Vagnone Named to Replace Greco at RAS

At a meeting on April 8, 2005, chaired by Giuseppe Vita, the Board of Directors of Italian insurer Riunione Adriatica di Sicurta (RAS) officially accepted the resignation of Mario Greco and named Paolo Vagnone to replace him. The Board then named Vagnone as the company’s new CEO, subject to approval by shareholders at a meeting to be held April 29.

Greco announced his resignation last week (See IJ Web site, April 6). RAS’ largest shareholder is Germany’s Allianz AG, which holds a 55.5 percent stake.

Vagnone joins the Board as an executive and therefore as a non-independent director. He was also named to replace Greco on the Boards of Directors of UniCredit and Pirelli & C., in which RAS is a stakeholder.

Vagnone, 41, is an engineer with a master’s degree in business administration. He joined RAS in 1997 as head of reinsurance, after working in a number of Italian and international companies. He was later appointed Central Manager and subsequently, in 2001, RAS’ General Manager. He has been head of all RAS Group insurance operations since 2004.

In an announcement on the Allianz Web site, Vagnone commented: “I take on Mr. Greco’s responsibilities with great determination and I am very proud to have been offered this important opportunity. The RAS team has been working together for years and has built up a very solid foundation; the way ahead is already mapped out and we look forward to proving our worth with increasingly successful results.”