Vergel de Dios tapped to head Generali Pilipinas

MANILA, Philippines - Generali Pilipinas Life Assurance Co., an insurance unit of Banco de Oro Unibank Co. (BDO), has tapped Renato A. Vergel de Dios as its new chief executive officer and president.

“He was chosen by the board,” said Tessie Sy-Coson, vice chairman of Generali Pilipinas and chairperson of BDO.

Vergel de Dios will take over the helm of Generali Pilipinas starting Oct. 16.

Industry sources said Vergel de Dios was chosen from a shortlist of aspirants as early as the first semester of the year.

Outgoing chief executive Derek Chan, meanwhile has reportedly been transferred to a new regional assignment. Chan, who came from AXA China and the American International Assurance (AIA), joined Generali Pilipinas in August 2008.

“Chan has always been on a temporary assignment in the Philippines. At the same time, BDO officials wanted to hand pick the new chief executive,” an industry source said.

Generali Pilipinas is a joint venture between Generali Asia and BDO. Generali Asia is a regional alliance between Assicurazioni Generali (Generali) of Italy and Jerneh Asia Berhad of Malaysia.

Prior to his new post in Generali Pilipinas, Vergel de Dios ran an insurance and financial consulting firm.

He was chief executive officer and president of Manulife Financial Philippines until he took early retirement in 2006.

During his stint with Manulife, Vergel de Dios engineered critical acquisitions and consolidations for the Philippine operations of the Canadian insurance giant. These included the acquisition and integration of CMG Philippines, MetLife Philippines and Zurich Life Philippines Inc.

When Manulife acquired the global operations of John Hancock, a large US-based life insurance company, Vergel de Dios again engineered its smooth consolidation which catapulted Manulife into the top 10 life insurers in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, former Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho has been elected as board chairman of Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc., a subsidiary of Sun Life Financial Inc. of Canada.

Camacho will be an independent, non-executive board director of Sun Life of Canada (Phils.), succeeding Stephan Rajotte, Sun Life Financial’s president for Asia. Rajotte, however will remain a board member.

Likewise, Camacho will continue in his current role as managing director and vice chairman of Credit Suisse Asia Pacific.

Prior to joining the government Camacho was managing director and chief country officer for the Philippines of Deutsche Bank, AG. He began his professional career at Bankers Trust where he worked for 20 years in various positions in New York, Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore.