Profile
"West Oak’s success has come from always putting our clients’ best interests first and always finding ways to improve and add more value to them"
Andrew mcquiston,
west oak family office, wellington-altus private wealth
Anna Kavanagh has been passionate about insurance since joining the industry over 35 years ago. She started her career at a small life insurance company that manufactured term products distributed through the traditional brokerage network. It was a time when the industry was going through a dramatic consolidation and an era of mergers and acquisitions that would last for over 20 years.
As the companies she worked for changed owners, so did the opportunities that she was provided. She moved from traditional insurance products like term and whole life to new and innovative products like disability insurance for blue collar workers and critical illness. She quickly became an advocate for the financial security that insurance provided to consumers.
As she continued to progress to more senior product roles and build deep product expertise, it was the energy from working with the distribution channels, both brokerage and captive sales forces, that really excited her. Being closer to the customer and gaining deeper insights into their needs, behaviors and attitudes became an obsession with Anna.
“When I joined the space, there weren't a lot of women in senior roles,” says Kavanagh. “So, I had to decide what kind of leader did I want to be. Did I need to be aggressive and tough to gain respect? If I showed too much empathy would I be considered weak or too emotional? In the end, I decided that it was more important to be authentic and care about your people and have trust and confidence to take risks with business decisions.”
In 2006, as the direct channel was beginning to emerge as a new distribution channel, she made the decision to move to a bank-owned insurance company where direct to consumer was the predominate distribution channel. From here, the roles expanded beyond life and health to product management roles in travel and currently a distribution role in home and auto insurance.
“Not too many insurance professionals get the opportunity to work in both the life and health industry and the home and auto Industry,” she says. “I consider myself very fortunate in being able to do that. There were so many transferrable skills I gained from life and health, and the home and auto industry has a level of complexity that is so different and so it's been really exciting and invigorating.”
Currently, Anna is the vice president of the Affinity Market Group at TD Insurance, the Canadian market leader in affinity and direct-to-consumer for personal home and auto insurance. In this role, Anna has the privilege of overseeing the management of over 700 professional, alumni and corporate employer partners across Canada.
Throughout her career, she has been described as an inspirational leader who has been able to attract and develop diverse talent. She is deeply committed to developing talent and actively mentors diverse individuals with a focus on building the next generation of leaders who share her passion for this Industry.
"Insurance hasn't always been considered a cool industry, but it is!” she says. “I am so excited for the new talent entering our space – where we are able leverage data and analytics, artificial intelligence and so much more to better understand our customer and their needs.
“So often I hear people say, ‘I never planned to be in Insurance, but here I am.’ It would be great to change the perception of the industry so that young talent would know just how exciting, complex and sophisticated our space is.”
66 Wellington St W, 39th Floor, Toronto, ON M5J2W4
(416) 983 7824
Anna.Kavanagh@td.com
ca.linkedin.com/in/annakavanaghtd
tdinsurance.com
Anna Kavanagh
Vice President, Affinity Market Group
TD Insurance
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
Milestones
2013
Ted Talk in collaboration with key media
Master of Education (Curriculum and Pedagogy)
2013
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
2017 - Present
2011–2017
2004 - 2011
2017–2018
2018–present
Anna Kavanagh
Vice President, Affinity Market Group
TD Insurance
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
Profile
Milestones
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
2017 - Present
2011–2017
2004 - 2011
2017–2018
2018–present
Anna Kavanagh
Vice President, Affinity Market Group
TD Insurance
Read on
Special Report
Home
Bio
Milestones
2018–present
2017–2018
2004 - 2011
2011 - 2017
2017 - Present
2018–present
Insurance Business Magazine | Key Media
CHRO at Definity
2018–present
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
2017–2018
Human Resources Magazine | key media
CHRO at High Liner Foods
2017–2018
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
2004 - 2011
Human Resources Magazine | key media
Head, Distribution and Channel Strategy, RBC Insurance
2004 - 2011
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
2011–2017
Human Resources Magazine | key media
Vice President, Life & Health Products, TD Insurance
2011–2017
1998–2007
2017 - Present
human resources | key media
Vice President, Affinity Market Group, TD Insurance
2017 - Present
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. A volutpat laoreet suscipit duis. Diam aliquam sed ut massa viverra a, eget libero.
Milestones
Profile