Vhi has said its chief executive John O'Dwyer is to step down next year as planned.
Mr O'Dwyer has been CEO at the health insurance firm for the past eight years.
He started at Vhi at 17 years of age and rose through the ranks before leaving to take up senior international portfolios at BUPA, Friends First and Achmea, before returning to Vhi to take on the role of CEO in 2012.
The company said that a recruitment process to identify his successor has started.
Paul O'Faherty, Chairman Designate at Vhi, said that Mr O'Dwyer has successfully steered the company through some of the most significant changes in its history, leaving "a well-financed, transformed company with a culture relentlessly focused on meeting our customers' healthcare needs".
"In 2015, under his stewardship Vhi was authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland, a major milestone in the history of Vhi and hugely important in terms of Vhi's ability to grow and develop," Mr O'Flaherty said.
The Vhi designate chairman also said the insurer is acutely aware of the challenges that Ireland faces as we seek to navigate the uncertainties of living with Covid-19.
"Vhi will continue to play a vital role in supporting and protecting the healthcare needs of our customers in this strange and changing environment. These challenges will be among those to be addressed by a new CEO who we plan to identify through a formal recruitment process over the coming months," he added.
