Manchester (UK) – Tuesday 11 July 2023: The International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) today announced that Shaun Tarbuck will retire from his current role as Chief Executive Officer in November 2024 after 28 years of service to the global Federation.

It was also announced that Liz Green, Executive Vice-President, becomes CEO Designate with immediate effect and will formally take over as CEO of ICMIF in November 2024.

After 28 years of service at ICMIF, Shaun Tarbuck will officially step down as CEO at the end of the next ICMIF Biennial Conference in Buenos Aires (Argentina) in November 2024.

Commenting on the announcement, Rob Wesseling, Chair of the ICMIF Board of Directors and President & CEO of Canadian ICMIF member Co-operators said: “Throughout Shaun’s tenure as Chief Executive Officer of ICMIF, the Federation has continued to achieve consistent growth, which is in no small way down to his strong leadership. His contribution over the last 28 years has been truly outstanding.

“The selection of Liz Green as Shaun’s replacement follows a rigorous search and selection process by an external, independent recruitment consultant that had been engaged by ICMIF’s Nominations Committee. We are delighted that both the Nominations Committee and subsequently the ICMIF Board, at its meeting last month, unanimously agreed to appoint Liz as the future Chief Executive Officer. In the interim, Liz will be CEO Designate as she transitions into the CEO role, and she will work closely with Shaun in the months ahead to ensure a smooth handover and consistent leadership,” Wesseling concluded.

Tarbuck will stay on with ICMIF for a minimum of two years in a part-time advisory/ambassadorial role. In this new role, he will advise the CEO, continue to lead ICMIF’s partnerships with the United Nations agencies and other sustainability projects which are still in their early stages, and serve as ICMIF’s ambassador to selected external stakeholders.

“Every leader should have the aim of leaving their organisation in a better place than when they started,” said Tarbuck. “When I started at ICMIF in 1995, we had about 65 members; we now have over 200. Back then, the ICMIF name was not known, even in the mutual sector, now it is globally recognised by the insurance industry and key influencers such as the United Nations, the B20 and the OECD. We had 130 delegates at the 1995 ICMIF Conference in Manchester; last year we had a record number of 410 at our Centenary Conference in Rome (Italy). ICMIF is financially stable and professionally managed as well as being seen as a leading global association.”

“There are so many accomplishments that I am proud of during my time at ICMIF but the main one is building a team that continues to push the boundaries of a world-class association, fit for purpose to represent the best of the insurance industry. I believe Liz is well-placed to take ICMIF to the next level and to create a safer more resilient world,” he concluded.

Green said: “I am honoured and energised by the opportunity to continue the incredible work that Shaun and our talented team have already achieved. Our global network of some of the sector’s most inspiring leaders is driving the insurance industry in so many ways.

“It will remain ICMIF’s role to amplify, inspire and connect these organisations in meaningful and inclusive ways. I relish the challenge to continue to raise the bar for our network and look forward to working with Shaun during the leadership transition over the coming months”.

Liz Green joined ICMIF in 2012 and since then has worked closely with Shaun Tarbuck to develop and deliver its strategies.

ENDS

Notes for editors:

More about Shaun Tarbuck

Shaun Tarbuck joined ICMIF in 1995 and was appointed Chief Executive in 2005. He has overseen the growth of the organisation from 65 members in 1995 to 205 members in 60 countries today. The mutual sector represents 26% of the global insurance market with USD 1.5 trillion in premiums, and assets in excess of USD 9 trillion. The mutual industry has 1 billion policyholders and has grown by 30% in the last 10 years (industry growth is 17%) with ICMIF members growing by 40%.

Shaun has been involved with the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda since the beginning. He spoke about responsible investing at the UN General Assembly in 2014 in addition to speaking at many other UN global conferences since.

He headed up the creation of the world’s first SDG measurement benchmark for insurers titled the ICMIF-calibrated Insurance SDG Calculator, together with Swiss Re and in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance (UNEP FI PSI). Shaun built the world’s first resiliency benchmark in partnership with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), entitled the ICMIF UNDRR Resiliency Benchmark. Both benchmarks were launched in October 2022 at the ICMIF Centenary Conference.

Shaun is a member of the B20 taskforce for Financing for Global Economic Recovery. He sits on the Climate Bond Initiative Advisory Board, which sets the green bond standards, and is a founding member of the Insurance Development Fund (IDF) with a board seat, as well as being the current Co-Chair of its disaster risk reduction taskforce. He was Chair of the IDF Inclusive Insurance Working Group from 2016-2019. Shaun was appointed to the Board of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) in June 2022 for a four-year term. He has also recently been appointed to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) taskforce for the insurance sector.

More about Liz Green

Liz worked in the UK mutual insurance sector since 2000, holding senior membership and communications roles in insurers, Swiss Life (UK) and Royal Liver Group. She joined ICMIF in 2012 and since then has worked closely with Shaun Tarbuck to develop and deliver its strategies. Since joining the Federation, Liz has moved up in seniority from SVP Communications; to SVP Membership, to Executive Vice-President, which includes overall responsibility for development of the new strategy, its implementation and the day to day running of the business and management of its staff.

Since January 2023, Liz has been running the core business allowing Shaun to focus more on ICMIF’s vast influence agenda.

About ICMIF

The International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) is the global association for cooperative and mutual insurers. As a membership organisation, the Federation’s mission is to help its member companies achieve their strategic goals and sustainably grow in their local markets.

Focusing on the key areas of mutuality, sustainability and business transformation, ICMIF’s networking and business intelligence activities leverage the knowledge, competencies and experience of its global network of member-owned and purpose-led insurance companies across 60+ countries. Through its influence work, ICMIF represents the interests of global mutual/cooperative sector – accounting for approximately 26% of the global insurance market – to key stakeholders around the themes of resilience, disaster risk reduction, sustainable development and responsible investing. For more information, visit icmif.org.

For further information or to request interviews, please contact: Alison Grant, Communications Manager, International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation: [email protected]

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