Another round up of the latest senior appointments across the insurance sector;
DAVIES GROUP
Davies, the leading specialist professional services and technology business, serving the insurance and wider highly regulated markets, today announces the appointment of Emma Wedderburn who will join as Group Chief HR Officer, and also joins Davies’ Group Executive Committee.
Currently Group People Director at Capita Plc, Emma has an impressive senior executive background in human
resources and people leadership. Prior to her time with Capita, Emma held various senior and international roles
at Amec Foster Wheeler, and latterly Wood plc.
Emma will take up her role in January 2021 and will report to Dan Saulter, Davies’ Group CEO. With more than
4,000 colleagues operating across Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, the UK and US, Davies is committed to investing in
its people and their development. As part of her people and HR remit, Emma will also lead Davies’ focus on
inclusion, diversity and its global charitable activities. She will join the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Board, as well
as becoming a trustee of the Davies Foundation, a charity focused on investment in to the communities in which
Davies is rooted.
NOMADS
Effective October 1st, Insured Nomads the world’s first insurtech focused on the healthcare needs of expatriates, remote workers and business travelers has appointed Allen Koski as President and Chief Innovation Officer. Allen has years of experience in the globally mobile space and will provide the insights necessary for Insured Nomads to grow into new markets and unique client segments.
Mr. Koski will bring his experience and strategic planning background to the role of President. He has actively developed global healthcare, wellness, security, evacuation, and travel medical solutions for a wide range of employers. He has met with members and providers in over 70 countries. He is a frequent speaker at national conferences ranging from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans to World at Work and currently holds the Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) designation.
Insured Nomads is the first insurtech in global benefits, offering full spectrum global protection: medical, wellbeing, security/safety, cybersecurity, telemedicine, enabled by member cards enabled by the Mastercard network. Uniquely positioned with innovative technology to empower an easy and efficient customer experience with market leading tools like WalletPass, GlobalinstaPay, and InstaPass. Insured Nomads serves clients around the world and available though insurednomads.com and select brokers/intermediaries.
GRP
Global Risk Partners [GRP] has appointed David Cunningham into a new role as investment director. Cunningham joined GRP in September and his prime focus will be developing M&A leads within retail broking and MGAs. Cunningham leads a team of three investment executives and report to head of M&A Stephen Ross.
Stephen Ross said: “David is a very well-known figure in our sector, with an outstanding track record of business development during his time at Close Brothers Premium Finance.”
“Although we have already an excellent pipeline of acquisition opportunities, we want to step up the pace of our inorganic growth, in lockstep with the continued improvement in the Group’s organic growth performance.”
Ross said that while the scope of his role will be primarily M&A, he will have a dual responsibility for premium finance. “We want to draw on David’s experience and increase our premium finance revenue through a combination of increased finance penetration, and improved deals with our finance providers.”
David Cunningham said: “GRP is one of the most exciting brands in the broking sector, and a great home for broking entrepreneurs who want to create value and share in the Group’s growth trajectory. I’m convinced that the pandemic will accelerate M&A activity in retail broking and I’m looking forward to being part of its ongoing success.”
Cunningham’s arrival marks the third of a series of senior management moves at GRP, following the appointment of Stuart Grieb and the promotion of Chris Haggart.
DIRECT INSURANCE
Direct Insurance Group has announced the appointment of Kevin Dawes as Head of Motor for its wholesale operation Direct Insurance London Market (DILM). Previously Head of Motor at HDI Global Insurance, Kevin has more than 20 years of retail broking, underwriting and risk management experience in the commercial motor market.
David Bearman, Chief Executive Officer for Direct Insurance Group comments: “We’re delighted to make this appointment. Kevin has a unique blend of skills and experience that I am sure our broker partners will benefit from. As we enter a hardening market, with Covid and Brexit bringing their own challenges, brokers are keen to explore more niche and high growth areas of commercial motor to ensure their business model remains resilient and responsive to market trends; we are delighted to be their partner of choice in continuing to access niche capacity and securing the best terms for their clients.
“It is a genuine passion for what we do and an enduring entrepreneurial approach that drives our Group forward. Kevin and his team share this passion and we’re excited to develop and see the team grow in line with our ambitions.”
Kevin Dawes commented: “Service, transparency, passion and talent are all central to a successful wholesale broker. Direct Insurance has all of these running through its veins, together with a very experienced team which has seen them go from strength to strength over the past few years. I am excited to help DILM continue its journey as we help brokers to explore the new opportunities in Motor that the current environment will undoubtedly present, and I look forward to working with our partners to find bespoke fleet solutions for their clients – whatever the hurdles.”
Direct Insurance London Market is a niche specialist Lloyd’s broker specifically aimed at serving the London Market needs of Commercial Insurance Brokers. It provides brokers and intermediaries with access to specialist schemes and markets for high and unusual risks that typically they have found difficult or impossible to place with mainstream insurers.
EFMA
- Jean-Marc Pailhol, Head of Global Strategic Partnerships at Allianz Group and Board member at Allianz Partners, has been nominated as new Chairman of Efma, the global financial association. He replaced Yolande Piazza (formerly of Citi Fintech and now VP Financial Services, Google Cloud, Board of Directors H&R Block)
- From his varied senior positions and especially from the past four years leading Global Market Management and Distribution for the Allianz Group, Jean-Marc brings an exceptional understanding of the major trends that have shaped financial services. More importantly, he is a visionary leader who can see where the industry is heading in the next decade and will ensure Efma serves as an important guide for its members.
Jean-Marc Pailhol Chairman of Efma: “I look forward to starting my tenure as chairman at Efma. With its 120 financial group members in 133 countries, the organization is ideally placed at the center of innovation, customers, and financial services. Efma can and should play a major role in understanding the tremendous challenges the financial industry will have to face in the near future, and support and facilitate this major transformation”.
GALLAGHER
Gallagher has announced that Nick Price has joined as Market Management Director, with responsibility for supporting Gallagher’s Retail division in the management of insurer relationships and ensuring Gallagher has access to a wide range of products and services for clients. Nick joins Gallagher from Zurich, where he was Global Broker Relationship Leader. He has 20 years’ experience in insurance having additionally held roles at leading insurers AIG, RSA and Axa. He is reporting into Ron Hayes, Global Broking Director.
Gallagher’s UK Retail division employs 2,800 people and places $2.5 billion in premium annually for over one million customers. It provides insurance solutions for corporate, commercial and personal customers through a regional network of branches based in communities across the UK.
Commenting on his appointment, Nick, said: “I am delighted to be making the move to Gallagher’s market management team and the broking side of the industry having worked for insurers for a number of years. In my role I will be supporting the team with advice and strategic input on how we can ensure that our clients have access to a wide range of insurance solutions and continuing to develop strong relationships with our insurer partners to enable us to do this.
Ron added: “Nick brings a wealth of experience from his time at both AIG and more recently Zurich, and has excellent relationships across the industry. He is a first-rate addition to our market management team and will enable us to further develop our UK and international insurer relationships.”
Gallagher Re, the specialist reinsurance broker, has continued its investment in industry talent and specialist expertise with the appointment of Ian Kerton to its Motor & Casualty division. Ian will take up his new role as a Partner at Gallagher Re in April 2021.
A well-known name in the reinsurance world and highly respected as a producer of UK motor business, Ian brings 27 years’ treaty reinsurance market experience and strong leadership credentials. Ian joins Gallagher Re from Guy Carpenter, where he has led the UK Property & Casualty team since 2013 and was appointed a member of the UK board last year.
Prior to his decade with Guy Carpenter, he spent 17 years with HSBC Insurance Brokers’ reinsurance business, where he led the multi-line, multi-territory broking team and held responsibility for business in Asia as well as the UK.
LIBERTY SPECIALTY
Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, has announced the appointment of Valérie Baucher to the newly created role of Underwriting Manager Affinity and Program Business for Europe.
She reports to Pierre- Édouard Fraigneau, Chief Underwriting Officer Europe, and to Kerry Mckay, Head of Client and Distribution for Europe. Valérie joins with immediate effect and is based in LSM’s Paris office.
Kadidja Sinz, Head of Europe at Liberty Specialty Markets said: “We welcome Valérie to the LSM team and look forward to working with her. Her knowledge and expertise will be a considerable asset to our European business. This role was created to take advantage of the growing impact technology and data are having on insurance transactions. Her role will strengthen our focus on profitable and sustainable growth across Continental Europe and further supports our strategy to develop new distribution capabilities for our products, solutions and services to our broker partners.”
Valérie is responsible for the underwriting performance and governance in LSM’s new Affinity and Program Business (A&PB) model and developing the A&PB model across traditional and new alternative distribution channels in Europe.
Valérie joins from PartnerRe where she was most recently Underwriting Manager EMEA Financial Lines. Before that she was Head for France for PartnerRe Wholesale. She has significant experience in casualty and financial lines underwriting from a variety of carriers.
EUROP ASSISTANCE
Europ Assistance announced that it has appointed Domenica Lista, as General Counsel of Europ Assistance Group and Philippe Gervais as Group Chief Financial Officer. While Carmelo Reale, General Counsel, and Samir Lahlou, Group CFO, will be moving into new roles within the Generali and Europ Assistance Groups.
Domenica Lista joins the team from Banca Generali where she’s served as the company’s General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, handling corporate governance issues and managing relations with investors, shareholders and stakeholders, as well as with supervisory and control Authorities since 2016. She will replace Carmelo Reale as General Counsel of Europ Assistance Group and report directly to Europ Assistance CEO, Antoine Parisi. In addition to her daily responsibilities of overseeing and ensuring all of Europ Assistance business activities are compliant with current regulations she will also serve as a member of the Europ Assistance Group Management Committee. Some of her other notable roles prior to joining Generali Group include her tenure as in-House Lawyer at major Italian companies such as Pirelli Real Estate, Intesa San Paolo Group and UBI Banca Group. Carmelo Reale will assume a new role in the Generali Group.
Philippe Gervais is appointed Group CFO, reporting to Group General Manager Jean Yves Le Berre, following a two-year tenure as President of the Travel Insurance Business and General Manager of Europ Assistance’s US companies, Generali Global Assistance (“GGA”). Prior to his tenure at GGA, Philippe was with Europ Assistance for 15 years including serving as CEO of the Tele-Assistance Product Line as well as CEO of Europ Assistance Belgium. He began his career in consulting and private equity before joining Europ Assistance in 2003. Philippe will be replacing Samir Lahlou as Europ Assistance Group’s Chief Financial Officer with Samir becoming CFO of Europ Assistance SA, the primary insurance entity of the Group.
Antoine Parisi, CEO of Europ Assistance: “Domenica’s experience and her extensive legal background make her a valuable addition to our team. We are also excited to welcome Philippe back to the Europ Assistance team as our CFO after his tenure with our team in the US. I’d also like to thank Carmelo and Samir for all the hard work they’ve done for us over the past few years, being instrumental parts of our success.”
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