Great-West Life has announced that it has made two major appointments to its Individual Customer unit. Sam Sivarajan will be Senior Vice-President, Wealth, Individual Customer, effective Sept. 1, and Chris Kirk, will be Vice-President, Lifetime Advice effective Aug. 15.

Sivarajan was formerly Head of Manulife Private Wealth which he joined in 2012. Kirk previously was Director, Total Wealth Strategy for Scotiabank.

Undertaking a major upgrade

In an announcement, Gerry Hassett, Executive Vice-President, Individual Customer, Great-West Life, London Life, Canada Life, stated, “Sam joins us at a pivotal time as we undertake a major upgrade of our Wealth offering focusing on developing high-quality solutions which will transform our position in the Wealth arena.”

Sivarajan will be based in Toronto. He is currently studying for a Doctor of Business Administration in Behavioral Economics with the University of Manchester specializing in investor psychology.

“Sam has developed a ‘goals-based investing’ model which is highly aligned with the principles of Lifetime Advice and that makes him such a great fit for our role. He’s excited about the opportunity to build something special with us and I am really looking forward to working with him,” says Hassett.

Special focus on lifetime advice

Kirk will be based in Toronto, but will also spend part of his time in London. His new role reflects “the special focus we’re placing on lifetime advice across Individual Customer,” says a second announcement signed by Hassett and Nick Pszeniczny, Executive Vice-President, Advisory Network.

“In this role, Chris will help us build tools and processes to ensure strong service and advice for customers through our advisor channels. He’ll also be responsible for understanding different advice models from other countries and markets to help us prepare for new trends and distribution dynamics,” says the announcement.