Tower Australia has settled the purchase of Australian life company PrefSure after regulatory approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.

The confirmation of the deal has led to a reshuffle. The former head of Tower Australia’s life business, David Callander, is now CEO of Retail Life, and former PrefSure MD Geoff Black is now CEO Alliances and Group Risk.

Group MD Jim Minto says the merged company will be a market leader in life insurance in Australia. “This is an attractive market with good underlying growth levels and with more opportunity to come from addressing the large levels of underinsurance that exist in Australia.”

Tower says it is the fastest-growing life insurer among the top 10 insurers, with a 63.6% year-on-year increase in new annual premiums.