POSTED 07 October 2021
- Simon Woods joins Resolution Life as Group CFO from EY
- His broad experience spans finance, including M&A, capital markets, capital management, accounting change and business transformation, gained across consulting and investment banking
- Resolution Life has grown to manage c.$60 billion of assets globally on behalf of approximately 2.5 million policyholders
Resolution Life, a long-term legacy life insurance solutions provider is delighted to announce the appointment of Simon Woods as Group Chief Financial Officer.
Simon will be responsible for the financial leadership of the business, including accounting, controlling, tax, investments, capital raising and deployment, debt strategy and management, and treasury services.
He joins Resolution Life from EY in Zurich, where he was a Partner in the EMEIA Financial Services group. At EY, he was responsible for a range of senior client relationships across insurance and leading EY’s client services for complex strategic change, including Brexit and LIBOR Transition. Before EY, he spent 15 years in Investment Banking, latterly as Head of Insurance Financing for Goldman Sachs’ Investment Banking Division in London. Prior to that, Simon worked at both UBS and HSBC.
Simon has advised numerous globally significant insurance groups with respect to financial strategy, acquisitions and divestments, debt and equity financing, capital management and solutions, and complex group issues.
He will report to Sir Clive Cowdery, Resolution Founder and Executive Chairman of Resolution Life, and will join the Group’s Executive Committee.
Resolution Life has previously acquired AMP Life in Australasia and in the U.S. it has acquired Voya Financial, Inc.’s individual life in-force business as well as recently signing reinsurance agreements with Lincoln National Corporation and Allianz Suisse Life. Combined with the Group’s Bermuda reinsurance base, Resolution Life currently manages c.US$60bn of assets, employs over 1,500 people and provides services to approximately 2.5m policyholders. Earlier this year, Resolution Life completed a c.US$1.6bn equity capital raise and has significant capital to deploy for future growth transactions.
Resolution Life and prior vehicles founded by Clive Cowdery under the Resolution brand have pioneered the consolidation of life insurance assets since 2003 and have deployed $16 billion of equity across multiple transactions.
Simon’s experience positions him to play an instrumental role at Resolution Life as we continue to grow through M&A. He already knows the business well and I look forward to working with him as the group helps even more global insurers to release capital by providing a safe long-term home for policyholders.
Sir Clive Cowdery Resolution Founder and Executive Chairman of Resolution Life,
I am delighted to join Resolution at a hugely exciting time for the company and the industry, and to help drive continued growth. The industry and societal need for long-term secure solutions for in-force policies has never been greater, and Resolution is uniquely positioned to deploy capital globally, and to provide full-service solutions across investments, biometric risk and operations.
Simon Woods Group CFO at Resolution Life
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
About Resolution Life
Resolution Life is a global life insurance group focusing on the acquisition and management of portfolios of life insurance policies. Since 2003 to date, prior Resolution entities together with Resolution Life have deployed c.US$16bn of equity in the acquisition, reinsurance, consolidation and management of life insurance companies. Together, these companies have served the needs of c.12.6m policyholders while managing over US$357bn of assets. Resolution Life today has operations in Bermuda, the U.K., the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, and has raised almost $5bn of equity to partner in assisting the restructuring of the primary life insurance industry globally. Resolution Life provides a safe and reliable partner for insurers as they restructure by:
- Focusing on existing customers, rather than seeking expansion by new sales
- Delivering policyholder benefits in a secure, well capitalised environment
- Returning capital over time to our institutional investors in the form of a steady dividend yield
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