Tiffany & Co names insurance boss Ralph Nicoletti as new CFO

US jewellery manufacturer and retailer Tiffany & Co has announced the appointment of Ralph Nicoletti as its next executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO).

Nicoletti, 56, will be based in New York and responsible for the company’s worldwide financial functions and information technology. He will report to Michael Kowalski, the firm’s chairman and CEO. His appointment to those offices will become effective on April 2, 2014.

He joins Tiffany from CIGNA, a health services and insurance company, where he was executive vice president and chief financial officer. Prior to that, he was executive vice president and chief financial officer at ‘personal care and household brands’ firm, Alberto Culver, and held various financial management positions at Kraft Foods.

In the announcement, the company also revealed James Fernandez, chief operating officer and CFO, will retire in July.

Kowalski said Nicoletti’s “leadership experience and global perspective” would be key to Tiffany’s “continued worldwide expansion”. He added: “We have made key management additions to our organization in recent years [through] our first-class finance and IT functions.

Departing Fernandez has been chief financial officer since the resignation of the previous chief financial officer last November and had also served as chief financial officer from 1989 to 2011. Upon his retirement, the title of chief operating officer will be eliminated and the senior vice president of global operations and customer service, and the senior vice president of manufacturing, diamonds and gemstones will report directly to Mr. Kowalski.

Kowalski added: “Jim Fernandez has made enormous contributions to Tiffany’s financial success and global expansion over the past three decades.

“In addition to his extraordinary leadership of the financial and information technology organizations at Tiffany, Jim also played a critical role in building a world-class distribution, manufacturing, and diamond-sourcing infrastructure.

“I, along with all my Tiffany colleagues, will be forever grateful for Jim’s immense contributions to the Company’s success, his always wise counsel and his enduring friendship.”