Legal & General’s Wilson to Retire After Decade as CEO

Legal & General Group Plc’s veteran chief executive officer is to retire after more than a decade at the helm of the insurer.

Nigel Wilson has told the insurer’s board he “would like to retire from executive life,” according to a statement Monday. He has been CEO since June 2012, having joined as chief financial officer in 2009.

The company said it will start “a rigorous process to appoint a successor, considering both internal and external candidates.” Wilson has agreed to stay as CEO until a replacement starts and the process will take about a year, the statement said.

Wilson is one of the City of London’s most-recognizable figures, and was knighted in 2022 for services to financial services.

“Legal & General has been a big part of my life and my decision to retire from the Group has been taken with mixed emotions,” Wilson said in the statement. “I remain fully committed to delivering the current strategy of the group, in partnership with the executive team, and supporting the transition to a new chief executive.”

His departure comes after a turbulent few months for the industry with pensions caught in a downwards spiral at the end of September after the rapid drop in gilt prices. L&G’s asset management arm, Legal and General Investment Management, is one of the UK’s largest providers of liability-driven investing, which was most affected by the slump.

Photograph: Nigel Wilson, chief executive officer of Legal & eneral Group Plc, following a Bloomberg Television interview in London, U.K., on Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Photo Credit: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg

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