Bermudian-based Talcott Financial Group, an international life insurance group, has appointed industry veteran Michael Smith as executive chairman.

Mr Smith, who has 38 years of experience in the insurance industry, most recently served as the vice-chairman and chief financial officer of Voya Financial.

“We are pleased to welcome Mike as the newest addition to Talcott’s already deep leadership team as we continue to provide flexible solutions at scale for the world’s leading insurance companies,” said A. Michael Muscolino, cofounder and partner at Sixth Street, the global investment firm.

“Mike is a seasoned industry operator with extensive knowledge of the insurance landscape, and we look forward to utilising his experience as we evaluate partnerships across the international life insurance sector.”

Mr Smith said: “I am thrilled to be joining Talcott Financial Group and look forward to working with Talcott’s leadership team as well as the broader Sixth Street Insurance platform.

“We are well positioned to accelerate Talcott’s growth with the foundation of a strong financial position, talented team, award-winning culture, focus on policyholder protection and a proven track record of executing value-added transactions.”

Imran Siddiqui, interim president at Talcott Financial Group, added: “I am excited to partner with Mike in leading Talcott as we build on our culture of collaboration and risk management across the enterprise.

“We will continue to execute on our focused growth strategy as a premier life insurance and annuities platform.”

Before joining Talcott, Mr Smith served almost 14 years at Voya in various roles, including chief risk officer and head of the insurance solutions and annuity manufacturing businesses.

He spent more than 20 years at Lincoln Financial, where he held multiple senior executive roles in actuarial, finance, operations and risk management.

Talcott Financial Group said it benefits from its strong financial position, as evidenced by $130 billion in assets under management, its investment-grade financial strength ratings and partnership with Sixth Street.

Talcott has offices in Bermuda, Connecticut and New York, and its platforms include Talcott Resolution and Talcott Re.