Meet our team: Paul Wallis

We sat down with Paul Wallis, who was recently appointed as TAL’s General Manager of Group Partnerships. Paul works alongside General Manager of Group Partnerships, Dan Taylor, to oversee TAL’s partner portfolio, with Paul leading our relationships with AustralianSuper, Rest and Cbus. We explored how Paul’s career in financial services and life insurance has shaped his approach to bringing the best of TAL to our super fund partners.  

What was the career path that led you to your role today? 

I started my career as a trainee in financial services, straight out of high school. That first role was at a small credit union, where I ended up staying for 13 years. I went back to university, completed my Master of Management, and eventually led most of the functions across the business. 

From there I made the jump to NAB, which was a big shift from a 200-300 person organisation to one with 45,000 people. I moved through several roles and found my way to another life insurance company, where I spent nine years working across claims, operations, contact centres and transformation projects. That experience is what brought me to TAL in 2022, initially as a Program Manager for Claims. 

What are some of the major projects you’ve delivered at TAL?

The common thread across most of my work has been transformation, taking something complex and making it simpler and better without losing sight of the person at the end of it. 

One of the first major pieces of work was insourcing AustralianSuper’s claims management into TAL. It ran across four workstreams simultaneously: people, process, technology and commercials. On the people side alone, that meant hiring close to 100 new staff and building what was essentially a new business unit inside TAL. We delivered ahead of schedule, and what I reflect on most is that it set the tone for the kind of partnership we’ve built since. 

From there, we moved into an ambitious digital program. Cover Assist, TAL’s digital underwriting journey, was upgraded to be mobile-compatible and simplified for AustralianSuper members. And our digital claims lodgement experience, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, has shown real improvements in how quickly and easily members can access support when they need it most. 

I’ve also had the chance to lead cross-functional innovation work, bringing together teams from claims, product, pricing and technology to rethink what the claims experience could look like for members. That’s the kind of work that energises me most, the moment when something that looked impossible starts to move. 

What has working closely with fund partners taught you about how these relationships work best?

My time leading the AustralianSuper partnership taught me that the best outcomes come when both sides are genuinely invested in solving things together. When you’ve worked through something as complex as a full claims insourcing and then delivered member-facing change like the digital claims experience, you build a level of trust that goes beyond the commercial arrangement. 

That’s the approach I want to bring to the broader portfolio. I’m only a few weeks into the expanded role, but I’ve already spent time with key stakeholders at Cbus and Rest, and what’s clear is that both funds care deeply about the value of insurance for their members. The opportunity to deepen those relationships and continue to deliver real outcomes together is what makes this role so exciting.

What does the new GM Partnerships role look like?

The role broadens the remit from leading a single partner relationship to being responsible for a portfolio across AustralianSuper, Rest and Cbus. All three funds already have strong digital foundations with TAL, and we’re working together to deliver the benefits of TAL Connect, from online claims lodgement and integrated API connections that support a consistent, high-quality service for members.

Looking ahead, what excites you most about this next chapter?

The foundations that have been laid across our partner relationships are incredible, and the super fund landscape is only growing more complex. That means the ways we can support our partners are growing too. 

I’m looking forward to building on that work and shaping the future of the service we can offer all of our partners.