The Co-operators has announced that current president and CEO Rob Wesseling has been appointed as chair of the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) for a four-year term.
Wesseling’s appointment was made during the ICMIF’s general meeting, currently underway in Rome.
The ICMIF is comprised of 197 mutual and cooperative insurance companies in 60 countries, which together serve a total of over 350 million members/policyholders and employ more than 226,000 people. It was noted that the mutual and cooperative sector has grown by 39% since 2007, exceeding the total worldwide insurance growth by 11.9%. The mutual and cooperative sector also saw its total insurance market share increase to 26.3%.
"I'm delighted to take on this role at what is an important time in our sector,” commented Wesseling. “Through our work at ICMIF we've demonstrated that the cooperative and mutual insurance sector is critical to building a better future.”
The CEO added that the ICMIF is actively working towards a “resilient, sustainable, and equitable future,” and that he believes that by working towards ambitious targets such as disaster risk reduction, sustainable development, and responsible investing, members of the ICMIF will have a “catalytic impact” on the global insurance industry and eventually the economy.
"Co-operators is a leader in the Canadian and global cooperative community and is actively working towards building a more sustainable and resilient future," added ICMIF CEO Shaun Tarbuck. "This is a time of considerable opportunity and challenge for the global mutual and cooperative insurance market. I am delighted that Rob has accepted the position of ICMIF Chair, and I look forward to working closely with him over the next four years."
In addition to his new responsibilities, Wesseling is the current chair of the ICMIF Foundation, the federation’s charitable arm. The ICMIF Foundation is working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to launch an Insurance Innovation Challenge Fund, to allow mutual insurance initiatives to strengthen the financial resilience of people with low incomes. The fund has been provided with an initial capital infusion of US$600,000.
Read more: Who is Canada's top-rated insurer CEO?
According to Glassdoor, Wesseling is Canada’s 8th most approved insurance CEO by employees. He has an average approval rating of 88% among 210 employee-submitted votes. The highest-rated Canadian insurance CEOs were Charles Brindamour of Intact; Kevin Strain of Sun Life; and Denis Ricard of iA Financial – all three had average approval ratings of 97%.
