Lloyd’s of London appoints Allianz’s Burkhard Keese as CFO

(Reuters) — Lloyd’s of London on Monday named Burkhard Keese as its finance chief, effective April 1.

The marketplace said Mr. Keese would join Lloyd’s after 14 years at German insurer Allianz SE, where he was chief financial officer of Allianz Deutschland AG, Germany’s largest insurer with over €34 billion ($38.92 billion) in premiums.

Mr. Keese’s appointment comes after Lloyd’s, which recorded a loss of £2 billion in 2017 due to catastrophes such as hurricanes and wildfires, named a new chief executive last year.

The market bounced back after ditching some loss-making businesses, although weak investment returns hurt profit.

“Burkhard joins Lloyd’s at an exciting time. We are working with all our stakeholders to significantly improve near term profitability,” Chief Executive Officer John Neal said in a statement.