Generali CIO resigns; successor and country manager named

Italian insurer Generali has promoted Marco Sesana to the position of country manager for Italy and appointed Timothy Ryan as its group chief investment officer (CIO).

Sesana will also retain his current position of Generali Italia's chief executive officer (CEO). In his new role, the company said Sesana will oversee the development of Italian business, focusing on customer experience, distribution networks and innovation.

Ryan will replace the current group CIO Nikhil Srinivasan, who has left “to pursue new opportunities in investment management”. Ryan will assume the new role from January 9.

Both Sesana and Ryan will join company’s group management committee (GMC) in January 2017.

Sesana joined Generali Italia in 2013 as chief operating officer and was tasked with integrating its Italian insurance companies. He became the CEO of Generali Italia in May 2016.

Ryan has previously held leading roles in AXA Investment Managers and AllianceBernstein, with posts in France, Japan and the UK.

Philippe Donnet, Generali Group CEO, said: “Today the Generali team grows even stronger with the addition of two highly respected and experienced managers, who will make a major contribution to deliver on the strategy and achieve excellence in all sectors and countries where we operate.

“I am delighted to see the promotion of an existing member of our team, who has shown great skill, as has Marco Sesana, and I am very happy to welcome Timothy Ryan, a manager with huge international experience in the investment sector.”

Donnet added: “I would like to thank Nikhil for his hard work and excellent performance in managing Generali’s assets in what has been a particularly challenging economic environment of exceptional volatility and low interest rates. I wish him every success in the next chapter of his career.”