Job Moves & Senior Hires 21.08.2023

KYND Limited, a provider of next-generation cyber risk intelligence, is delighted to announce the appointment of Andy Rear as an Advisor to the company. Rear’s extensive industry experience and excellent track record as an independent non-executive director and investor in the insurance and technology sectors make him an invaluable addition to KYND’s advisory team.

With over 30 years of distinguished service in the insurance and technology domains, Rear has earned a reputation as an outstanding leader with a remarkable strategic vision coupled with a strong focus on operational excellence. Throughout his career, he has held key leadership roles in renowned global organisations, including Oliver Wyman, Munich Re, Digital Partners (a Munich Re company), and Motive Partners.

Sompo International, a leading global provider of commercial and consumer property and casualty (re)insurance, today announced the appointment of Dr. Cornelia Röskau as CEO of their European legal entity SI Insurance (Europe), SA (SIIE). Based in Luxembourg, Dr. Röskau will be responsible for the day-to-day management and direction of SIIE. Dr. Röskau will succeed Thomas Brazil as he relocates to Switzerland to take on a new role as Head of Strategic Implementation, Continental Europe Insurance.

Mr. Ralph Brand, Sompo International’s President, Continental Europe Insurance, said, “With two decades of international experience, Cornelia has extensive market knowledge, combined with a cutting-edge skillset and strong leadership qualities that will help drive our continued expansion in Continental Europe. Having lived and worked in multiple countries, she has a deep understanding of European jurisdictions, regulations and cultures which will translate well for the truly international scope of this position.”

POLARIS UK

Polaris UK, the insurance industry owned, digital trading technology provider, announces the appointment of Rob Flynn, UK SME Director of RSA Insurance as Chair of its Board.

The Polaris Board is composed of representatives from leading insurers and brokers, which collectively steer its mission of facilitating efficient digital trading across Personal and Commercial Insurance lines. Polaris’ products and services are used by over 100 insurance organisations to build, control, and distribute digital insurance products.

In March this year, Polaris announced record industry-wide usage of its products, including more than 500,000 policies traded on imarket and an all-time high usage of its ProductWriter, Standards and Live-Chat offerings.

Rob Flynn has been a Board member of Polaris since 2020. He succeeds Deepak Soni, Director of Commercial at AXA Insurance, who served as Polaris’ Chairperson for the last four years.

DAC BEACHCROFT

International law firm DAC Beachcroft has announced that Andy Crocombe has joined the firm as a partner in its Professional and Commercial Risks team in Bristol, to lead a specialist team defending claims brought by students and pupils against universities, colleges and schools. This team forms part of the firm’s wider education offering, which provides a full range of legal services to the education sector including government bodies and regulators.

Andy joins DAC Beachcroft from Plexus Law where he was a partner for over four years and had led its Financial Institutions and Professional Risks team, following eight years as a partner at Kennedys.

CHUBB

Chubb Limited recently announced that Edward Kopp has been appointed Regional President, Far East. Currently, Kopp serves as Country President of Chubb Korea. In his new role, he will have overall responsibility for the management and business results for all of Chubb’s general insurance operations in Japan.

The appointment, which is subject to notification to local regulatory authorities, is expected to be effective September 1. Kopp will report to Juan Luis Ortega, Executive Vice President, Chubb Group and President, Overseas General Insurance, the company’s general insurance operations in 51 countries and territories outside North America. Kopp succeeds Diego Sosa who, as previously announced, was named Country President, Chubb Mexico and General Manager, Chubb Seguros Mexico.

Chubb has also announced that Janice (Jae-Kyung) Mo has been appointed Country President of the company’s general insurance business in Korea, subject to regulatory approval. Currently, Mo serves as Senior Vice President for Property & Casualty, Claims and Corporate Strategy, for the business. In her new role, she will have responsibility for the overall performance of Chubb in Korea.

The appointment is expected to be effective September 1. Mo will report to Paul McNamee, Regional President, Asia Pacific. She succeeds Edward Kopp, who has been appointed Regional President, Far East and Country President, Japan.

OPTIO GROUP

Optio Group, the specialty MGA, announces the appointment of Mark Mugge as chief financial officer, effective immediately.

Mugge brings more than 25 years of experience in the US and London insurance markets to Optio and will report to executive chairman Matthew Fosh. He joins from Lucida Broking Holdings where he was group CFO and previously worked for Ardonagh, holding several senior positions including group CFO and group COO. He also worked for Arthur J. Gallagher as CFO, International Brokerage, in London and as group corporate controller in Chicago before that.

Fosh said: “I am delighted to announce Mark’s appointment as the new CFO of Optio Group. Mark has worked in the finance departments of both carriers and brokers throughout his career, and for the past 20 years he has operated at the highest level. He is a highly technical and strategic finance leader, with a track record and experience not only within finance, but also across M&A, IT, and much else besides.  Optio is very fortunate to have him.”

Birkett Long is delighted to announce that Partner and Head of Commercial Department, Tracey Dickens, has been formally appointed to join the board of trustees at Farleigh Hospice. Based in Chelmsford, Farleigh Hospice is a registered charity which provides hospice care to people affected by life-limiting illnesses, as well as bereavement support, across mid-Essex.

Tracey is a trustee on the main board of Farleigh Hospice and is also on the board of Local Hospice Lottery Ltd, a subsidiary company that operates Farleigh Hospice’s lottery, and runs lotteries for many other hospices around the country.

 VIPR Solutions (VIPR) proudly welcomes Martin Blackburn, a seasoned leader with a rich history of strategic transformations, as he ascends to the role of Chairman. Blackburn brings with him a vast repertoire of experience from working with start-ups, scale-ups, and growing organisations into multinational entities. Blackburn’s career spans over 25 years, starting in engineering with the British Engineering and Telecoms company Marconi, before helping grow Logica into a large-scale organisation. His tenure at Logica saw the workforce increase fifteenfold and his career spread across global markets, including, the UK, Netherlands, Germany, India, France, Africa, and the United States.

Later, Blackburn was pivotal in overseeing European operation markets at EDS, a leading outsourcing company that was later acquired by Hewlett Packard. He then transitioned to IBM, heading their Global Technology business in Europe before moving into the Private Equity space.

International law firm DAC Beachcroft announced that seven partners have completed their move to the firm, joining the national Casualty practice within DACB’s market-leading Claims Solutions Group (CSG) from Plexus Law.

Nicola Skeldon and Louise Shaw have joined DACB in Manchester, while fellow partners Anthony Baker, Gavin McClenaghan, Ciaran Garnett, Carl McGuire and Stephen Johnson are based in the firm’s Leeds office.

Collectively, they bring decades of experience in defending all types of Casualty claims, as well as long-established relationships with leading global and UK insurers and a broad range of ‘blue chip’ companies and public sector organisations. Their extensive expertise includes defending claims for stress, chronic pain and complex injury, assault and psychiatric injury, highways and fatal accident claims, group actions and multi-jurisdictional disputes. The team has also handled regulatory work, including Health & Safety Executive and Care Quality Commission prosecutions, representation at Inquests and defended companies and individuals facing criminal corporate manslaughter charges.

SHELBOURNE MOTORS

Shelbourne Motors has appointed Alan Thompson as the family-owned vehicle retailers’ first ever Chief Operations Officer. The Senior Executive appointment is part of Shelbourne Motors’ ambitious growth plan in its 50^th year of business that includes a £3m capital investment programme across its multi-franchise retail sites.

Alan will be tasked with spearheading the company’s growth strategy and further strengthening its position as one of Northern Ireland’s largest family-owned vehicle retailers. He will oversee the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of the business with a focus on reinforcing Shelbourne Motors’ commitment to offering exceptional choice and excellent customer service to its strong and loyal customer base.

LOCKTON

Lockton has announced the appointment of Shelley Wright as Head of UK Commercial Wholesale. She will work with David Lee, the current Head of UK Commercial Wholesale, to ensure a smooth transition of roles. Ahead of his retirement, after 49 years of working in the insurance industry, the last 11 years at Lockton, David will begin to transfer his areas of responsibilities to Shelley who will be focused on maintaining and building the capability and execution of strategies for clients.

Under David’s tenure, Lockton UK’s Commercial Wholesale has grown rapidly and, over the last three years alone, the business unit has grown its revenue by an average of 35% year on year.

Shelley has 36 years of industry experience and joins from Swiss Re Corporate Solutions where she served as Director of Standard Propositions EMEA and previously as Head of UK Regional Business. Prior to this, she worked at Lorega Ltd as Director of Innovation and New Products and held various roles at Groupama, most recently as Customer Proposition Manager. Shelley also worked for GAN Minster, Fortis Insurance Ltd and Catterall Insurance Services.

INSHUR

On-demand insurance platform INSHUR has appointed James Rawstron as its new Director of Underwriting, as it looks to further solidify its rapid growth as an embedded insurance specialist to the on-demand economy. With a strong background in the industry, Rawstron will be tasked with growing the company’s European business whilst maintaining a laser focus on underwriting profitability. His appointment follows several recent milestones for INSHUR, including a capital raise of USD $26m in a Series B up-round and the acquisition of American Business Insurance Services in the US.

Rawstron, a qualified actuary, joins INSHUR from Munich Re, where he held the position of Head of Performance Management, Distribution at Munich Re Specialty Group. During his time at Munich Re, he played a crucial role as Head of Pricing at Munich Re Digital Partners, where he spearheaded the development of the Pricing and Actuarial function.

HDI

HDI Global SE has made several senior appointments in its UK & Ireland branch, including a new Director of Underwriting, as it continues to deliver on its ambitious growth plan.

Antonia Osborne has joined HDI as Director of Underwriting, effective today. In her role, Osborne will take overall responsibility for underwriting performance, future underwriting strategy and ensuring alignment between HDI’s proposition and the needs of its clients and brokers. She will report directly to Managing Director Stephanie Ogden. Osborne joins HDI from Chubb Global Markets where she held the role of Head of Underwriting Operations and Governance. She was also one of the founding members of the Apollo Syndicate and has a wealth of experience in the Lloyd’s London Market.

Going forward, all underwriting lines of business will report to Osborne. Until Osborne’s appointment, Stephanie Ogden had maintained this responsibility after being promoted from her previous role as Director of Underwriting & Distribution. Osborne will play a leading role in leveraging the scale of HDI’s UK operations through close alignment with her two counterparts at HDI Global Specialty, notably Adam Curran, Director of Underwriting and Jade Wilcox, Director of Delegated Authority Underwriting.

Effective 1st August, HDI also welcomes a new Lead Cyber Underwriter, Philip Smith, to lead the growth and development of this key product line. Smith joins HDI from Chubb Australia where he was the Cyber & Technology Practice Leader for Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia. He will report directly to Osborne.

MCGUIREWOODS CONSULTING

McGuireWoods Consulting has added UnitedHealth Group executive Ryan Pierini, a former lead-lobbyist for Southern California Edison and a senior staffer for several California legislators, as a senior vice-president. He will be based in Sacramento, and focused on legislative, regulatory, and procurement related issues with California state and local governments.

Pierini joins McGuireWoods Consulting from UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune Six company, where he worked as vice president of external affairs covering the California and Hawaii markets.

Pierini directed UHG’s governmental engagement strategies at both the state and local level, where he supported UnitedHealthcare and Optum in identifying and developing business growth strategies. He played an instrumental role in negotiating a multibillion-dollar Managed Care Organization tax that will support the largest Medi-Cal rate increase in California history for providers, ensuring greater access to affordable, high-quality healthcare for millions of Californians.

ROKSTONE

Rokstone, the International Speciality (Re)Insurance MGA, part of the Aventum Group, has announced the launch of a new A&H portfolio and the appointment of Darren Delande as Head of A&H.

Incorporating Accident, Health and Travel, the new A&H division is supported by a panel of A rated carriers and has a broad appetite internationally across both Commercial and Retail arenas.  The new division expects to write £50m GWP in three years and to double that to £100m GWP in five years.

Darren Delande will lead the A&H team when he joins Rokstone after serving his notice at Optio, where he was latterly Head of A&H for the last three years.  With nearly 20 years’ experience in A&H underwriting, Darren was previously at Aegis for four years from 2016, where he developed his own portfolio of International Healthcare business, and before that spent seven years at Brit and four years at Arch.