David Harney Biography

David Harney was appointed Chief Operating Officer, Europe for Great-West Lifeco in February 2020, overseeing the Irish Life and Canada Life organisations in the UK, Ireland and Germany serving over 5m customers and employing 5,000 people.

Prior to that, David spent 4 years as Chief Executive Officer of Irish Life Group, in which he led the Group’s businesses in Ireland including Irish Life Financial Services, Irish Life Assurance, Irish Life Health, the investment companies, Irish Life Investment Managers and Setanta Asset Managers, and several leading financial advisory businesses.

Before that he worked in Irish Life for over 30 years and has held a number of senior roles over that time including Director of Finance, Director of Marketing, Director of Sales and Managing Director of Irish Life Corporate Business.

David holds an MSc. in Financial Mathematics from DCU and, is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland. He is currently serving as President of Insurance Ireland.