Munich Re has bolstered its life operations in Australia with the appointment of a new research and development manager and chief medical officer.

Andrew Francis has joined the Sydney-based operation as Manager Research and Development, having been working for the reinsurer as an actuarial consultant on data analytics for the life business.

Mr Francis worked for the Australian business in 1994 as a life insurance senior actuarial assistant.

Since then he worked in Munich’s UK life business holding various senior appointments including director of individual protection.

“With his extensive experience, Mr Francis will be instrumental to support the variety of research and development propositions we are planning to bring to the Australasian market,” a Munich Re Asia spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

The company has also recruited CommInsure Chief Medical Officer Bill Monday to fill a similar role at the Australian life business.

“He will also be responsible for the management of the underwriting and claims management teams,” the spokesman said.

“Mr Monday brings to our company a wealth of insurance medicine expertise along with a proven track record as CMO, within both insurance as well as reinsurance.”

Meanwhile, CommInsure has added Louise Crowle to its permanent medical team after being solely contracted to the insurer for the past four years.

GM Business Services Michael Browne says CommInsure has a very experienced medical team comprising two permanent doctors and two consulting doctors, and also has access to its reinsurers’ chief medical officers.

“Having this breadth of medical expertise in-house allows us to better support our claims and underwriting teams to assess complex cases more efficiently, without the need to go externally,” he said.

“It also brings greater knowledge transfer and information-sharing, allowing our people to react quickly to customer and adviser demands.”