LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Legal & General said on Thursday that it has appointed António Simões as chief executive officer.
Simões - who succeeds Sir Nigel Wilson - joins from Banco Santander, where he has been regional head of Europe since September 2020. He leads Santander's businesses in the UK, Spain, Portugal and Poland, working across retail and commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth management and insurance.

Prior to joining Santander, Simões spent 13 years at HSBC, including as CEO of UK and Europe, and latterly CEO of Global Private Banking, based in London and Hong Kong. He is a former McKinsey & Company partner.

Simões will take up the post on 1 January 2024 and Wilson will stay on as CEO in the meantime, "continuing to focus on delivering the strategy of the group", L&G said.

Chair Sir John Kingham said: "The board is delighted to appoint António as group CEO designate. António brings a formidable leadership track record at the most senior level of financial services, working across complex, global organisations. In an excellent field, his energy, ambition and clarity of strategic thinking stood out, alongside his strong belief in the positive role that business should play in society."

At 1155 BST, the shares were down 2.5% at 232p.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The new boss at Legal & General has a hard act to follow. Since Nigel Wilson was appointed to the top job in June 2012, Legal & General shares have outperformed its life insurance peers, Aviva and Prudential, to chalk up a total return of more than 200%.

"Wilson didn't necessarily make a big splash but was busy in the background, turning Legal & General into a more focused and efficient business.

"This could provide his successor, Antonio Simoes, with the opportunity to take Wilson's approach of focusing on long-term assets and so-called 'inclusive capitalism' to another level, but that comes with uncertainty too after more than a decade of leadership continuity.

"The initial market reaction betrays at least some investor nervousness, even though Wilson will stay on board until January to help smooth the succession."

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