In a statement to the ASX, Suncorp said current GPT Group chief executive Michael Cameron has been appointed and will take up the position when Mr Snowball departs in October 2015.
Mr Cameron steps into the role having sat on Suncorp’s board as a non-executive director since April 2012.
Prior to his current role with GPT, Mr Cameron held a number of senior leadership roles with St George Bank, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, MLC, Lend Lease and Barclays.
Commenting on Mr Cameron’s appointment, Suncorp chairman Ziggy Switkowski said he was an “outstanding candidate for the role”.
“His understanding of Suncorp and the financial services industry, combined with his disciplined and long-term approach to business, makes him the ideal person to lead the company through its next phase of growth,” Dr Switkowski.
“I expect that our regulators, retail, institutional and international stakeholders will quickly build confidence in Michael’s leadership, values and priorities as they have with Patrick,” he said.
Dr Switkowski also commended Mr Snowball for his leadership of Suncorp over the past six years.
“Patrick Snowball has steered the Suncorp Group through a major transformation which has simplified operations, realised efficiency benefits and strengthened the capital base,” he said.
“We are a vastly improved diverse financial services business with good prospects and are providing attractive and sustainable returns to our shareholders.
“As importantly, Patrick has successfully fostered a culture of innovation, employee engagement, accountability and process discipline which provides a solid foundation upon which Michael can build,” Dr Switkowski said.
In a separate statement to the ASX, GPT Group chairman Rob Ferguson said an internal succession process had begun to find a replacement for Mr Cameron.
“We are in a fortunate position, where we have a number of strong internal candidates for the CEO position,” Mr Ferguson said.
“As you would expect we will also undertake an external search to identify any other potential candidates,” he said.
