“I would like to thank Henk Janssen for his extraordinary dedication to Baloise over the past 18 years,” says Baloise CEO Gert De Winter. “Baloise has grown substantially in Belgium during his six-year tenure as CEO, not least through the acquisitions of Fidea and the Athora non-life portfolio. We have established ourselves as one of the top four non-life insurance providers in Belgium and, in terms of volume, the portfolio has become a central pillar within the Baloise Group. Henk has been a driving force behind these achievements. He has strengthened relationships with brokers and has positioned Baloise Belgium as a strong partner for its stakeholders, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. We wish him all the best for the next chapter of his life.”

Henk Janssen will retire on 31 January 2023 and will remain a member of the Executive Committee until then. He will be succeeded by Christophe Hamal, who has been a member of the Executive Commitee at Baloise in Belgium since 1 May 2022. The 44-year-old British-Belgian dual national takes over as CEO with immediate effect. Christophe holds a Master of Science in Business Engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven as well as an MBA from INSEAD. Until April 2022, he was CEO of Buy Way Personal Finance, one of the biggest fintech companies in Belgium. From 2009 to 2017, he was Senior Principal at The Boston Consulting Group. Before that, he held the position of CFO at SIAT in Gabon for three years. He started his career at Roland Berger in 2001.

Gert De Winter is delighted about Hamal’s appointment: “I have come to know Christophe as an inspiring personality and I am confident that, under his leadership, Baloise Belgium will be in capable hands. He has all the tools and experience he needs to take the company forward on the successful path of our Simply Safe strategy and to tackle challenges such as ever-changing customer needs, the digital transformation, the data economy and agile working methods.”