John Burke (above) has been named chief executive officer of Annuity & Life Re (Holdings) Ltd. Previously, he was chief financial officer of the troubled life reinsurer.

Mr. Burke succeeds Robert Lichten, who was named acting chief executive officer of Annuity & Life Re last year following the retirement of Lawrence Doyle. Mr. Doyle had headed the Hamilton, Bermuda-based reinsurer since its 1998 launch. Annuity & Life Re, which is facing higher-than-expected claims from minimum death benefits business it wrote, stopped writing new business last month.