Our Team

Executive Team

Mike Emmett
CEO and Managing Director

Mike Emmett

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director

Mike has enjoyed a diverse career working across the Insurance, Consulting, and IT Industries in Australia, the UK and South Africa. Prior to joining AUB Group, Mike was the Group CEO for Cover-More, previously an ASX-listed global travel insurer and now part of the Zurich Group. Mike previously held senior roles in Australia at QBE as Group Executive, Operations, and EY leading the Financial Services Advisory business.

Before moving to Australia, Mike spent several years working in London, including at IBM, leading the Insurance and Banking consulting teams and at Morse plc (Application Services) as Managing Director. Mike’s earlier career in South Africa included senior roles in Consulting at IBM, Accenture and PwC.

Mike is also a Chartered Accountant (SA).

Ben Bessell
Chief Broking Officer, Austbrokers

Ben Bessell

Ben is responsible for managing the broking networks and optimising the portfolio of businesses. Ben has been in the insurance market for over 25 years and was a member of the IAG and CGU Group Executive and where he held several senior executive positions, including CEO of IAG's Australian Business Division.

Mark Shanahan
Chief Financial Officer

Mark Shanahan

Mark has 30 years’ financial services experience in senior finance, CFO and COO roles in Europe, Asia and Australia. Mark spent 14 years with Macquarie Bank including nine years as CFO of the Asia Pacific Region and three years as CFO of Macquarie’s Retail Bank, Business Bank and Wealth Management division. More recently Mark was CFO and COO of Australian Ethical Investment, an ASX-listed fund manager and superannuation fund trustee.

Mark is a Chartered Accountant qualified in South Africa and Australia, and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Angie Zissis
Chief Underwriting Officer

Angie Zissis

Angie Zissis is a highly experienced professional with a distinguished career spanning 38 years in the insurance industry.

Since March 2016, Angie has been the CEO of SURA Pty Ltd. Additionally, he has led the AUB Group underwriting division as the Group Chief Underwriting Officer since July 2022, where he drives innovation and oversees the growth and development of product and underwriting agencies.

He has previously served as COO at Aon Australia, Finance Director at Marsh and NSW State Manager at ATC Insurance Solutions.

Richard Bell
Chief Legal and Risk Officer

Richard Bell

Richard has 20 years of experience in both private practice at top-tier law firms and in senior leadership positions with large ASX listed companies, including as Group General Counsel (Corporate) & Company Secretary at Aristocrat Leisure Limited. Prior to that, Richard worked for a number of years at leading international law firm Allens Linklaters as part of the Mergers & Acquisitions and Capital Markets team in Sydney.

Richard is an Admitted Attorney (Supreme Court of New South Wales) and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Australian GC100 and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Australia.

Steve Burnett
Group Chief Information Officer

Steve Burnett

Steve has over 20 years’ experience across the insurance and technology sectors. Prior to joining AUB Group in 2019, Steve was the COO Asia-Pacific for Cover-More. At QBE, Steve held key roles including Enterprise Analytics Director (Group Operations), Head of Technology (Intermediary Distribution), and Head of Group Applications (GIS). His earlier career includes separate tenures at IBM in Australia and South Africa, along with valuable experience in life insurance with Liberty Life in senior distribution roles.

EMAIL ALERTS

Interested in investing or just want to know more about AUB Group? Subscribe to receive all our announcements and news.