Tower Chairman Olaf O’Duill has announced he will retire by June 30. He’s been at the top of the company since late 2002, when he was brought in to manage the group’s financial troubles.

He told the Tower AGM in Wellington last week that he’s had three of the most challenging years in his career but “we have a fair bit of blue sky ahead”.

His retirement decision comes a month after Tower acquired Australian life insurer PrefSure to make it a top five player in the Australian life insurance industry. The $NZ160 million ($145 million) purchase effectively doubled Tower’s Australian business.