jirgal sven1

Sven Jirgal, VP and chief operating officer, Cisco Capital (pictured above), has been appointed chairman of the European Captives Forum.

He takes over from Nils Jaeger (president, Volvo Financial Services, EMEA) who served the Captives Forum as chairman for two and a half years and as its vice chairman for a year prior to that.

Commenting on his new role, Jirgal (pictured above) said: “I am delighted to take over the chair from Nils who has ensured that the Captives Forum is in a strong position as it moves forward. I have every confidence that the Captives Forum is a trade association which will continue to bring meaningful and relevant topics to its members.”

Jaeger will continue to be heavily involved in the Forum since, as immediate past chairman, he will remain on the executive committee.

Reflecting on his term in office, Nils Jaeger said: “I have enjoyed my years in the role of chairman and am pleased to have presided over a period of growth in activities and membership. The record attendance at my final meeting as chairman was particularly rewarding and recognises that the importance of captive financing to manufacturers of capital equipment is a vital element in the sales process. I am sure that the Forum will continue to flourish under the chairmanship of Sven Jirgal.”

New members to the Captives Forum executive committee are:

  • Erik Deweerdt  (global head of operations, customer finance, Agfa Healthcare);
  • Hans-Joachim Dörr (head group financial services – managing director, Trumpf Financial Services);
  • Sharon Butler (regional funding and operations manager, NetApp Capital Solutions) who had agreed to serve a second term; and
  • Derek Soper (chairman of IAA-Advisory)

Nils Jaeger, Sven Jirgal and Alan Leesmith, also serve on the executive committee.