Ageas announces appointment of Chief Operating Officer and management changes
Ageas communicated at its 2012 Investor Day its strategic choices and financial
targets towards 2015. To reflect the importance Ageas is placing on execution
and delivery, a new role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) has been created. The
role will report to Bart De Smet, Group CEO of Ageas. The COO will be
responsible for the implementation of the Group strategy, the achievement of the
targets set by Ageas at its Investor Day in 2012 and the further realization of
knowledge transfer and sharing of best practices within the Group. The four
Business CEOs (Belgium, United Kingdom, Continental Europe and Asia) will report
to the COO. As a consequence of this appointment the Group CEO will be in a
position to further strengthen his focus on the strategic development of Ageas
and on the relationships with investors, partners and the external market. Bart
De Smet will continue to be actively involved in a number of operating entity
Boards.
Barry Smith, currently Business CEO of Ageas UK has been named to the new
position of COO with immediate effect. This appointment recognizes Barry Smith's
significant contribution to the Group, together with his development and
leadership of the UK business over the past 11 years.
Andy Watson, currently MD of Ageas UK Retail, has been appointed to the role of
Business CEO for Ageas UK replacing Barry Smith. Andy joined Ageas in 2010 and
is well respected within Ageas UK. He brings with him a wealth of experience
from other leading UK insurance companies such as RBS/Direct Line, HSBC and
Cooperative Insurance, where he covered both manufacturing and retailing as part
of his remit.
Commenting on the appointments, Bart De Smet, Ageas Group CEO said:
"As we expand our business in Europe and Asia, we are delighted to appoint
excellent and proven business leaders such as Barry Smith and Andy Watson to
take us through the next stage of our development together with the other
members of the Executive and Management Committees of Ageas. They bring talent
and expertise to our Group and a track record of delivering strong results which
I'm confident will continue in their new roles. Appointing such experienced
internal candidates is a positive reflection on the strength of Ageas's
management team."
An updated chart with the composition of the Executive Committee and the
Management Committee of Ageas is attached. The composition of the Executive
Committee remains unchanged and Andy Watson will join the Management Committee.
Ageas is an international insurance Group with a heritage spanning more than
180 years. Ranked among the top 20 insurance companies in Europe, Ageas has
chosen to concentrate its business activities in Europe and Asia, which together
make up the largest share of the global insurance market. These are grouped
around four segments: Belgium, United Kingdom, Continental Europe and Asia and
served through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries and partnerships with
strong financial institutions and key distributors around the world. Ageas
operates successful partnerships in Belgium, UK, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal,
Turkey, China, Malaysia, India and Thailand and has subsidiaries in France, Hong
Kong and UK. It is the market leader in Belgium for individual life and employee
benefits, as well as a leading non-life player, through AG Insurance, and in the
UK, it has a strong presence as the fourth largest player in private car
insurance and the over 50's market. It employs more than 13,000 people and has
annual inflows of more than EUR 17 billion.
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www.ageas.com
New management structure:
http://hugin.info/134212/R/1669028/542175.pdf
Pdf version of the press release:
http://hugin.info/134212/R/1669028/542173.pdf
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Source: Ageas via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1669028]