Head of ING Antai Life Insurance to retire soon

ING Antai Life Insurance Co (ING安泰人壽), the nation's fourth-largest life insurer by premiums, yesterday announced that its president and chairman, Patrick Poon (潘燊昌), will retire at the end of this month.

Poon will also quit the Hague-based ING Group NV as chief executive officer of its greater China region and is expected to take a leading role in China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co (中國太平洋保險), a company official said yesterday.

China Pacific Insurance has formed a joint venture with the ING Group to establish the Shanghai-based Pacific-Antai Life Insurance Co (太平洋安泰人壽).

Starting next month, business operations in the ING Group's greater China region will be supervised by Jacques Kemp, chief executive officer of ING Insurance Asia-Pacific, the company said.

The operational scope of the group's greater China region includes China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Poon, 58, is a life-insurance veteran with 35 years of working experience in the sector.

Kemp praised Poon's considerable contributions to ING, including his efforts to establish the Taiwan branch in 1987 and make ING Antai the nation's second-largest foreign life insurer, the company said in a statement.

Poon's retirement is the latest management change at ING Antai. Last month, chief executive officer Chan Pi-yao (陳丕耀) decided to leave after his contract expired at the end of last month. Chan's post has been taken over by John Wylie, regional general manager of ING Asia-Pacific.

The appointment of Wylie, an expert in pension programs, is aimed at boosting the company's sales and market share here by exploring the potential retirement pension market.

As Chan is still on vacation, whether he will renew his contract with ING is unknown.