The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has promoted two senior leaders into executive director roles, following a series of recent changes affecting its general insurance, life insurance, and superannuation oversight. Effective March 30, APRA has appointed Peter Diamond as executive director, general insurance and banking, and Peter Kohlhagen as executive director, policy and advice. Both previously held general manager positions.
Diamond replaces Jane Magill, who earlier this year became executive director, life insurance, private health insurance, and superannuation, filling the role vacated by former executive director Carmen Beverley‑Smith. APRA had announced in January that Diamond would serve as acting executive director, general insurance and banking while a recruitment process was under way and that Magill’s appointment to the life, private health, and superannuation role would take effect Feb. 16.
Kohlhagen assumes the policy and advice portfolio following the resignation of former executive director Sean Carmody. APRA said recruitment will now begin, on both an internal and external basis, to fill the general manager roles vacated by the two promotions. The changes set out the current leadership responsibilities across APRA’s insurance and superannuation remit at a time of ongoing prudential and regulatory initiatives.
In his new role, Diamond will oversee APRA’s general insurance and banking activities, including prudential supervision and specialist risk teams responsible for capital, liquidity, and related prudential settings. His portfolio covers authorised deposit‑taking institutions and general insurers, sectors that form a substantial part of APRA’s mandate. Diamond joined APRA in 2020 and has held several leadership positions within its banking division across entity supervision and specialist financial risk functions. Before joining the regulator, he worked for Deutsche Bank in the United Kingdom for many years, including global responsibilities within the Debt Capital Markets business for sovereign, supranational and agency issuers and for the Financial Institutions Group.
Diamond’s earlier career also included roles at Royal Bank of Scotland and Merrill Lynch. Across these positions, Diamond worked on capital markets transactions and advisory mandates for banks and insurance companies in major markets, with exposure to funding, capital structure, and risk transfer arrangements. He has also maintained an interest in fintech, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies in financial services, areas that intersect with prudential risk, operational resilience, and regulatory expectations for supervised entities.
As executive director, policy and advice, Kohlhagen will lead APRA’s development of prudential standards and guidance across banking, insurance, and superannuation. The division also provides technical support to supervisory teams and engages with international bodies involved in financial sector standard‑setting. He joined APRA as a graduate in 2005 and has held senior leadership roles across its superannuation, insurance, and policy and advice divisions.
Kohlhagen’s international work has included roles with the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), where he has represented APRA on the Policy Development Committee and the Audit and Risk Committee. He is the immediate past chair of the Asian Forum of Insurance Regulators. He holds bachelor’s degrees in law and economics from the Australian National University and a master’s degree in applied finance from Macquarie University. Kohlhagen is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia.
The appointments sit within APRA’s governance framework, under which a full‑time executive group of between three and five members is responsible and accountable for the authority’s performance and operations. The executive group, chaired by John Lonsdale, meets formally at least monthly and more often as needed. It also holds weekly management meetings with senior leadership to consider supervisory and organisational matters.
Current members alongside Lonsdale include deputy chair Margaret Cole and members Therese McCarthy Hockey and Suzanne Smith, with sector responsibilities spanning banking, superannuation and life, general, and private health insurance. Executive directors, including Diamond and Kohlhagen, support this structure by managing key industry and functional portfolios such as general insurance, life and health insurance, superannuation, cross‑industry risk, data, technology and security, and enterprise services.
The executive group is supported by several governance committees, including the Audit and Risk Committee, which is composed of three external independent members. The committee oversees APRA’s risk management operations, financial and performance reporting, internal controls, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and generally meets four times a year, with an additional meeting to review annual financial statements.
