Bank insurer Belfius has not renewed Dirk Vanderschrick’s mandate as CEO of the insurance branch. That is a surprise, because the results are good.
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Vanderschrick’s four-year term as CEO of Belfius Insurance ended on Thursday without being renewed. Belfius decided to appoint the financial director of the insurance branch, Frédéric Van der Schueren, as CEO.
According to the newspaper The time political motives played a part in the appointment of Van der Schueren, who has an MR label. However, the privilege of making the decision to become CEO of the insurer belonged to Belfius Bank. In the short term it will be the second change at Belfius. Earlier, Geert Van Mol, who was chief digital officer (CDO) decided to leave Belfius. Vanderschrick, who worked for Belfius for 34 years, started at Bacob at the time and came from the Arco stable.
It is unclear whether politics played a role in Vanderschrick’s departure. Some say yes, others say no. In any case, there are indications that at least other elements were also at play and these must be sought in the complex governance structure of Belfius. A complex structure that is overseen by group CEO Marc Raisière.
Governance fout?
When Belfius said aloud in 2017 that it would copy KBC Group’s bancassurance model, it was not consistent in that exercise. Belfius retained a separate executive committee and a separate board of directors for both the bank and the insurer. That is not the case for KBC, which opted for a single board of directors and a joint executive committee. At Belfius, this complex structure sometimes causes internal discussions about how close or how far away the banking activities should be from the insurer and vice versa.
Dirk Vanderschrick as CEO of Belfius Insurance applied the governance. This was inevitably not always received with equal applause by Marc Raisière, the CEO of the entire group and emphatically the number one of Belfius. On the other hand, it was also clear internally that Van der Schueren, who, like Raisière, has an MR label, had the ambition to grow.
Van der Schueren is a Belfius veteran. He has an MR label, which has led some to suggest that his appointment would have a political side. Something Belfius vehemently denies. Vander Schueren, who until last year was also chairman of the National Lottery.
With the departure of Vanderschrick, a second top director at Belfius will disappear in the short term. Earlier director Geert Van Mol decided to leave Belfius. The East Fleming became co-CEO of the West Flemish project developer Steenoven.
Belfius is a bank that overcame a deep crisis and gained a place among the leading financial institutions. The question for Belfius is what comes after the years of reconstruction, now that the bancassurer can be satisfied with the path it has taken.
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