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. MEDIA CONTACT +32 (0)2 557 57 37 / +32 (0) 479 79 50 02 INVESTOR RELATIONS Brussels +32 (0)2 557 57 33 Utrecht +31 (0)30 252 53 05 Ageas Rue du Marquis 1 - 1000 Brussels - Belgium 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 This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Ageas via Thomson Reuters ONE [HUG#1669028]