Our people

Rodney O. Martin, Jr.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Rod Martin is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alico, a role he has held since August 2006.  Rod was elected Chairman of International Life and Retirement Services and Chairman of American International Assurance Company, Limited (AIA) in March 2009.  Previously, he was the Chief Operating Officer of AIG Worldwide Life Insurance. Rod was elected AIG Executive Vice President, Life Insurance, in 2002.  Following AIG’s acquisition of American General Corporation in 2001, Rod served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American General Life Companies. Rod spent the first twenty years of his career at Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company.

Rod holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Alfred University. In addition, he is a Fellow, Life Underwriter Training Council (LUTCF), and previously served as a member of the board of directors for both the American Council of Life Insurance (ACLI) and the Life Insurance Marketing Research Association (LIMRA) International.

Gordon T. Watson
Vice Chairman, Alico and Chairman and CEO, Alico Asia

Gordon was named Vice Chairman of Alico and Chairman and CEO of Alico Asia in June of 2009.  In addition to overseeing the Japan operation - Alico’s largest region - Gordon is also responsible for global marketing, distribution strategy and operations as well as new market entry.   His responsibilities include management of the Alico brand in addition to oversight of the company’s multi-channel distribution strategy including agency, bancassurance, third party distribution, e-commerce and direct marketing.

Prior to this role, Gordon was appointed Regional President of AIG Japan and Korea Life Division in 2008.  He has held numerous international leadership positions at AIG since joining the company in 1985, including positions in NY, London, Nairobi, Dubai, Seoul and Tokyo.  Most recently, Gordon has served as Deputy President of AIA, President and CEO of AIG Life in Korea, CEO of AIG Star Life in Japan, Senior Vice President of Retirement Savings - Asia, and International Head of Annuities.

Gordon holds a Masters Degree in Strategic Marketing from the University of Hull in the UK.  He is originally from Scotland and is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

Andreas E. Vassiliou 
Regional President & CEO, Central and Eastern Europe

Andreas is Regional President & CEO for Central and Eastern Europe. Since 1990 Andreas has led the expansion of that region from just 2 markets to the 13 it comprises of today.

Andreas joined Alico in Greece in 1979 as COO and became its General Manager in 1982. Since then he has held various senior positions worldwide including the position of Alico – Europe Vice President from 1989 to 1990. He was appointed Regional President & CEO for Alico – Central & Eastern Europe in 1991.

In 1995 Andreas was elected to the Alico Board of Directors. He was named Alico Senior Vice President in 2001, Executive Vice President in 2003, as well as AIG Vice President Life Insurance in 2005 and Chairman of Alico Middle East, Africa and South Asia between 2001 and 2005.

Andreas holds a Bachelor of Law degree and an Economics degree from the University of Athens and a Masters of Laws degree from the University of London. He is a Fellow of the Life Management Institute.

Marc Sevestre  
Regional President & CEO, Western Europe

Marc was named Regional CEO for Alico Western Europe in June 2009.

After joining Alico in 1990, Marc became the General Manager of Alico France in 1991 and the regional president of Continental Western Europe in 1996.  In this role he was also Chairman of AIG Marketing Europe with overall responsibility for AIG’s direct-to-consumer activity in Continental Western Europe, he successfully rebranded this activity to Alico Direct in 2009.

Marc started his career with the Boston Consulting group in Paris. He then joined a large French direct response company as its marketing manager and general manager of one of the first toll-free call centers in France.  Marc then became Vice President of Strategic Planning of the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York joining Alico in January 1990 as Head of Strategy for Europe.

Marc holds a masters degree in Economics from the Paris University as well as being a graduate from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (1981 Eco-Fi Laureate). He also completed the Advanced Management Program at Insead.

Michel Khalaf  
Regional President & CEO, Middle East, Africa and South Asia

Michel leads Alico’s MEASA region out of Dubai.  He was appointed Regional CEO in January 2009.

Prior to joining Alico MEASA, Michel served as Deputy President and COO of Philamlife, AIG’s operating company in the Philippines.

Since joining AIG as an Investment Officer in Alico’s home office in 1989, Michel has held a number of leadership roles in various markets including Acting General Manager for Alico Bahamas; Chief Operating Officer of Unionvita, Italy; General Manager of Alico Egypt; and Regional SVP in charge of Alico's life, pension and mutual fund operations in Poland, Romania and The Baltics as well as President & CEO of AMPLICO Life.

Michel is a graduate of Syracuse University with a B.Sc. in Engineering and an M.B.A. in Finance. He is a fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI) and is fluent in English, Arabic, French and Italian.

Ricardo Garcia Holtz     
Regional President & CEO, The Americas

Ricardo was named Regional CEO of The Americas in 2004.

Ricardo started his career with Alico in 1992, as Chief Financial and Investment Officer of Alico’s Chilean operation, Interamericana. He was promoted to CEO of AIG’s Global Investments in 1994, and has been instrumental in setting up Alico operations in Peru, Columbia and Argentina.  Ricardo was Agency Director of Interamericana, Chile from 1999-2001, and General Manager 2001-2003.

Before joining Alico, Ricardo worked in Banco Santander’s Investment Bank unit in Chile. He was also Professor of Economics and Finance at a number of leading Chilean Universities, including The Catholic Universtiy of Chile.

Ricardo holds a BA in Business and Economics and a Masters degree in Economics from The Catholic University of Chile and a Masters in Economics from UCLA.

Kazuyuki Takahashi  
Regional President & CEO and Legal Representative, Japan

Kazuyuki Takahashi serves as Regional CEO and Legal Representative for Alico Japan.  In this current role, Takahashi-san is responsible for ALICO Japan’s local management.

Prior to assuming that role, Takahashi-san was Chief Operations Officer for Alico Japan.  He has held a number of executive and managerial roles for AIG including Vice President, Direct Marketing from 2000 - 04 & Senior Vice President, Branch Marketing (Independent Agent Channel) from 2004 - 06 in Japan and a lead role in the A&H Profit Center from 1998 - 2000 at AIG’s New York office.  Takahashi-san joined Alico in 1980 as a new graduate.  He was named Legal Representative in December 2006.

Takahashi-san received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Chuo University.