The International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) has announced that Rob Wesseling, President and CEO, of Co-operators, Canada, will be the Federation’s new Chair for a four-year term.
The announcement was made during the ICMIF Centenary Conference in Rome, hosted by ICMIF member Gruppo Unipol.
ICMIF states that Wesseling’s appointment comes at a time of opportunity and challenge, as the sector rebounded strongly from a 2020 which marked only the second year of negative growth for the mutual market (-0.4%) since the financial crash in 2007, with forecasts for 2021’s figures pointing to the strongest growth the sector has experienced in ten years.
Wesseling commented on the new role, stating, “I’m delighted to take on this role at what is an important time in our sector. Through our work at ICMIF we’ve demonstrated that the cooperative and mutual insurance sector is critical to building a better future.
“Together, we’re actively working towards a resilient, sustainable, and equitable future and I believe that, by working towards ambitious and aggressive targets in areas such as disaster risk reduction, sustainable development, and responsible investing, we will have a catalytic impact on the global insurance industry and, eventually, the economy as a whole.”
Shaun Tarbuck, ICMIF CEO, added, “I am delighted that Rob has accepted the position of ICMIF Chair, and I am looking forward to working closely with him over the next four years. This is a very exciting time for the Federation and its members.
“Under the leadership of our retiring Chair Hilde Vernaillen, we have transformed ICMIF into an organisation focused on helping our member companies achieve their strategic goals and sustainably grow in their local markets. We are very grateful to Hilde for her great support and commitment to ICMIF and its members over the last four years.
Through its influence work, ICMIF represents the interests of global mutual/cooperative sector – accounting for approximately 26% of the global insurance market – to key stakeholders around the themes of resilience, disaster risk reduction, sustainable development and responsible investing. Under Rob’s leadership we look forward to continuing this work and further growing our sector’s market share.”
In October, The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the ICMIF Foundation launched the Insurance Innovation Challenge Fund, to boost financial resilience of low-income populations in developing countries.
According to the announcement, the Fund will enable mutual insurance initiatives to strengthen financial resilience of people with low income. It was initially funded with $600,000.
