Ann Brands becomes Argenta’s new COO

The Board of Directors of Argenta is nominating Ann Brands as director and member of the Executive Committees of Argenta Spaarbank and Argenta Assuranties. As COO she will be responsible for operational management and Client services.

She succeeds Anne Coppens who has been COO since the end of 2014, but who has also been responsible for the commercial management of Argenta’s office network as CCO, since the start of 2016.

“Ann Brands has close to thirty years of professional experience with various insurance companies where she has held a variety of positions. She therefore has all the knowledge, expertise and experience required to co-direct Argenta. With this background she is a strong addition to the Executive Committee that manages both the bank and the insurance company, and will give it a more balanced composition with experience in two areas of expertise,” according to Jan Cerfontaine, chairman of the Board of Directors.

“After actuarial work and management of the back office non-life, Ann Brands obtained knowledge and experience as the person responsible for infrastructure and software maintenance, management of the project portfolio, the back office and business intelligence. With her strong personality and strict management style, Ann will manage the back office of both the bank and the insurance company. The cooperation between IT and business in the development of new software applications and efficient process management is vital here. She will make an important contribution to the digitalisation of Argenta, one of our strategic priorities for the coming years,” according to Marc Lauwers, CEO.

Awaiting prior approval by the supervisory authorities, Ann Brands will start her mandate on 1 November 2016. With this appointment feminisation at Argenta’s top continues: currently two of the six members of Argenta’s Executive Committee are female. At the end of 2014 the Executive Committee still consisted exclusively of men.