ING announced today that it will appoint Rodney (Rod) O. Martin, Jr. as Chief Executive Officer of ING Insurance U.S. The appointment is an important step in preparation for a successful Initial Public Offering (IPO) of ING's U.S.-based insurance and investment management operations.

Rod Martin, former chairman of the International Life and Retirement Services operations at American International Group (AIG), will be responsible for strategy and performance of ING Insurance U.S., as well as the corporate staff functions. Martin will report to Jan Hommen, CEO of ING Group.

Rob Leary, currently CEO of ING Insurance U.S., will assume the new role of President and Chief Operating Officer of ING Insurance U.S. In this capacity, Leary will report to Martin and will be responsible for managing and improving the operational performance of the entire portfolio of U.S. businesses, including Retirement, Insurance, and Investment Management. This new structure, with strong executives at the helm, aligns the governance of these operations with common practice in the U.S. financial services industry.


"Rod is an outstanding veteran of the U.S. insurance industry and his appointment constitutes an important building block to the preparation of a successful IPO of ING's U.S. insurance and investment management businesses," said Jan Hommen. "The combination with Rob Leary as a results-oriented leader provides us with a strong management team capable of taking these leading businesses forward in their standalone future."

Rod Martin (U.S., 58) has more than 36 years of insurance industry experience and first-hand knowledge in steering large financial-services businesses through complex corporate change processes. He began his insurance career in 1975 as an agent with Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, where he served over 20 years in various marketing and general management positions of increasing responsibility, to become president of Connecticut Mutual Insurance Services. In 1995, Rod joined American General Life Companies as president and chief executive officer where he ran the U.S. life insurance businesses until they were acquired by AIG in 2001. At AIG, Rod held positions of increasing responsibility from chief operating officer of AIG Worldwide Life Insurance, chairman and chief executive officer of American Life Insurance Company (Alico), chairman of American International Assurance (AIA), and most recently as chairman of American International Group, Inc. International Life and Retirement Services businesses.

Today's announcement is in line with ING's previously announced base case of pursuing two IPO's for its insurance and investment management activities, one European-led IPO and one U.S.-focused IPO.

The appointment will become effective 4 April 2011.