Executive director of the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) Marlon Holder is the new chief executive officer and managing director of the CL Financial Group of companies, as well as chairman of Clico.
Central Bank Governor Ewart Williams says the appointment comes at "a good time." "I would like to congratulate Marlon Holder as he assumes the new position as chairman of Clico," he said. "It puts him at the centre of our strategy designed to ensure maximum recovery of policyholders' funds in the fastest possible time and the restructuring of Clico into a transformed, efficient and more traditional insurance company," Williams said, during a news conference at the Central Bank in Port-of-Spain, yesterday. Chairman of CL Financial Dr Shafeek Sultan-Khan said: "I am pleased, happy and in fact, I think it's appropriate at this time, to announce that the board of directors of CL Financial has also appointed Mr Marlon Holder as the chief executive officer of the CL Financial group and as managing director," Sultan-Khan said. Holder replaces Dr Euric Bobb. Williams, commenting on Bobb's retirement, said he did not want Bobb to retire. "While I have no choice but to accept Euric's resignation, I must concede that I do this with tremendous regret," Williams said. "His responsibilities have turned out to be much broader and far more demanding than either he or I had envisaged. "I will continue to use Euric as a sounding board and as a source of advice for all matters that have to do with CLF."
Holder: I'm not a Lawrence Duprey
Responding to his critics that he would be likened to former CL Financial chairman Lawrence Duprey, Holder assured he would not be that way. "I am not a Lawrence Duprey, I don't look like him–that's the big difference there," he said. "My history, I have grown up in risk management and I have gone into business. "The difference between me and him is that I would be talking to you a little more often." Commenting on his appointment, Holder said he compiled some suggestions and planned to present it to the various boards before making any announcements about his plans for the companies. "I would have a press conference to talk about what I see; how we see ourselves going short, medium and long-term; what are the issues we have to face so the public gets a feel of what's happening; and hopefully that would rebuild the confidence back into CL Financial," Holder said.
Asked about the impact his new appointment would have on UTC, Holder said there would not be any drastic change in UTC since the corporation had a successorship programme in place, where four people would be "groomed" to handle his responsibilities in UTC. Asked if he thought investor confidence would wane in UTC, he said: "When you look around to what is happening in the market, UTC continues to pay competitive returns and provides great service at a low cost."