XL Capital Ltd. chairman Brian O'Hara will not stand for re-election to the company's board of directors at next month's annual general meeting.

The announcement marks the end of a 23-year association between the Bermuda business insurer and Mr. O'Hara, who was its very first employee.

The Bermuda resident served as XL's chief executive officer for 13 years, before making way for Mike McGavick in May last year, and oversaw the growth of the company into a major global player with operations in 27 countries.

Over the past year, XL has been hit hard by investment losses and ties to Syncora Holdings Ltd., the troubled bond insurer XL co-founded. The company's $1.42 billion loss in the last three months of 2008 was the XL's third deficit of more than $1 billion in five quarters.

"Obviously the events of the past year were hardly the way in which Brian had planned to retire, and it has been very public just how painfully and fully aligned Brian's fortunes have always been with shareholders," lead director Robert Glauber said in the statement. "We would all do well to remember that without Brian this franchise simply would not exist."

The value of Mr. O'Hara's shareholdings in the company plunged from a value of around $132 million in early 2007. Last October Mr. O'Hara was hit with a margin call, which forced him to sell 80 percent of his shares in the company.

John Thornton, a member of the board since 1988, also won't seek re-election, the company said yesterday. Robert Parker, a director since 1992, and board member Alan Senter, serving since 1986, will retire at the end of 2009, XL said.

"I have had the pleasure of serving with these three directors for many years," Mr. O'Hara said. "We have seen XL through good and difficult times. It is fitting that having guided the company through this very challenging past year and installed a new CEO, that we step aside for a new generation of board leadership."