AkzoNobel IRO to move into charity work

Paints and coatings company hires experienced IR professional Jonathan Atack as replacement

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AkzoNobel’s head of IR is leaving the IR profession to take up a new role doing charity work.

Huib Wurfbain, who joined the paints and coatings company three and a half years ago, will stay on until the end of the year to help his replacement settle in.

Prior to AkzoNobel, Wurfbain worked in IR and M&A roles at supermarket group Ahold. After a total of eight and a half years working in IR, he says he is now ready to try something different.

‘It’s always good to take a fresh look at yourself and at things that come your way, especially if you are in a generalist position as an investor relations professional,’ explains Wurfbain.

‘If you do this job too long, you may lose your crisp approach to things. I’m a person who doesn’t sit in jobs longer than a couple of years, not because I don’t like [the job], but because I’m still building and learning, and this was a great opportunity.’

It is too early yet to reveal where the new position will be, he adds.

AkzoNobel has announced the appointment of experienced IR professional Jonathan Atack as Wurfbain’s replacement.

Atack, who takes up the new position on October 1, will join from ING Investment Management, the asset management arm of ING Group, where he is chief financial officer.

An ING employee since 2004, he has held various finance roles at the insurance company, including general manager of IR for the group.

The move from insurance to a paints and coatings business is unlikely to faze Atack, who has run IR departments in a wide variety of sectors during his career.

Prior to ING, Atack had stints in charge of IR at hotel and pubs business Six Continents, financial services group Royal Bank of Scotland and airline easyJet.

A British national, he holds a degree in engineering science from the University of Oxford, as well as an MBA from London Guildhall University.