Aviva, the UK savings and insurance group, has recruited Adam Uszpolewicz to become the new chief executive of CU Polska, its life and pensions business in Poland.
He will take up the new role of deputy chief executive from 12 February 2007 and will become CEO when Zbigniew Andrzejewski retires on 31 March 2007.
Uszpolewicz is currently an executive director at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Warsaw and has held senior positions in a number of leading international financial services companies, such as GE Capital and Cigna, including working in London and Luxembourg.
From 1999 to 2005 Uszpolewicz played a leading role in developing the Polish arm of Nationwide, an American life insurance company, taking it from start-up to one of the top five life insurance businesses in the Polish market.
Uszpolewicz is a qualified chartered accountant and has a degree in English and economics from Copenhagen University.
“Zbigniew joined CU Polska Life in 1997 and went on to lead the group successfully through some very challenging and exciting times,” says Tidjane Thiam, chief executive Aviva Europe. “Both as group chief actuary, for six years, and as group CEO, the role to which he was promoted in 2004, he played a key role in consolidating CU Polska’s leading position in the Polish market. Over the last 10 years, CU Polska’s total assets have grown from 50 million to 8 billion, a compound growth rate of 65% per year. With over three million customers, CU Polska is now the fifth largest financial institution in Poland, and I’m therefore pleased that the business will continue to have Zbigniew’s support in an advisory capacity until the end of the year.”
Zbigniew Andrzejewski says that during his 10 years in charge CU Polska has become a market-leading company in both Poland and Lithuania. “I look forward to helping Adam settle in as CEO and I’m sure that he’ll continue to build our business in Poland with great success,” he says.
Tidjane Thiam says the new CEO brings CU Polska “the benefit of his extensive experience of the international financial services sector, together with expertise in defining and executing successful business development strategies. Adam has a very impressive track record, particularly in the investment and banc assurance arena and, above all, he has an excellent understanding of the life insurance sector in central and eastern Europe. I’m delighted that he’s joining the team and am confident that under his leadership, Aviva will continue to go from strength to strength in Poland.”
Uszpolewicz himself says CU Polska has “tremendous potential.”