O’Sullivan, who has been chairman of Old Mutual since January 2010, will take on the role at Saga from 1 May 2018. He will replace 14-year Saga veteran Andrew Goodsell, who will retire from the board on 30 April 2018.
Prior to this, O’Sullivan spent 12 years at Zurich Insurance Group, where he held many roles, including CEO of Eagle Star, CEO of UK General Insurance, group chief financial officer and vice chairman of the management board.
Orna NiChionna, senior independent director, said: “We are delighted to welcome Patrick to the board of Saga. He brings many years of highly relevant commercial and board experience, working with companies in the financial services and insurance sectors.
“His wisdom and leadership will be invaluable as we invest in growing the customer base to deliver profit growth across the business.”
Before joining Eagle Star, he also worked for investment banks such as Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Barclays/BZW.
O’Sullivan said: “Saga is a household name and a brand that I admire. I am very pleased to be joining at a pivotal moment in the development of the company as it focuses on sustaining profitability and growth across the businesses.
“I look forward to working with management and the Saga board to build on recent investments and initiatives to deliver profitable growth.”
O’Sullivan’s departure comes as the group is gearing up to finalise the managed separation of its four core businesses, including its wealth management arm, asset management group and South African lender Nedbank Group. Recently, the investment manager confirmed it would be dropping the Old Mutual brand in favour of Quilter across its advice and wealth management business.
