Mr. Smeets was appointed as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director and Vice Chairman of Etiqa General Takaful Berhad on 15 October 2023.

Mr. Smeets holds a Master Degree from the law faculty of the University of Antwerp, Belgium, and a Master Degree in Business Law (Cum Laude) from the University of Ghent, Belgium. In addition, he holds an Executive Master of Business Administration (Summa Cum Laude) from Antwerp Management School, Belgium, and the Certificate of Management Excellence from Harvard Business School, United States.

Mr. Smeets has more than 21 years of experience in executive roles across Europe and Asia, including board memberships and CEO roles in insurance partnerships with leading banks in Vietnam and Philippines.

During the first 5 years of his career, he worked as an attorney at Laga law firm (Deloitte), Belgium, from 2002 to 2005, and at the corporate practice of Allen & Overy, Belgium, from 2005 to 2007. In 2007, Mr. Smeets joined the international bank and insurance group Fortis at its headquarters in Belgium as Legal Director in the Investment Banking division and later the corporate holding level. He continued his career in 2010 by joining Fortis’ legal successor, Ageas, Belgium, as Legal Director, focusing on corporate M&A and capital market matters. He was appointed as Strategy and Business Development Director in 2012 before being seconded to Ageas’ Asian regional office in Hong Kong where he held the positions of Director Strategy and M&A from 2014 to 2016 and Chief Corporate Development Officer and member of the regional Management Committee from 2016 to 2018 overseeing Corporate Development and M&A.

In 2018, Mr. Smeets moved office from Hong Kong to Manila as Chief Strategy and Business Development and Management Committee member of Ageas’ life insurance joint venture in the Philippines, EastWest Ageas Life Insurance. From 2019 to 2021 he was President and CEO, chairman of the Executive Committee, member of the Bancassurance Steering Committee as well as Country Manager for Ageas in the Philippines. During this time, he also served as executive member on the company’s Board and member of the Board of the Philippines’ Life Insurance Association.

Since the end of 2021, Mr. Smeets is the First Deputy CEO of MB Ageas Life Insurance and Ageas Asia’s Country Manager, based from out of Hanoi, Vietnam. Operationally, he heads up the agency channel and the training academy of the company and is a member of the Executive Committee, Bancassurance Steering Committee and a permanent invitee to the company’s Board and Board committees.

Last update on 1 December 2023