It’s time for the weekly Job Moves round-up, so here goes;
MARKEL
Markel, the insurance operations within the Markel Group Inc. (NYSE: MKL) has appointed Jo Sykes as divisional director for the UK broker channel. The move is the latest to support the delivery of its ambitious growth strategy, with a clear focus on developing broker relationships. She will assume full profit and loss responsibility for this rapidly growing Markel business.
Sykes joins from AXA, where she was director of commercial SME, leading their growth plans, digital transformation and associated underwriting results. Her career spans over 25 years, including roles at Zurich and RSA across commercial insurance.
Under Sykes’s leadership Markel will continue building its specialist books in care, technology and construction, as well as market-leading professional indemnity capability in the UK market. Sykes’ experience will bring a commercial focus that will balance Markel’s continued ambition for growth with its long-term sustainable underwriting approach, and ongoing dedication to better support brokers and their customers.
HDI GLOBAL SINGAPORE
Industrial insurer HDI Global SE Singapore (HDI) has entered the Accident & Health market in Asia with the underwriting appointment of Lisa Leow.
Lisa can look back on more than 20 years in the insurance industry. She joins HDI from Starr Insurance Companies where she was Head of Accident & Health. Prior to that she held similar positions with QBE Asia and Zurich and spent more than ten years at AIG in different functions. During this time, she gained an extensive expertise in Accident & Health insurance in Singapore and across Asia, which she will now use for HDI to start this new line of business in the Singapore branch.
Welcoming her, HDI’s Managing Director and Principal Officer in Singapore Graham Silton, said: “I am delighted to welcome Lisa to HDI, with her proven track record and capabilities, she will be invaluable to the business as we enter the Asian Accident & Health market. I am very much looking forward to working with Lisa as we expand our product offering to our clients and brokers across the region.”
LIIBA
Three senior women from the London insurance market have joined the board of broker representative body LIIBA. Gina Butterworth, COO of Gallagher Re UK; Margarita Hutley, director, Iris Insurance Brokers and Holly Shepherd, managing director of Shepherd Compello have taken their seats on the board.
Gina Butterworth (above) will represent reinsurance brokers while Margarita Hutley and Holly Shepherd take newly created board positions representing smaller broking firms.
Christopher Croft, LIIBA’s CEO, said: “Gina, Margarita and Holly are very welcomes additions to our board. Not only do they possess a tremendous range of experience of the London market and broking generally, but they’ll also be able to provide insights in their particular specialisms that will inform our policy- and decision-making.
“With around 80% of our member businesses having fewer than 50 staff, Margarita’s (above) and Holly’s expertise in this segment of the broking community is particularly valuable. Equally reinsurance is a significant part of the service our members deliver to their clients and Gina will ensure it is properly considered in our deliberations.”
Holly Shepherd (above) said: “I am delighted to be sitting on the LIIBA board. Contributing to change and innovation in the industry by ensuring we operate in a diverse and impactful environment is something that makes me excited for the future and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.”
LIIBA’s board has 21 members drawn from insurance brokers trading within the London insurance market
SUPPLY WISDOM
The US data specialist Supply Wisdom has a new CEO, Tom Thimot, (above) who has been brought on to expedite growth of the market’s only risk intelligence platform that provides real-time risk identification, analysis, and management in one platform with AI, with insurance being a major focus area for the company.
Tom, a six-time enterprise tech CEO often referred to as the pivot CEO, has 30+ years of experience scaling SaaS-based tech companies and deep experience in data, analytics, and identity technologies. Most recently, he served as CEO of enterprise identity authentication company authID (Nasdaq: AUID) as well as the CEO of identity verification provider Socure, where he led a transformation that positioned Socure as the leader in day-zero identity verification and earned the company a $1.3 billion valuation.
In addition to announcing several customer wins including one of the top three largest telecommunications providers in a $2.7M deal for continuous monitoring of 8,000 global third-party suppliers, the company has also promoted Jenna Wells, former U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence Officer and Iron Mountain executive, to Chief Customer & Product Officer and Sowmya Krishnaswamy to Chief Technology Officer.
LCM PARTNERS
LCM Partners is very pleased to announce the appointment of Julian Schiller to its senior management team as a Managing Director and Head of Capital Solutions. This strategic hire underscores LCM’s commitment to strengthening its leadership team with seasoned industry professionals, ensuring that it continues to offer unparalleled service to its clients.
Julian brings with him vast experience across the asset management industry as well as broader financial services. He has previously held senior positions at industry giants such as Brookfield and JLL. During his tenure at Brookfield, Julian was closely involved with LCM’s business and its strategic direction in his role as a Board Director. His expertise around capital formation, product development and client service will be instrumental in driving both capital and client initiatives for the business going forward. As part of the role, Julian will oversee LCM’s global sales efforts and will be a member of the product development team. Adding someone of his calibre and experience will also further strengthen LCM’s position as both a market innovator and a market leader.
FM GLOBAL
Commercial property insurer FM Global has appointed Laurel Rudnick senior vice president, division manager for AFM, FM Global’s middle market insurance division. She will begin her new role on Jan. 1, 2024.
Rudnick most recently served as operations senior vice president, New York operations manager for FM Global. She joined FM Global in 2006 as a field engineer in Los Angeles operations and went on to hold a variety of roles, including account engineer, account manager, group manager account engineering and assistant client service manager. In 2018 she relocated to New York operations as client service manager and moved to her most recent role in 2021.
“Laurel has excelled at every step in her career at FM Global, and I am excited for her to take on a new global leadership role with AFM,” said Ziad Alex S. Tadmoury, who was recently appointed executive vice president, overseeing AFM and operations for EMEA, Asia Pacific, Canada and specialty industries. Rudnick succeeds Tadmoury as head of AFM. “With her extensive work in engineering, client service and operations, Laurel has the background and experience to help AFM continue to provide a superior experience to our broker partners and shared clients.”
Rudnick graduated from the University of California, Davis, with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, and California State University, Northridge, with a master’s degree in engineering management.
HIGOS
Alan Clarke has been appointed Managing Director at Brown & Brown (Europe) Limited’s South West hub, Higos. He takes up his new role on 1 January 2024, and reports to his predecessor, Matt Hartigan, who was recently promoted to Director of Retail Division, with a wider brief overseeing the South West of England and South Wales.
Higos is the largest Brown & Brown business in the South West and Brown & Brown’s third largest Retail insurance broking business in the UK, with 12 offices and over 200 teammates.
Commenting on his new role, Alan said: “I’m really excited by this opportunity having done a number of different roles in Higos for all my insurance broking career, Matt has been a brilliant leader of the business and together we have been able to deliver a record year of organic growth. I’m looking forward to building on what he’s achieved to take Higos to a new level of success.
PEN UNDERWRITING
Pen Underwriting has appointed Megan Jones as Capacity Relationship Manager, with effect from 2 January 2024, as its focus on internal leadership development continues.
Currently Senior Professional Indemnity (PI) Underwriter for UK PI, Megan joined Pen’s Manchester Underwriting Management business in October 2022 from Hiscox, where she was a specialist commercial lines underwriter accountable for the renewal of some of its largest and most complex UK clients.
Megan’s promotion will see her take responsibility for the strategic and operational management of each capacity partnership underpinning Pen’s five key underwriting divisions, splitting her time between London and Leeds. In line with Pen’s ambitious growth strategy and plans for international expansion, Megan will also be responsible for cultivating new capacity relationships to support its increasingly diverse portfolio and breadth of business lines.
A chartered insurer with a strong track record in achieving profitable account growth, winning and retaining business, and developing underwriting talent, Megan brings a decade of experience to the role. Her technical underwriting experience spans a wide range of insurance products, from the more traditional end of commercial property and professional risks to emerging sectors, such as cyber, technology and media.
AMPHITRITE UNDERWRITING
Amphitrite Underwriting London (“Amphitrite”), the specialist marine MGA, announces the appointment of David Harris as non-executive chair with effect from 1st January 2024, subject to regulatory approval.
Harris, a veteran in the insurance sector, brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to Amphitrite. He has held senior roles at notable firms including RSA, AXA, Amlin, and Argo and his expertise spans a diverse range of key leadership positions including chief operating officer, chief human resources officer and managing director.
Harris has also previously served a non-executive director on the Lloyd’s Market Association board and as a member of the Council of the Chartered Insurance of Institute, giving him extensive insight into a range of market issues.
Konstantinos Tampakakis, CEO of Amphitrite, commented: “We are delighted to welcome David to our board. This marks a pivotal moment for Amphitrite as we embark on an exhilarating phase of growth. We are proud of our reputation for exceptional service, technical underwriting proficiency and our track record. David brings a wealth of strategic insight and a strong governance background which will be invaluable as we enrich our offering to clients and grow our business.”
PERKBOX
Perkbox, the independent UK perks and benefits provider, has appointed Doug Butler as CEO. With extensive financial and operational expertise, Butler will be charged with driving continued global growth, overseeing product innovation and ensuring continued customer success by helping businesses provide meaningful support to their employees.
Butler brings over 30 years of leadership experience to the position, having run businesses across the technology, telecommunications and the employment engagement sectors. Most recently, Butler served as CEO of Reward Gateway for over five years shepherding the company through significant growth prior to its acquisition by the French benefits provider Edenred. Prior to this, Butler co-founded and served as both CFO and President of Colocation Services – for infrastructure-as-a-service provider, Latisys – which was acquired in 2015 by Zayo Group.
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