The Board of Directors of Vanguard Life Assurance Company Limited has appointed George Kojo Addison as the new Managing Director of the company.
A Chartered Insurer of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) of UK, Mr. Addison holds an Executive MBA, Finance Option and Bsc. Administration from the University of Ghana, Legon.
He has further attended various local and international professional development programmes. Mr. Addison is also a product of the Life Insurance Module for Middle-Level Executives from the National Insurance Academy in Puna, India.
He is an author of “Standing Out” – a book on personal leadership for young executives who aspire to be at the top rung of the Corporate ladder.
For over a decade, Mr. Addison has taken on a number of the insurance industry’s most significant challenges, including business development and turnaround, policy and strategy formulation and made it his personal mission.
Having served as the immediate past CEO of Old Mutual Life Assurance and the Managing Director of StarLife Assurance, Mr. Addison joins Vanguard Life with diverse knowledge and experience in insurance and pensions management, strategy and finance, Risk management and Corporate Governance.
George comes to this position with over 20 years of continuous working experience in the insurance industry, 12 years of which has been in leadership and senior management positions in underwriting, marketing, business, and products development and general management.
Interestingly, Mr. Addison has returned to the Vanguard Family where his professional journey in insurance began and he worked with Vanguard for a decade.
To him, this is a homecoming, and his major strategic goal as he rejoins Vanguard Life is to assist in the transformation of the business and, as he confidently puts it, “to finish the unfinished business” by leading the business to recapture its pioneering and dominant leadership position by shaping and impacting the insurance landscape in Ghana and beyond.
His unique mix of strategic vision, deep level of focus, emotional intelligence, results-oriented attitude, passion, leadership skills and discipline combined with his intimate understanding of the insurance industry make him the right person to lead Vanguard Life.
His special advantage is that he possesses both an insightful understanding of the strategic imperatives and nuances of Vanguard Life’s business as well as savvy operational focus.
Among his major leadership footprints includes the stabilization and transformation of companies he has had the opportunity to lead. He has an industry reputation of being a visionary executive and a strategic thinker, with superb analytical skills.
Vanguard Life Assurance Company Limited, before it was incorporated in 2005, was a key department of Vanguard Assurance Company Limited since 1974 when it became the first privately owned indigenous composite insurance company transacting both life and marine insurance businesses in Ghana.
The tradition of Vanguard Assurance has been the development of leadership in all that pertains to insurance ranging from innovative products development, growing and development of talents and professionals and producing some of the industry best brains.
This tradition, according to Mr. Addison, must continue and Vanguard Life’s focus will be to reenact and reenergize the vision of the forebears in growing our own talents for the industry.
In view of the above, the Company has taken critical steps to address key challenges that inhibit the effective engagement of customers. The operating model of the Business is being reviewed in order to make it easier and more convenient for customers to access their benefits. Products are being thoroughly reviewed to ensure value for money for customers and shareholders. Robust governance and integrated risk management practices are being incorporated into the Business to promote accountability and efficiency.
George reiterates his commitment to ensure that Vanguard Life lives by its core mandate by following its founder’s (Nana Awuah Darko Ampem I of Blessed Memory) vision and core purpose for setting up Vanguard, that is, to help Ghanaians cope financially with risks and uncertainties through insurance – by paying legitimate claims and benefits of claimants and assured promptly when they are unfortunately impacted by unforeseen events.
The new MD expressed optimism that the Company would meet the new minimum capital requirements recently announced by the Insurance Regulator.
To Mr. Addison, coming back to Vanguard Life at this time provides an awesome opportunity to put Vanguard Life where it is supposed to be – at the vanguard of the insurance league table in Ghana and beyond.
