Liberty Life chairperson Derek Cooper announced on Tuesday that the group’s CEO, Myles Ruck, is to leave the company after his service-retention agreement expires on May 31 because of personal reasons.
In making the surprise announcement, Cooper said: “In the three years that Myles has been at the helm of the company, he has done an outstanding job at both a strategic and operational level. The board is sorry that Myles will be leaving Liberty, but respects his decision.
“However, I am pleased to say that his experience and advice will not be lost to the group as Myles has been invited to remain on the board of the Standard Bank Group as a non-executive director.”
Ruck will be succeeded by Bruce Hemphill, currently chief executive of Stanlib Limited. Rex Tomlinson will continue in his role of deputy chief executive and will in this capacity be assuming broader responsibilities, according to Cooper.
He added that the acquisition of Capital Alliance Limited (CAL) has by and large been implemented and Ian Kirk, former chief executive of Capital Alliance, has indicated that, following the successful completion of this acquisition, he will also be leaving the group to pursue his personal interests.
“Ian has played a key role in the swift bedding down of the CAL acquisition and the company and board are grateful to him for his substantial contribution and wish him well in his future endeavours,” Cooper said.
“Myles will, for a short period, remain on the Liberty Life board in order to facilitate an effective handover to Bruce.
“Good corporate governance dictates that he will then be retiring from the Liberty Life board,” Cooper added. — I-Net Bridge