Board
Bob Buckley, Chairman and Independent Director
Summary of experience
Bob Buckley is a retired insurance professional with 42 years experience in all facets of general insurance activities.
He began his career with NZI Insurance in Toowoomba Queensland and worked in London, Adelaide, Darwin, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth where he now lives.
Bob reached the position of Assistant General Manager Australia with NZI Insurance and in 1993 he moved to Perth to take up the position of General Manager Wesfarmers Federation Insurance. He was subsequently appointed Managing Director of Wesfarmers Insurance Division.
During Bob’s 16 years with Wesfarmers, the business expanded through the acquisitions of Lumley General Insurance in Australia and New Zealand, the acquisition of OAMPS Insurance Brokers and also New Zealand insurance broker Crombie Lockwood.
Bob has served on the Boards of a number of internal Wesfarmers’ companies as well as several insurance industry organizations.
In 2007 he received the award for General Insurance Leader of Australia and New Zealand. In retirement he acts as a consultant in insurance related activities.
Ruth Owens, Independent Director
Qualifications
B.Bus, MBA, FCPA, FAICD
Summary of experience
Ruth has a Bachelor of Business and a Masters of Business Administration and is a Fellow of CPA Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. For the past five years Ruth has held a number of non-executive directorships. Prior to this Ruth held senior managerial and finance roles within the professional services sectors of legal and accounting. She has extensive non-executive directorship experience and has chaired and participated in many board committees with particular emphasis on Finance, Risk and Audit Committees.
In 2007 Ruth was awarded ‘Professional of the Year’ by Professions Australia recognising her significant community and voluntary involvement.
Tony Button, Director
Qualifications
B.Eng (Hon) ANZIIF (Snr Assoc) FCLA, MAICD
Summary of experience
Tony is the General Manger of Expertise Services and has 22 years of experience as a loss adjuster. Tony joined Freemans Sydney in 1997 and was a board member of Freemans Australia for many years. Tony manages major commercial property and construction claims, specialising in engineering claims and claims involving industrial plant and machinery. Tony previously worked across various Army units in equipment management before being transferred to Malaysia as an advisor to the Malaysian Ministry of Defence.
Ian Simpson, Director
Qualifications
B.Ec.(Acc.), FCLA, ANZIIF (Snr Assoc.) CIP, MAICD
Summary of experience
Ian is an inaugural director of Cerno (Formerly MYI Freemans) and heads up the Strategy and Marketing portfolio.
Prior to the MYI Freemans merger, Ian was the Managing Director of McLarens Young Australia and has been part of the group for in excess of 21 years.
Ian joined the MYI National Management Team in 2002, serving as Corporate Services Manager, then General Manager MYI Australia prior to the MD appointment.
Greg McCosker, Director
Qualifications
ACLA; ANZIFF (Aff.) CIP, MAICD
Summary of experience
After establishing the loss adjusting firm of Nowland McCosker in 1985, Greg was a founding partner of Freemans, in 1991. He has attended all classes of losses, including claims exceeding $30 million in value. Greg is currently the National Technical Leader - Liability
Matthew Hanson, Director
Qualifications
B.Mgmt (Mktg), ACLA, ANZIIF (Fellow)
Summary of Experience
Matthew has 25 years experience in the insurance industry. He has completed a Bachelor of Management Degree at the University of South Australia, majoring in Marketing. In 1996, he became a Fellow of the Australian Insurance Institute, and a Chartered Loss Adjuster. He also holds a builders licence.
In addition to his Loss Adjusting experience, Matthew is the Director of a state-wide swimming pool fence inspection business. More recently, he has developed an innovative solution to the design, development and distribution of mobile applications suitable for businesses that carry out checklist based inspections.
Nick Johnson, Company Secretary
Qualifications
CA(SA), ACIS
Summary of experience
In 2008, Nick joined Freemans Insurance Services as Chief Financial Officer. Nick is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Secretary. He has over 20 years of accounting experience in a wide variety of industries, including investment banking, funds management, IT, construction building materials and consulting. He has held a number of executive positions across sectors including acting as Head of Asia Pacific Shared Services and Director of Financial Consulting. He has worked in London, Johannesburg, Tokyo and Sydney.
