Monday 15th of June 2009

Naomi Ballantyne's decision to leave her "baby" ING Life is a significant loss for the life insurance industry...but it's also not a big surprise. A story started circulating late last year that she may move on. Also it seems when there are changes to the leadership of a group significant personnel changes follow. We have seen this with ING since Helen Troup took over the reigns. She is in the process of making a new ING - which considering the current circumstances, isn't a bad thing. It's a little irrelevant whether Naomi's departure and Troup's arrival are related. The purpose of this post is to acknowledge what Naomi has done and also give readers a chance to leave their messages. No one would disagree with the proposition that Naomi has been a big figure in the life insurance industry, through her roles at Sovereign and her decision to leave and establish what was called Sovereign Mark II. That Mark II was Club Life and evolved into ING Life. ING Life has been doing a great job in the life insurance market and certainly must be highly profitable for the parent company. Naomi has often been outspoken and some of her views have created controversy. It's important that the industry has robust discussions around issues and no doubt Naomi's departure will be a big loss. To leave a comment or your thoughts on her departure use the comments box below.