Liverpool Victoria Financial Services Ltd (LV=), the 179 year old mutual insurer, today announces several changes to its Board of directors.
With effect from 01 April 2022, and subject to regulatory approval, Seamus Creedon will take over as interim chair from Alan Cook who indicated his intention to step down following the special general meeting on 10 December 2021.
David Barral will reach the end of his six year term on 07 March and will therefore step down from the Board. In addition, at the end of March Alison Hutchinson and Luke Savage will also step down as non-executive directors and members of the Board.
Seamus Creedon said; “LV= is owned by over 1 million members and it is humbling that over 174,000 voted on the proposed transaction which the Board put to them in good faith last year. We felt it right to take time to understand the message members gave the board. Put simply, our members told us that what they viewed as the modest financial advantages of the transaction, were not worth the loss of ownership and voting rights for our million-plus members.
“My task as interim chairman is to replace valued colleagues with a new chair and directors who will continue to develop LV= as a modern mutual insurer. I will be working closely with Mark Hartigan who has been doing an excellent job in strengthening the performance of the business. The board takes full responsibility for the unsuccessful transaction which Mark actively advocated on its behalf and my colleagues and I have high confidence in him and his team.
“Since the vote we’ve been listening to feedback from our members that many value our brand and proud history as a mutual, and are keen to see these continue. We have a strong balance sheet and have refocused our planned IT investment to continue to carefully manage our capital in order to sustain value for members. The uncertain course of the pandemic has renewed customers’ interest in insurance and income protection and we believe as a mutual in standing ready to meet those needs.
“We share a common interest with Royal London in a healthy and vibrant mutual sector so that we can both compete fairly with shareholder-owned firms. We have had, and continue to have, discussions with Royal London about if and how we can co-operate to the benefit of both sets of members and the mutual sector. In the meantime, we will continue to strengthen our independent business for the benefit of our existing and future policyholders.”