Global reinsurance giant Swiss Re has announced the appointment of Archie Kane as the new non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of ReAssure, its UK closed book business.
The appointment is effective immediately, and sees Kane provide leadership to the firm’s Board of Directors, as well as advise management on strategy and to see that communications with stakeholders are conducted in both an effective and timely manner during ReAssure’s expected initial public offering (IPO) in 2019.
Currently, Kane is Non-Executive Director at Melrose Industries PLC, and has previously served as Governor of the Bank of Ireland from 2012-2018. He also worked at Lloyd’s Banking Group from 1986-2011.
Thierry Léger, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Swiss Re Life Capital, commented: “We would like to extend a warm welcome to Archie Kane as the new Chairman of the Board at ReAssure. He brings vast financial industry leadership experience along with in-depth understanding of best practices on corporate governance. I am confident that Archie Kane can provide ReAssure with strategic direction – especially during the important IPO process.”
Swiss Re has been exploring a potential IPO of the business for some time, with the reinsurer’s CEO, Christian Mumenthaler, stating previously that Swiss Re is not the ideal owner of the business.
Swiss Re took an £800 million investment into ReAssure from MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc in October 2017, followed by a further investment of £505 million at the start of 2018, and an additional £315 million towards the end of last year.
At the same time, Swiss Re announced the appointment of Mark Hodges to lead ReAssure into its planned IPO.
However, industry reports in early 2019 have said that specialist insurance firm Rothesay Life is reportedly planning a £3.5 billion acquisition of ReAssure, potentially disrupting its IPO plans.
