Insurance Australia Group appoints new CEO
Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has appointed Peter Harmer as managing director and chief executive officer, effective as of 16 November 2015.
Harmer will replace Mike Wilkins who will retire as managing director and CEO but will remain in an executive capacity until 31 March 2016 to ensure a smooth transition. Wilkins has led IAG for more than seven years.
Harmer joined IAG in 2010 as CEO of IAG subsidiary CGU. He has held a number of executive roles across IAG and was appointed CEO of IAG Labs in July this year with responsibility for driving digital initiatives and innovation as well as creating incubator areas to explore new opportunities across IAG and its brands.
Brian Schwartz, IAG chairman, said: “Peter has a great passion for leadership, developing people and delivering to customers and, coupled with his extensive insurance industry experience, he is ideally suited to lead IAG through the next phase of its growth and development.
“Peter led a tremendous turnaround in the culture and performance of CGU during his time as its CEO. More recently, as CEO of IAG Labs, Peter has laid the foundations for IAG’s digital future.
“The board has always had a strong focus on succession planning with a commitment to developing internal candidates as potential CEO successors. Peter’s appointment demonstrates this commitment and highlights the depth of talent within IAG.”
Harmer added: “I’m delighted and humbled to be given the opportunity to lead IAG. We live in an age of disruption where the needs and expectations of our customers are changing rapidly as they embrace innovation and quickly adopt new technologies. New and different competitors are entering the market and even the way we work is transforming, with a greater focus on inclusiveness and agility.
“There are so many exciting opportunities with these changes, and because of the platform Mike has created we can embrace them from a position of strength. We’ve already started to do this and I look forward to building on these opportunities.”
