We place great emphasis on good corporate governance and fully adhere to the rules and regulations outlined in the laws governing our operations.
Further information about our governance practices can be found in our Annual and Sustainability Report.
Sjóvá has been recognized as a leading company in good corporate governance and has been awarded the title of “Model Company in Good Corporate Governance.”
Björgólfur Jóhannsson was born on August 28, 1955, and resides in Seltjarnarnes. He was elected to Sjóvá’s board on March 15, 2019, temporarily stepped down in November 2019, and was re-elected on March 12, 2020, at which time he assumed the role of Chairman.
Björgólfur holds a Cand. Oecon. degree in Business Administration from the University of Iceland and is a certified public accountant. He worked as an auditor from 1985 to 1992. His career includes roles as CFO of Útgerðarfélag Akureyringa hf. (1992–1996), Director of Innovation and Development at Samherji (1996–1999), CEO of Síldarvinnslan (1999–2006), CEO of Icelandic (2006–2007), and CEO of Icelandair Group (2008–2018). He also served as Co-CEO of Samherji from November 2019 to February 2021.
Björgólfur has held prominent positions in Icelandic business organizations, including Chairman of the Fisheries Association of Iceland (2003–2008) and Chairman of the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise (2013–2017). Over the years, he has served on the boards of various companies across different industries. Currently, he is a board member of Kjarnafæði-Norðlenska, Kjálkanes, Norðurbað, Gadus, and Steinasala.
Björgólfur is independent of the company, its daily management, and major shareholders.
Hildur Árnadóttir, Vice Chairman, was born on August 4, 1966, and resides in Kópavogur. She has been a member of Sjóvá’s board since March 15, 2019, and served as Chairman of the Board from November 2019 to March 2020.
Hildur holds a Cand. Oecon. degree in Business Administration from the University of Iceland and is a certified public accountant. She worked as a certified accountant and partner at KPMG from 1990 to 2004. She then served as CFO of Bakkavör Group hf. and later as an advisor in the CEO’s office from 2004 to 2014. Hildur was Head of Treasury at Íslandsbanki from 2014 to 2015 and has since focused on consulting and board roles.
Over the years, she has served on the boards of numerous companies across various industries, including Bakkavör Group hf., Exista hf., and the Iceland Chamber of Commerce. She has also been a member of audit and remuneration committees.
Hildur serves on the boards of Business Iceland, Íþaka Fasteignir ehf., Héðinn hf., Arctic Fish Holding SA, Eldey Eignarhaldsfélag hf., Norðursigling hf., and Argyron ehf.
Hildur is independent of the company, its daily management, and major shareholders.
Guðmundur Örn Gunnarsson was born on January 6, 1963, and resides in Garðabær. He was first elected to Sjóvá’s board on March 12, 2020, and has served as Chairman of the Board of the subsidiary Sjóvá-Almennar Líftryggingar hf. since April 28, 2021.
Guðmundur studied actuarial science and computer science at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He worked for 23 years at Tryggingamiðstöðin, holding roles such as Head of the Information Department and overseeing the IT Department. He also served as Executive Director of Operations and Business Development. From 2008 to 2011, he was CEO of Vátryggingafélag Íslands hf. (VÍS) and Líftryggingafélag Íslands (Lífís).
From 2011 to 2013, Guðmundur focused on various consulting projects, primarily in business planning and strategic development for innovation. Between 2014 and 2022, he was Managing Director of CAE Icelandair Flight Training ehf., which owns and operates flight simulators at Icelandair’s training center.
Guðmundur has extensive experience in board work, both as a board member and as chairman. He is currently the Chairman of the Board at Vinnslustöðin hf., a board member at BL ehf., and the Chairman of the Board at Ísorka ehf.
Guðmundur is independent of the company, its daily management, and major shareholders.
Ingi Jóhann Guðmundsson was born on January 12, 1969, and resides in Garðabær. He has been a member of Sjóvá’s board since July 28, 2011.
Ingi Jóhann holds a Cand.Oecon. degree in Business Administration from the University of Iceland and serves as Managing Director of Gjögur hf. and Kjálkanes ehf.
He is Chairman of the Board at Hrólfssker ehf., which holds a 15.94% stake in Sjóvá. Ingi Jóhann indirectly owns Hrólfssker’s stake through Kjálkanes ehf., which owns 34.6% of the company. Ingi Jóhann has a 22% ownership interest in Kjálkanes ehf.
is born on March 27, 1982, residing in Reykjavík. Ingunn was first elected to the Board of Sjóvá on March 12, 2020. She holds a BA and MA in law, an MBA degree from the University of Iceland, and is certified in securities trading. Ingunn is the former CEO of Jarðvarmi slhf. and the Icelandic Hydrogen Company ehf. Previously, she spent most of her career at Skeljungur hf., most recently as Executive Director of Office and Communications, where she was responsible for communications, corporate social responsibility, legal affairs, marketing, and human resources, and earlier as General Counsel, Compliance Officer, and Board Secretary. Before that, Ingunn practiced law and was an adjunct lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Iceland, where she taught tort law. Ingunn is the Chairman of the Board of RARIK. She is also a board member of Iceland Seafood International hf. and Chair of its Audit Committee. Additionally, Ingunn serves on the boards of Freyja, an investment fund, Miklatorg ehf. (IKEA), Sóltún Healthcare ehf., and the Wetland Fund, a non-profit organization focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Ingunn is independent of the company, its executive management, and its major shareholders.
Erna Gísladóttir was born on May 5, 1968, and resides in Garðabær. She served on Sjóvá’s board from June 20, 2009, primarily as Chairman, and later as an alternate board member from March 15, 2019. She temporarily rejoined the board from November 19, 2019, to March 12, 2020.
Erna holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Iceland (1991) and an MBA from IESE in Barcelona (2004). She is the CEO of Egg ehf. and was the CEO of BL ehf. from 2013 to 2023, as well as the CEO of Bifreiðar og landbúnaðarvélar hf. from 2003 to 2008. She was also a co-owner and Executive Director of the latter company since 1991.
Erna currently serves on the boards of BL ehf., Egg ehf., Egg Fjárfestingar ehf., Umbreyting slhf., and Alma ehf.
Along with her husband, Erna owns and serves as a board member of Egg Fjárfestingar ehf., which holds a 3.26% stake in Sjóvá.
Erna is independent of the company, its daily management, and major shareholders.
Garðar Gíslason was born on October 19, 1966, and resides in Garðabær. He has been an alternate board member at Sjóvá since September 30, 2011.
Garðar holds a Cand.Jur. degree from the University of Iceland (1997). He has practiced law since 2005, primarily at LEX Law Firm, and since 2016 at IUS Law Firm. From 1997 to 2005, he served as Chief Legal Counsel and later Head of Department at the Office of the Director of Tax Investigations, as well as Deputy Director of Tax Investigations.
Garðar serves on the boards of several companies, including IUS lögmannsstofa ehf., Valshjartað hf., and as an alternate board member for Ránarborg ehf., Harðbakur ehf., Völsi Capital Partners ehf., and Salvus ehf.
He has provided Sjóvá with legal counsel on specific projects related to administrative, corporate, and financial market law.
Garðar is independent of the company, its daily management, and major shareholders.
Hermann Björnsson was born on February 15, 1963, and resides in Reykjavík. As CEO, he is responsible for the daily operations of the company in accordance with the strategy and directives of the board, cf. Article 68, Paragraph 2, of the Companies Act.
Hermann has been CEO of Sjóvá since October 2011 and was Managing Director of the subsidiary, Sjóvá‑Almennar líftryggingar hf., from 2021–2025, and since 2025 has sat on the board of Sjóvá‑Almennar líftryggingar hf. Hermann completed a law degree from the University of Iceland in 1990 and then began working at Íslandsbanki hf., first in the legal department and later as Head of the Operations Department. In 1999 Hermann became Head of the Branch Division at Íslandsbanki and later its Deputy CEO. Hermann worked as Deputy CEO of the Corporate Banking Division at Kaupþing Bank hf. from 2006 and was Managing Director of the Corporate Banking Division at Arion Bank hf. from 2009.
In recent years Hermann has held numerous fiduciary positions, including sitting on the boards of the Iceland Chamber of Commerce, Fjölgreiðslumiðlun ehf., Kreditkorta hf., Lífeyrissjóður bankamanna, the life insurance company Okkar lífs hf., and the Financial Institutions Association. He sits on the representative council of the Confederation of Icelandic Employers.
Hermann owns a 0.052% share in the company and a stock option on up to 86,704 shares in 2026 and 2027.
Birgir Viðarsson was born on September 7, 1981, and resides in Reykjavík. The Sales and Services Division is responsible for advisory services, service, and sales in life and non‑life insurance for individuals, companies, municipalities and institutions as well as revenue management. Revenue management, reinsurance, the company’s branches, and its agent network belong to the division.
Birgir has an M.Sc. degree in risk engineering from Lund University and a B.Sc. in civil engineering from the University of Iceland. Birgir was head of corporate advisory and a reinsurance specialist from 2017–2022 and previously worked in risk management from 2011.
Before Birgir began working at Sjóvá, he worked in risk and safety management at Norðurál and in actuarial modeling at Landsbankinn.
Birgir owns a 0.004% share in the company and a stock option on up to 86,704 shares in 2026 and 2027.
Elín Þórunn Eiríksdóttir was born on December 15, 1967, and resides in Hafnarfjörður. The Claims Division handles claims registration, claims settlement, benefit decisions, damage inspection, estimation of loss amount, and legal services.
Elín has a Cand.Oecon. degree in business administration from the University of Iceland (1993). She was previously Executive Director of Sales and Advisory at Sjóvá from 2012 and later of business development and operations and development. She was Executive Director of the Corporate Division and Head of Sales Units at Síminn hf. 2006–2010. Elín worked at Eimskipafélag Íslands 1997–2005 mostly as Head of Sales Units.
Elín has held various fiduciary roles, including sitting on the boards of Valitor hf., Síminn hf., Radíómiðlun ehf., and Staka Automation ehf. Elín sits on the board of Veitur.
Elín owns a 0.072% share in the company and a stock option on up to 86,704 shares in 2026 and 2027.
Sigríður Vala Halldórsdóttir was born on April 24, 1983, and resides in Garðabær. As Managing Director of Finance and IT, she oversees billing, accounting, information technology, and business intelligence.
Sigríður Vala has an M.Sc. degree in industrial engineering from the University of Minnesota and a B.Sc. degree in industrial engineering from the University of Iceland, and has also completed a securities trading certification.
Sigríður Vala was Head of the Actuarial Department at Sjóvá 2016–2021 as well as serving on the company’s investment committee. Sigríður Vala worked at Creditinfo 2015–2016 as Head of Business Control and 2008–2015 in business consulting at Íslandsbanki.
Sigríður Vala sat on the boards of HS Veitna hf. 2014–2022 and SÝN hf. 2019–2022. Sigríður Vala sits on the board of the Iceland Chamber of Commerce and Ísfélag hf.
Sigríður Vala owns a 0.015% share in the company and a stock option on up to 86,704 shares in 2026 and 2027.
Svali H. Björgvinsson was born on May 24, 1967, and resides in Seltjarnarnes. The Marketing and Business Development Division handles marketing and preventative measures, business development, and strategic planning.
Svali has a B.A. degree in psychology from the University of Iceland (1992) and a master’s degree in psychology and management from New York University (NYU) (1997).
He was Head of Strategic Planning and Business Development at Sjóvá from 2018–2022. Svali was co‑owner at PricewaterhouseCoopers 1998–2003 and Executive Director of the Human Resources Division at Kaupþing from 2003 to 2009. In addition, he has taught at the University of Iceland and the Iceland College of Education from 1995 to 2010. From 2009 to 2018 Svali worked as Executive Director of Human Resources and Strategic Planning at Icelandair Group/Icelandair. Svali has sat on many boards and undertaken a number of assignments for the sports movement.
Svali owns a 0.004% share in the company and a stock option on up to 86,704 shares in 2026 and 2027.
