Chesnara CEO steps down

The chief executive officer (CEO) of life insurance consolidator Chesnara is set to step down as the company embarks on its next acquisition.

Graham Kettleborough has served at Chesnara for the past ten years. He will step down on December 31, 2014 and provide support and consultancy until 31 March 2015 to ensure a smooth handover to his successor.

John Deane has been appointed as an executive director and will take up the role of CEO. He has held various CEO and executive roles in Royal London, Old Mutual and Century Life and, more recently, has been leading a financial services consultancy which has been advising UK and overseas companies on a variety of strategic projects.

Chesnara is also set to acquire the Waard Group, comprising of three insurance companies and a servicing company in the Dutch market, for a consideration of €67.8 million.

Peter Mason, chairman, said: “I would like to thank Graham for his significant contribution to Chesnara over the past 10 years. He has led the company from an initial market capitalisation of around £100 million to one that has reached £400 million and generated dividends to shareholders of over £160m. Whilst, of course, we are sad to see him go we are nevertheless excited to have procured the services of John whose mix of UK, overseas, acquisition, regulatory and outsourcing experience is ideally suited to Chesnara continuing to achieve its strategic aims.”

Kettleborough said: “I am immensely proud of what we have achieved at Chesnara in the last decade. However, I now feel the time is right for me to step down and believe that Chesnara has a very exciting future ahead of it. The acquisition we are announcing today is the first step on that road and I can't imagine that there is anyone better than John to take Chesnara and this new opportunity forward. I wish all my colleagues the very best for the future and thank them for their invaluable contribution over the years of my tenure as CEO.

"We are very excited to acquire an attractive business in the Dutch market. The Waard Group should generate attractive financial returns and also provide a platform with enough scale and operational knowledge to enable further acquisitions in the Dutch and continental European markets. The company looks forward to working with our new colleagues in the Netherlands with a view to optimising our financial returns and identifying and acquiring other businesses."