The Swedish Club has announced the appointment of a new Chairman to the Club’s Board of Directors. Peter Claesson, Finance Director at Stena AB will replace Lennart Simonsson, who is stepping down from the Board having served the Club as Chairman for 16 years.

The announcement was made at The Swedish Club’s 151st Annual General Meeting (AGM), Thomas Nordberg’s first as Managing Director of the Club. Thomas thanked Lennart for his 25 years of service on the Board and offered his best wishes for the future.

Thomas Nordberg’s AGM address also brought good news for members, as he told the audience that in the first quarter of 2023 the Club’s Combined Ratio stood at 101% and positive investment returns brought in a financial result of 10.9 million USD, a positive trend that is continuing.

During the AGM Nordberg focused on the future, introducing the Club’s new Management Team line-up and sharing further details of the strengthened Regional Office structure. He emphasised the importance of focusing on IT and digital transformation and provided insight into the Club’s recent Risk Management review.

Speaking about his priorities, Thomas Nordberg said: “We are operating in a fast-moving environment, which is facing challenges unlike those seen before. The last few years have shown a pattern of geopolitical uncertainties and volatile investment results which demands that the whole industry model be reassessed.  Here at The Swedish Club, we need to focus on future-proofing to protect and further build upon our heritage for the benefit of our membership.

“People are our priority. That means a continued focus on working closely with our members, brokers and business partners to best understand how to add value to our relationship; and it also means ensuring that we foster effective leadership and talent within our team,” he said.

The Swedish Club welcomed two new members to the Board: Ragnar Johansson, Managing Director of Wallenius SOL AB, and Xiao Junguang, Secretary to the board of directors and general legal counsel of COSCO Shipping Lines Co. Ltd. With very different maritime backgrounds – one operations, one finance/legal – these two appointments will contribute further breadth and depth of experience to The Swedish Club’s Board.