Aviva Singlife's Walter de Oude to step down from executive roles

AVIVA Singlife's Walter de Oude will step down as deputy chairman and executive director with effect from Jan 1, 2022, the company said in a bourse filing on Friday (Dec 24).

De Oude, the former group chief executive of Singlife, will take on a non-independent and non-executive role as founder director instead, following the S$3.2 billion merger between Singlife and Aviva Singapore last November.

De Oude previously relinquished his appointment as interim group chief executive of Aviva Singlife on July 19 this year after Pearlyn Phau was appointed as group chief executive and executive director of the company.

Chairman of Aviva Singlife Ray Ferguson said that the transition is "an important part of the future strategy and development of the company".

"My fellow directors on the board look forward to our continued engagement with Walter in his new non-executive director role, as we support the strategy of the management team under Pearlyn."

Phau added that the company has benefitted from de Oude's "experience and passion".

"The team will continue to take the company strategy forward and ensure that our current and future customers are well served. We are on track to complete the merger in January 2022 and focus on transformation and growth going ahead."

Aviva Singlife said it has reinforced its management team in the last few months with external hires from a diverse mix of backgrounds to supplement its core insurance expertise. These executives have experience in areas such as technology, digital, data, media and customer experience.

READ MORE: Aviva Singlife names DBS senior executive Pearlyn Phau as group CEO