Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Position:Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

About the Role

We are seeking an accomplished and commercially strategic Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to lead the financial strategy, financial performance, capital management, investment finance, treasury, reporting, and financial governance of a diversified Insurance & Investment organization.

The CFO will serve as a key member of the executive leadership team and strategic advisor to the CEO/President and Board, providing leadership across financial planning, insurance accounting, capital and solvency management, investment portfolio performance, asset-liability management, treasury, risk, regulatory reporting, and corporate development.

The successful candidate will combine deep financial expertise with strong commercial and investment acumen and will be capable of operating in a highly regulated financial-services environment.

Key Responsibilities

1. Financial Strategy & Executive Leadership

Develop and execute the organization's overall financial strategy.

Advise the CEO, President, and Board on financial performance, capital allocation, investment strategy, and enterprise value creation.

Translate corporate strategy into financial plans, budgets, forecasts, and measurable objectives.

Lead financial decision-making across insurance, investment, and corporate operations.

Establish strong financial governance and accountability across the organization.

2. Financial Planning, Budgeting & Performance

Lead annual budgeting, forecasting, and long-term financial planning.

Develop financial models and scenario analyses to support strategic decisions.

Monitor revenue, profitability, expenses, capital efficiency, and operating performance.

Establish financial KPIs and executive dashboards.

Identify opportunities to improve profitability, efficiency, and shareholder returns.

3. Insurance Finance & Performance

Oversee financial management of insurance operations, including premiums, claims, reserves, expenses, and underwriting performance.

Monitor key insurance financial metrics including loss ratios, combined ratios, expense ratios, and underwriting profitability.

Partner with actuarial, underwriting, claims, and risk teams to assess financial performance and emerging exposures.

Ensure appropriate financial treatment and reporting of insurance liabilities and reserves.

Support pricing, product profitability, reinsurance, and portfolio decisions from a financial perspective.

4. Investment Finance & Portfolio Management

Provide financial oversight of the organization's investment portfolio and investment activities.

Partner with the CIO/Chief Investment Officer and Investment Committee on portfolio strategy and performance.

Monitor investment income, realized/unrealized gains, asset allocation, liquidity, and risk-adjusted returns.

Evaluate investment opportunities and strategic asset-allocation decisions.

Ensure investment activities are aligned with the organization's liabilities, liquidity requirements, risk appetite, and regulatory requirements.

5. Capital, Solvency & Balance Sheet Management

Lead capital planning and balance-sheet optimization.

Monitor solvency, capital adequacy, liquidity, leverage, and financial resilience.

Develop strategies to optimize the organization's capital structure and return on capital.

Assess the financial impact of major business, investment, and insurance decisions on capital requirements.

Work closely with Risk and Actuarial functions on capital and solvency assessments.

6. Asset-Liability Management (ALM)

Provide executive financial oversight of asset-liability management.

Ensure investment portfolios are appropriately aligned with insurance liabilities and liquidity requirements.

Monitor duration, interest-rate sensitivity, liquidity gaps, and market exposures.

Support development of ALM strategies and balance-sheet optimization initiatives.

Ensure appropriate financial stress testing and scenario analysis.

7. Treasury & Liquidity

Oversee treasury, cash management, liquidity planning, and banking relationships.

Maintain adequate liquidity to meet claims, operating obligations, investment commitments, and strategic requirements.

Optimize cash deployment and short-term investment strategies.

Monitor interest-rate, foreign-exchange, credit, and liquidity exposures.

Establish robust treasury policies and controls.

8. Regulatory & Financial Reporting

Ensure accurate, timely, and transparent financial reporting to the Board, shareholders, regulators, and other stakeholders.

Oversee statutory accounts, management reporting, regulatory returns, and consolidated financial statements.

Ensure compliance with applicable accounting standards and insurance regulations.

Lead relationships with external auditors, regulators, actuarial advisers, tax advisers, and other professional stakeholders.

Maintain strong financial controls and governance frameworks.

9. Risk Management & Financial Controls

Establish effective financial risk-management frameworks.

Monitor exposure to market, credit, liquidity, underwriting, operational, interest-rate, and foreign-exchange risks.

Strengthen internal controls, financial policies, and governance processes.

Work closely with the CRO, Chief Actuary, CIO, and other executives to manage enterprise-wide financial risks.

Ensure appropriate stress testing and contingency planning.

10. Reinsurance & Capital Optimization

Provide financial oversight of reinsurance strategy and economics.

Evaluate the financial and capital implications of reinsurance arrangements.

Monitor reinsurance recoverables, counterparty exposure, and profitability.

Support optimization of risk transfer, capital efficiency, and balance-sheet resilience.

11. Corporate Development & Strategic Investments

Lead financial evaluation of acquisitions, strategic investments, joint ventures, and business expansion opportunities.

Oversee financial due diligence, valuation, transaction modeling, and investment cases.

Assess potential M&A opportunities and their impact on capital, solvency, earnings, and shareholder value.

Support negotiations with investors, financial institutions, and strategic partners.

12. Investor & Stakeholder Relations

Develop strong relationships with shareholders, institutional investors, banks, rating agencies, regulators, and other financial stakeholders.

Communicate financial performance, capital strategy, investment results, and business outlook to key stakeholders.

Support investor presentations, Board materials, and strategic financial communications.

13. Finance Transformation & Technology

Modernize finance systems, reporting infrastructure, ERP platforms, and financial analytics.

Improve automation, data quality, forecasting, and management reporting.

Establish real-time visibility into financial, insurance, investment, and risk performance.

Drive continuous improvement within the finance function.

14. Leadership & Talent Development

Lead Finance, FP&A, Treasury, Accounting, Financial Reporting, Tax, and related functions.

Build a high-performing and commercially focused finance organization.

Develop finance leadership talent and succession plans.

Promote a culture of integrity, accountability, financial discipline, and business partnership.

Key Performance Indicators

The CFO will be accountable for:

Revenue and earnings growth

Operating and net profitability

Return on equity (ROE)

Return on capital

Capital adequacy and solvency

Investment portfolio performance

Investment income and risk-adjusted returns

Combined ratio / underwriting profitability

Expense efficiency

Liquidity and cash-flow management

Balance-sheet optimization

Budget and forecast accuracy

Regulatory and financial reporting quality

Cost of capital

Financial risk management

Shareholder value creation

Candidate Profile

Essential Experience

15+ years of progressive finance experience, including significant executive leadership.

Previous experience as CFO, Group CFO, Finance Director, VP Finance, Deputy CFO, or equivalent.

Significant experience within insurance, asset management, investment management, banking, pensions, financial services, or a related regulated financial institution.

Strong understanding of insurance financial statements, investment portfolios, capital management, and regulatory requirements.

Proven experience managing complex balance sheets, liquidity, capital, and financial performance.

Strong experience working with Boards, regulators, auditors, investors, rating agencies, and senior executives.

Demonstrated experience in financial strategy, investment analysis, and capital allocation.

Preferred Experience

Experience as Group CFO within a diversified insurance or financial-services group.

Experience across both insurance and investment/asset-management businesses.

Experience with life insurance, general insurance, health insurance, pensions, or reinsurance.

Exposure to institutional investment portfolios and alternative investments.

Experience with M&A, strategic investments, capital raising, restructuring, or corporate transformation.

Experience operating across multiple jurisdictions or regulated markets.

Experience interacting with insurance regulators and rating agencies.

Education & Professional Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics, Business Administration, or a related discipline.

Professional qualification such as CA, ACCA, CPA, CMA, CFA, or equivalent strongly preferred.

MBA or Master's degree in Finance/Business is an advantage.

Relevant insurance, actuarial, investment, or risk-management qualifications are advantageous.

Core Competencies

Insurance Finance

Corporate Finance

Investment Finance

Capital & Solvency Management

Asset-Liability Management

Treasury & Liquidity

Financial Planning & Analysis

Investment Analysis

Financial Modeling

Risk Management

Regulatory Reporting

Insurance Accounting

M&A & Corporate Development

Capital Allocation

Investor Relations

Corporate Governance

Financial Transformation

Leadership Characteristics

The successful CFO will be:

Strategic, commercially minded, and financially rigorous

Highly analytical and investment-oriented

Experienced in highly regulated environments

Strong in capital and balance-sheet management

Comfortable engaging with Boards, regulators, investors, and rating agencies

Able to balance growth, profitability, liquidity, capital, and risk

An effective strategic partner to the CEO, CIO, CRO, and Chief Actuary

Strong in complex financial decision-making

A transformational finance leader capable of building high-performing teams

Compensation

A competitive executive compensation package comprising base salary, performance-based incentives, executive benefits, and other benefits commensurate with experience and market benchmarks.

Originally posted on Himalayas