Carriers
Folksam CEO Ylva Wessén takes over as ICMIF Chair for four-year term
By Felipe Bernal, . Insurance Wire.
Reinsurance News reports that the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation, the global association representing cooperative and mutual insurers, has named Ylva Wessén as its new Chair for a four-year term. Wessén is President and CEO of Folksam, one of Sweden's largest insurance groups.
Who she is
Wessén has led Folksam since 2019, having joined the organization nearly two decades ago. Before becoming chief executive, she served as Deputy CEO and Chief of Staff from 2016 to 2019, and earlier held roles in risk and compliance and legal counsel. She has chaired Insurance Sweden, the Swedish insurance industry's trade body, since 2022.
Her connection to ICMIF goes back to 2019, when she joined its Board and Executive Committee. She became Vice-Chair for Europe in 2021, giving her seven years of direct involvement with the federation before stepping into the top role.
Who she replaces
Wessén succeeds Rob Wesseling, President and CEO of Co-operators in Canada, who was appointed Chair at ICMIF's General Meeting in Rome in October 2022. The handover took place at the federation's 2026 General Meeting in Toronto, held at the start of the ICMIF Biennial Conference.
In her own words, Wessén said: "I am very pleased and honoured to have been given the trust to lead ICMIF. The mutual and cooperative way of doing insurance is built on trust and a long-term perspective. It is more relevant than ever in a time of major change and compounding risks."
She added: "Many of the challenges we face, such as climate change, geopolitical uncertainty and rapid technological development, do not stop at national borders. Through ICMIF, we can learn from each other, share experiences and work together to strengthen the mutual and cooperative insurance model for the future."
ICMIF Chief Executive Officer Liz Green welcomed the appointment, saying she looks forward to building on Wessén's existing foundation with the federation over the next four years.
The sector she is stepping into
The timing matters. The mutual and cooperative insurance sector, which covers insurers owned by their policyholders rather than outside shareholders, recorded premium income of USD 1.61 trillion in 2024, a record figure, while holding USD 10.8 trillion in assets across more than 4,700 insurers in 80 countries and maintaining a 26% share of the global insurance market. Those figures come from ICMIF's own reporting.
The federation's 2026 Key Statistics report puts its 216 members across 54 countries above USD 300 billion in premiums in 2025, with total assets of USD 1.91 trillion.
Alongside Wessén's appointment, the Toronto meeting unveiled ICMIF's four-year strategy for 2027 to 2030, titled "Trusted to Deliver," alongside a revised organizational framework focused on member value and the federation's global network.
What to watch
Wessén's background is in risk, compliance and executive leadership at a large European mutual, and her stated priorities center on climate, geopolitical risk and technology. How she translates those themes into ICMIF's member agenda, particularly for smaller cooperatives in emerging markets that make up a significant share of the federation's 216 members, is the practical question her tenure will answer. The new strategy period begins in 2027, giving her roughly a year to shape its early direction.
Source: https://www.reinsurancene.ws/icmif-names-folksams-ceo-wessen-as-new-chair/
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