Austbrokers and IBNA.

Mr Howells has spent most of his 25 years in insurance broking at Jardine Lloyd Thompson, where he was most recently GM, NSW corporate risk. He has also served as Deputy Chairman of the NIBA NSW divisional committee.

Mr Howells will report directly to Austbrokers CEO Lach McKeough and will be responsible for the operations and promotion of the AIMS alliance.

He said yesterday he intends to start devising the AIMS strategy as soon as he starts his new job in mid-November.

"We'll be putting together a business plan that will lay the groundwork for how AIMS will operate," he said. "I'll be working collaboratively with the board and the steering committee to formulate and execute the plan."

The listed Austbrokers and the IBNA cluster group have created the AIMS alliance to provide shared services.