Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance has appointed Ron Joelson as its new chief investment officer.

Joelson, who is currently the chief investment officer of Genworth Financial, will succeed Mark Doll, who retires on 30 June 2012 following a 40-year career with Northwestern Mutual.

Joelson currently manages all aspects of Genworth’s $75bn investment portfolio and also worked for 23 years at Prudential Financial serving a variety of roles culminating as senior vice president and chief investment officer for asset liability and risk management.

Northwestern Mutual president and chief risk officer Skip Poliner said Joelson’s experience as a successful chief investment officer in two global insurance companies brings valuable knowledge and skills that will serve the company well in the long term.

"The breadth of his experience includes familiarity not only with the whole spectrum of investment asset classes, but also with risk management, investment strategy, analytics and leadership development," Poliner added.

As Northwestern Mutual’s chief investment officer since June 2008, Doll managed the investment strategy and management of the company’s $164bn general account investment portfolio.

Founded in 1857, Northwestern Mutual offers a variety of insurance and investment solutions and has $1.2 trillion of life insurance protection in force.