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Round-up of the weekly news and developments from the global (re)insurance market with stories from Guy Carpenter, Chubb, Markel International and more.
Guy Carpenter boosts non-marine specialty division with two senior appointments
Guy Carpenter, the reinsurance specialist and broking arm of Marsh McLennan, has announced the appointment of James Johns as managing director, effective 12 August 2021, and Josh O’Donoghue as senior vice president, effective 8 November 2021, within its non-marine specialty unit.
Johns will be based in London and operate as a leading broker and account executive specialising in providing property risk and catastrophe reinsurance solutions for a broad range of direct and facultative clients. He will report to Stephen Firmin, managing director, non-marine specialty, Guy Carpenter.
Johns bring 30 years of experience across broking and underwriting and joins the firm from Willis Re where he most recently served as executive director, specialising in London Market property reinsurance. He was also global head of property at both Talbot Syndicate and Marsh UK.
O’Donoghue serves as a senior broker and account executive, focusing on property retrocession, as well as direct and facultative reinsurance placements. Also based in London, he will report to Roland Morse, managing director, non-marine specialty, Guy Carpenter.
O’Donoghue joins Guy Carpenter from Aon where he served as a non-marine retrocession broker. Previously, he was a US property reinsurance broker at Willis Re.
Richard Morgan, head of non-marine specialties, managing director, Global Specialties, Guy Carpenter, said: “I am delighted to welcome two incredibly skilled and highly respected market practitioners into our Non-Marine Specialty division. The combined experience and expertise that James and Josh bring to these roles will be vital in ensuring we continue to provide truly differentiated and extensive client value. They are joining a very strong and highly respected team and their introduction will help further elevate our standing in the Non-Marine Specialty sector.”
Chubb announces a series of key leadership changes in EMEA
Chubb has announced a series of key senior leadership appointments in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), effective immediately.
Sara Mitchell is appointed division president of Continental Europe, Middle East and North Africa. Mitchell will be responsible for the firm’s property and casualty, accident and health and consumer lines operations across 26 countries in Continental Europe, Middle East and North Africa. Most recently, she served as division president for the UK, Ireland and South Africa.
Mitchell has more than 18 years of insurance industry experience and joined Chubb in 2011 where she served in a number of senior management roles in both the consumer and commercial property and casualty business in the UK and Europe.
Meanwhile, Mark Roberts is named division president for the UK, Ireland and South Africa, succeeding Mitchell.
Roberts will be responsible for Chubb's property and casualty, accident and health and consumer lines operations across the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. He most recently served as chief underwriting officer for property and casualty, UK & Ireland.
Roberts has 28 years of insurance industry experience, including 22 years with Chubb and joined the company in 1999.
Additionally, Robert Wilson is appointed as chief underwriting officer for Chubb Global Markets and active underwriter of Chubb’s Lloyd’s Syndicate 2488.
Wilson will have responsibility for all underwriting activity in Chubb Global Markets and Syndicate 2488. He most recently served as deputy chief underwriting officer and head of underwriting operations at Chubb Global Markets.
Wilson has 35 years of insurance industry experience and joined Chubb in 2009 where he held various senior roles in Chubb Global Markets.
Mitchell, Roberts and Wilson all report to David Furby, regional president, Europe, Middle East and Africa.
David Furby said: "I'm truly excited to have Sara, Mark and Robert on the leadership team in the EMEA region. They all have a proven track record and will with their solid leadership experience bring the best of Chubb to our clients and brokers across the region."
Juan Luis Ortega, executive vice president, Chubb Group and President of Overseas General Insurance, said: "With their decades of industry experience and accomplishment, and under the overall leadership of David Furby, these three executives – Sara, Mark and Robert – represent an exceptionally strong and talented team leading our region in Europe, Middle East and Africa. We are delighted to make these senior appointments, which further demonstrate the significant bench strength of talent within Chubb."
Markel International announce Simon Wilson to succeed William Stovin as president
Markel Corporation has announced the appointment of Simon Wilson as president of Markel International succeeding William Stovin who has led the division since 2008, effective 1 January 2022.
Stovin joins the firm as part of the acquisition of Terra Nova Holdings Ltd in 2000. The deal was part of a long-term strategy to expand Markel's footprint beyond North America to become a global player in specialty insurance.
Wilson brings nearly two decades of experience scaling the international operations of large specialty insurance organisations.
He joins the firm in 2010 to lead international business development and currently served as the managing executive of global strategy for Markel. Prior to Markel, he led the Lloyd's Asia platform in Singapore.
Based in London, Wilson will report to Robert Cox, president and chief operating officer of Insurance Operations for Markel. Stovin will remain with the company in an advisory capacity into next year.
Stovin said: "Markel is a truly remarkable company, and having the opportunity to help expand it to new frontiers has been a great honour. I will always admire this organisation, and I know that
Wilson said: "I'm honoured to have been selected for this role, and look forward to building upon William's legacy. Markel seeks to be a leader in each of our pursuits, and our 90-year history has proven that the best way to do this is through deep expertise and exceptional service. Our commitment to understand our customers' needs while exceeding their expectations will continue to be at the forefront of our minds as we further scale our international operations."
Marsh names Alex Guerin as head of office in London
Global insurance broker, Marsh has appointed Alex Guerin as head of office, London for its UK Corporate business.
In his new role, he will lead the London Corporate business team who advise clients on risk exposures and devise solutions to help them increase their operational resilience and mitigate the risks they face.
Guerin will report to Andrew Wilton, managing director of UK Corporate’s South Region.
He joined Marsh in 2012 as part of Marsh’s Graduate Scheme and most recently worked in the UK Risk Management business as a client executive, serving a broad range of FTSE clients. In 2015, British Insurance Brokers’ Association named Mr. Guerin as its National Young Broker of the Year.
Wilton said: “Across the UK, organisations are facing increasing challenges in areas such as cyber, sustainability, and health and safety. With a wealth of hands-on client experience, Alex brings much practical risk and insurance expertise to this leadership role.
“As we continue to recruit more graduates, Alex’s appointment demonstrates the breadth of opportunities available across the business for colleagues to reach their career potential at Marsh.”
Guerin added: “I am excited by the opportunity to work with a great team of colleagues in our London office as they meet the changing needs of clients. I look forward to broadening our engagement with the businesses we serve, to support and advise them on the key risk challenges they face.”
Richard Little joins marine energy team at MS Amlin Underwriting
Lloyd’s global (re)insurer MS Amlin Underwriting has announced the appointment of Richard Little as senior underwriter within its marine energy liability team, effective later this year.
Little will report directly to Kevin Massey, marine liability product group leader.
He brings nearly 20 years of industry experience and joins the firm from Marsh, where he most recently served as head of energy liability team. Throughout his 12-year tenure at Marsh, he held a number of roles within the energy practice while also continuing to serve as a senior offshore property broker.
He was also a member of the Marsh Technical Advisory group, which debates and develops new market initiatives, wordings, and clauses. He began his career at JLT Agnew Higgins.
Laurence Humberstone, head of marine said: “I am delighted to announce the appointment of Richard as Senior Underwriter in our Marine Liability team.
Richard’s deep industry knowledge and proven market expertise, alongside his broking experience and deep roster of contacts, will be an asset to our business as we continue to focus on strengthening our Marine proposition and providing best-in-class services to our clients, brokers and distribution partners. I look forward to welcoming him to MS Amlin.”
Aon adds Frederick Streeton as leader of complex client strategy of reinsurance
Global reinsurance broker Aon has announced the appointment of Frederick Streeton as leader of complex client strategy of Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions, effective September 2021.
In his new role, he will report to Don Magee, Reinsurance Solutions UK chairman.
Streeton joins the firm from Liberty Mutual Group, where over the past nine years he served as chief underwriting officer of the Global Reinsurance Strategy Group (GRSG), and most recently, head of underwriting strategy – Global Risk Solutions.
Additionally, Aon’s Ben Love has been appointed strategic growth leader for the UK platform where he will have responsibility for building and converting the new business pipeline and developing and implementing the growth plans across all classes for the region.
Nick Frankland, UK CEO of Reinsurance Solutions, commented: “Fred’s insights into a major client’s handling of gross to net risk and his role in optimising that relationship through reinsurance, combined with his previous broking experience, will bring what we believe is an invaluable perspective and new range to our large client proposition.
“His knowledge of all classes, especially Non-Marine Property and Composite Marine, both treaty and facultative, will mean that his impact will help us to be better equipped to improve our service to our client portfolio.”
Adding: “This is a critical role for driving our long-term growth ambitions and desire to expand our product offering. We are pleased that Ben will take on this new role and bring his extensive experience to supporting this part of our business and our clients.”
Howden appoints Holger Schaefer as CEO, Germany
International insurance broker, Howden has appointed Holger Schaefer as chief executive officer, Germany, effective 1 September 2021.
In his new role, he will lead Howden’s objectives for the German market by building on its strong presence and leveraging the businesses and their expertise to deliver innovative solutions for their clients.
Additionally, he will also focus on strategic acquisitions of other culturally aligned firms and investing in both talent and digital transformation.
Howden states the appointment of Schaefer as CEO, Germany, follows the recent announcements of Felix Jenny as CEO, Switzerland and Luigi Sturani and Enrico Nanni as CEO and CCO, Europe, respectively.
Schaefer joins the business from Allianz Group where he spent over 30 years. He most recently held international roles as regional CEO for Asia Pacific for Euler Hermes since 2016, and previously CEO of Allianz’s Corporate and Specialty business in Australia and New Zealand.
Prior to that, he was part of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, Germany for 20 years, where he held a number of senior positions in underwriting and sales.
Schaefer said: “I am thrilled to be joining Howden at this exciting time as its ambitions for Germany and for its wider European platform are being realised. Howden is delivering on its strategy for growth and I’m delighted to be part of it. Howden’s ‘People First’ approach and culture of employee ownership is appealing to both clients – from SMEs, through to mid-market firms and multinationals – and also talent looking for a credible alternative in a consolidating broker market.”
José Manuel González, CEO, Howden Broking, said: “I am delighted to welcome Holger to the group, who will lead our continuing expansion in the German market, building on the success we have delivered there so far and taking it to the next level. Our ambition is to be one of the top three brokers in key markets across Europe through strategic acquisitions, organic growth and investment in talent. Holger’s appointment shows that we are consistently delivering on our plan and we are proud that he has chosen to join us.”
