Clive Bannister hired as chair designate of Beazley

Insurance company Beazley has appointed Clive Bannister, the former boss of Phoenix Group, as chairman effective immediately.

Mr. Bannister will assume his role at the conclusion of the insurer’s annual general meeting on 25 April.

Industry veteran Bannister, who ran Phoenix for nine years, is currently chairman of UK fund manager Rathbones Group and the Museum of London.

Mr. Bannister, 64, also held management positions at HSBC Group, where he was CEO of HSBC Private Banking.

He succeeds interim chairman Christine LaSala, who was appointed to this role after David Roberts stepped down last October. Mr Roberts stepped down to become President of the Court of the Bank of England.

Mr Bannister said: ‘Beazley has an excellent reputation for innovation and delivering shareholder value.

‘I look forward to continuing this achievement in the coming years together with the board and the management team.’

Christine LaSala, the group’s interim president, said, “I have been impressed throughout the search process by the positive and consistent interactions with Clive, with references, career record and his enthusiasm to take on the role.”

Last year Mr Bannister was widely seen as a favorite candidate to become the next chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority, but he lost out to Marcus Bokkerink.

Beazley shares rose 0.67 percent or 4.50p to 672.00p today, after rising more than 38 percent in the past year.

In November, Beazley reported a 22 percent increase in gross premiums for the first nine months of the year and said initially estimated losses from Hurricane Ian would be about $120 million.

Beazley reported a market-to-market investment loss of $289 million, or 3.6 percent for the year to date due to rising interest rates.

Risk assets have also seen weakness as global equity markets fell more than 25%. As of September 30, our fixed income portfolio had a maturity of 1.9 years and a market return of 4.6%.