New Groupama chief unveils top team

New Groupama chief executive Thierry Martel has named his top executive team.

Martel took over from long-standing Groupama chief executive Jean Azema at the end of October amid concerns about the insurer’s sovereign debt exposure.

Benoit Maes, currently chief executive of life unit Groupama GAN Vie, has been named group chief financial officer, reporting to new deputy chief executive officer Christian Collin.

Pierre Lefèvre has been named head of international business and subsidiaries; Michael Lungart will become director of insurance, banking and services; and Sylvain Burel has been appointed director of group communications. The three men will all report directly to Martel.

All the new appointments are effective from 1 December.

“I wished, along with Christian Collin, to surround myself with a tight-knit team, made up of strong personalities whose experience and expertise are recognised and who will be able to mobilise all Groupama staff to meet the challenges that we face,” Martel said in a statement.

Groupama has had a difficult year. In addition to losing Azema, its Standard & Poor’s financial strength rating has been downgraded twice this year because of the company’s high exposure to peripheral eurozone sovereign debt. The rating is currently BBB with a negative outlook, having started the year at A-.

The company is considering selling its GAN unit to combat the debt burden.

An Insurance Times investigation found that Groupama’s peripheral eurozone sovereign debt exposure was more than three times its shareholders’ equity at the half-year 2011 stage.