Juan Closa, CEO of Occident, announces his retirement

"The retirement, which will take effect on 1 January 2025, was reported at the meeting of the insurer's Board of Directors of held today."

The Board of Directors of Occident announced at its meeting today that the CEO of the insurance company, Juan Closa, is to retire. Linked to GCO (Grupo Catalana Occidente) since 1981, during his professional trajectory of more than 40 years at Grupo Catalana Occidente Closa held the position of Deputy General Director of Life and Health Insurance and Pension Plans at Seguros Catalana Occidente and later as Deputy General Business Manager. In 2016 he was named managing director of this company and in 2020 he was appointed as CEO of all of GCO's traditional business companies (Seguros Catalana Occidente, Plus Ultra Seguros, Seguros Bilbao and NorteHispana Seguros). As part of the 2022-2024 Strategic Plan, Juan Closa led the merger of these four entities into Occident, resulting in a company with a turnover of more than 3 billion, providing services to more than four million insured parties.

The CEO of Occident has demonstrated his satisfaction with the work carried out. “It has been an honour to contribute to the Group's development for so many years and to be at the head of the traditional business at such an important moment as the birth of Occident,” he said. Closa also stated that “Occident is in an excellent position to continue providing confidence to people and companies in all stages of their lives thanks to its wide range of protection solutions and a broad and professional mediation network.”

In line with the Group's strategy of organisational simplification, the figure of Closa will not be replaced, but instead the Occident Management Committee will be reporting directly to the CEO of GCO, Hugo Serra. Serra will thus combine his role as the top executive of GCO and Occident.

GCO's CEO, Hugo Serra, says that “Juan Closa has played a key role in the unification of traditional business companies, successfully completing a process that has made Occident a more agile and prepared entity to face future challenges.” 

Meanwhile, GCO's chairman, José María Serra, expressed his gratitude to Juan Closa and highlighted that “his dedication and commitment have been key to the growth of Seguros Catalana Occidente for decades and, more recently, of the Group's entire traditional business. We are very grateful for the work he has done and wish him all the best in this new phase.”