Athora has confirmed the appointment of Mike Wells as its new group chief executive officer.
The confirmation of the appointment comes after the receipt of regulatory approval. Wells is a former CEO of Prudential, where he spent over 26 years. Athora also said that regulatory approval has led to Ward Bobitz being confirmed as group general counsel. Bobitz spent a quarter of a century at Genworth Financial, where he was executive vice president and general counsel.
The two men are also to join the management executive committee with immediate effect.
As CEO of Prudential, Wells helped execute two strategic demergers, accelerating the development of an Asian shareholder base through a successful equity issuance on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and transitioning the company into an Asian and African focused life and health insurer. He left that firm at the end of the March, a move that was announced in February.
Wells was originally announced as group CEO of Athora in July, alongside Michele Bareggi who was appointed to the newly created role of president and deputy CEO. Back then, the firm said the appointments were subject to regulatory approval.
At the time, Nikolaus von Bomhard, chairman of Athora board of directors, said: “Athora has made significant progress since its creation in January 2018. The growth achieved in just over four years reflects the business’ strong foundations and ambition to become a leading provider of retirement products and solutions in Europe. With Mike and Michele and their combined skills and experience we have the ideal leadership team for this next stage of Athora’s development.”
The confirmation of these appointments come weeks after the firm said it had completed its acquisition of Italian life insurer, Amissima Vita.
Athora agreed to acquire Amissima Vita back in September 2021 as part of its continuing growth strategy focused on traditional life savings and pension products.
