Friends Life announced today the appointment of John Van Der Wielen as Managing Director International. John will report directly to CEO, Andy Briggs and will become a member of the Group Executive Committee. Friends Life expects John to join before the end of the year.
John joins Friends Life from ANZ Banking Corporation where he was Managing Director, Wealth based in Sydney, Australia. He has over 20 years of international experience in the financial services industry covering life and pensions, general insurance, wealth management and banking, in particular as CEO of HBOS Financial Services.
In his role as Managing Director, International John will have responsibility for all of the group’s international businesses. These include Friends Provident International (FPI), fpb AG – FPI’s German distribution partner, Lombard, and AmLife in Malaysia. Reporting to John will be Paul Tunnicliffe, Managing Director Friends Provident International, David Steinegger, Chief Executive of Lombard and Stefan Giesecke, Chief Executive of fpb AG.
Andy Briggs, chief executive officer, Friends Life said:
“John is a high calibre executive with the key skills and experience to drive the international business forward. He brings with him tremendous knowledge of running international businesses. This will help enable us to meet our financial targets in this area.
“I am confident John is a good, strong fit and that he will drive this business forward.”
John replaces Rocco Sepe who is leaving the company at the end of September.
Source : Friends Life Press Release
