Andy Haste to join Lloyd’s as deputy chair
AFTER a short break from the world of insurance, RSA’s former chief executive Andy Haste is planning a return to the sector as deputy chairman of Lloyd’s of London.
Haste will begin a three-year term at the UK’s insurance and reinsurance market today, stepping in to succeed Dr Andreas Prindl, who is retiring.
He bowed out of RSA in August last year after eight years at the FTSE 100-listed firm, during which he oversaw a period of strong growth and profitability at the home and motor insurer.
Since his departure he has been linked with the top job at Aviva, after chief executive Andrew Moss stepped down in May this year, and with a possible bid with a group of private equity firms for insurance group Direct Line, prior to its flotation in September.
“I am very pleased to be joining the Council of Lloyd’s and continuing the great work of my predecessor,” said Haste yesterday. “I look forward to helping Lloyd’s position itself as the global centre for specialist insurance and reinsurance.”
Before joining RSA, Haste was chief executive of AXA Sun Life and director of AXA UK. He is also a non-executive director of ITV.
Haste joins Lloyd’s after the insurer swung back to profit for the first six months of 2012, earning £1.53bn for the six months to 30 June after a quiet six months that saw no major natural disasters.
But claims related to Hurricane Sandy, which battered the Caribbean and east coast of the US earlier this week, are likely to hit its member firms, with some disaster modellers predicting they could reach twice the $4.5bn paid out after Hurricane Irene last year.