(Bloomberg) -- Legal & General Group Plc’s veteran chief executive officer is to retire after more than a decade at the helm of the financial services group.

Nigel Wilson has told the insurer’s board he “would like to retire from executive life,” according to a statement Monday. He has been CEO since June 2012, having joined as chief financial officer in 2009.

The company said it will start “a rigorous process to appoint a successor, considering both internal and external candidates.” Wilson has agreed to stay as CEO until a replacement starts and the process will take about a year, the statement said.

L&G said in the statement it still expects to deliver 2022 operating profit growth of about 8% and capital generation of £1.8 billion.

Wilson is one of the City of London’s most-recognizable figures, and was knighted in 2022 for services to financial services. During his tenure he oversaw the growth of Legal & General Investment Management into one of Europe’s largest, with more than £1.3 trillion ($1.6 trillion) under management.

Wilson also established Legal & General Capital, the group’s alternative asset platform, in 2013. The platform has enabled investments in infrastructure and housing projects across the UK.

Legal & General’s shares fell as much as 3.3% after Wilson’s retirement was announced.

“Legal & General has been a big part of my life and my decision to retire from the Group has been taken with mixed emotions,” Wilson said in the statement. “I remain fully committed to delivering the current strategy of the group, in partnership with the executive team, and supporting the transition to a new chief executive.”

Wilson’s departure comes after a turbulent few months for the industry with pensions caught in a downwards spiral at the end of September after the rapid drop in gilt prices. L&G’s asset management arm, Legal and General Investment Management, is one of the UK’s largest providers of liability-driven investing, which was most affected by the slump.

What Bloomberg Intelligence Says

Legal & General’s announcement of a search for a replacement for Nigel Wilson, its 10-year veteran CEO, illustrates an absence of succession planning and poor governance. The likely year-long process will cause uncertainty. It follows Prudential losing both its CEO and CFO last year and still awaiting a new CEO.

— Kevin Ryan, BI insurance editor

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