Smith-Gander steps up as chair at HBF

Diane Smith-Gander is set to chair HBF as the incumbent, Tony Crawford, signalling he will retire from the board in May.

Mr Crawford joined HBF's board in 2014 and has been its chair since 2016.

Prior to that, he was best known as partner at, and later chief executive of, Phillips Fox, which is nowadays known as DLA Piper.

"It has been a privelege to serve as chair of an 80-year-old organisation that has continued to strengthen its position while looking after its members during what has been one of the most challenging periods of change for HBF," Mr Crawford said.

"I am proud of what we have achived during this time but none more so than knowing our members have been at the core of every decision we have made."

Ms Smith-Gander meanwhile joined HBF's board in 2020 and is one of Western Australia's busiest non-executive directors.

She currently sits on the boards of Keystart and AGL Energy, and has since last year chaired ASX-listed outfits DDH1 and Zip Co.

"I would like to thank Tony for the leadership he has shown as chair, including the endorsement of HBF's bold growth strategy and ensuring we maintained a member-centric philosophy while adpating to the evolving COVID-19 situation," she said.

Board changes at HBF come just days after the Perth-based health insurer announced it had partnered with national pharmaceutical retailer TerryWhite Chemmart to expand members' access to major health services.

That comes just months after the Perth-based health insurer took a significant stake in ASX-listed dentistry outfit Pacific Smiles Group and wholly acquired local allied health outfit Life Ready Health Group.

Jenny Seabrook was the latest addition to HBF's board, joining in July last year.

She is currently chair of Deterra Royalties and a non-executive director of BGC Australia.

HBF ranks fourth on Data & Insights' fund managers list, with $1.49 billion worth of assets under management.