The region’s largest insurance firm, New Zealand-headquartered Tower Insurance, has announced the appointment of a Pacific Partnership Development Manager.

Tower Insurance has appointed a new Manager for Pacific Partnerships Development and advised of the employment of Marcus Gibson.

Born and bred in Fiji, Mr Gibson joins Tower from ASCO Motors where he was the Regional Manager-East for the Suva Dealership, the largest dealership in Fiji. 

Mr Gibson said in a statement released by the insurance firm that he is thrilled to be joining the Tower team.

“With the impact of climate change and the risks we face in the Pacific, I am looking forward to helping provide more awareness around the many benefits of insurance,” he said. 

“Insurance is so important, if your house is demolished like what we saw for some of our customers in Tonga earlier this year, having insurance as a backup means everything. 

“Just putting a payment aside for your insurance can avoid so much stress – if you don’t have insurance, you’ve got everything to lose.” 

Mr Gibson held various management roles during his time with ASCO Motors across the Toyota, Yamaha and Massey Ferguson franchises, spanning operations, sales and relationship account management. 

He also managed the Lubricant Portfolio for Total Fiji Ltd, across after sales and technical support for Fiji and the Pacific, with a brief stint with Aggreko Rentals, looking after its sales and operations in Fiji. 

“I’ve been in the automotive industry for a long time so the transition is exciting,” Mr Gibson said.

“If I was ever going to join insurance it was always going to be Tower. Tower is the top player and you want to be with the top player. Tower is number one.” 

Tower Head of Pacific Retail Distribution, Joanne Rasmussen, said in a statement that the new position and Mr Gibson’s appointment is an essential part of the company's plan to improve insurance accessibility and awareness throughout the region.

“Marcus’ experience in both relationship management, sales and operations are complimented by a very strong network base he has built in Fiji and across the Pacific,” she said.

“Marcus will be invaluable in making insurance even simpler and easier for our Pacific customers.

“We know he will be a real asset to the Tower team and will greatly help drive positive customer and insurance outcomes throughout the Pacific region.”

Mr Gibson’s appointment comes on the back of the launch of My Tower Fiji – the first fully self-service online insurance portal in the Pacific – which allows customers to check their policies, pay premiums, get a quote, purchase insurance and change their sum insured online.

Tower plans to launch My Tower in Vanuatu this month and across the other Pacific Island nations Tower operates in by October this year.