Job Moves and Senior Appointments 04.03.2024

It’s time once again for a Job Moves and Senior Appointments round-up, so let’s get started;

McGILL AND PARTNERS

McGill and Partners, the global boutique specialist (re)insurance broker, has expanded its ports and terminals offering with the appointment of Julien Horn as a Partner. Julien joins the team headed up by Julien Hubbard, adding expertise in logistics and transportation.

Julien joins McGill and Partners from TT Club, an independent provider of mutual insurance to the international transport and logistics industry. He worked at TT Club since 2006 and spent the last four years as a Senior Underwriter in the marine division. At TT Club his work focussed on the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Mediterranean and Turkey.

Prior to that Julien spent six years as Business Development Director in Dubai for TT Club, with responsibilities for the Middle East, India and Africa.

QBE

QBE announces the appointment of Kevin Shallow to the role of Executive Director, International Markets (IM). Shallow is currently Director of Marine based in the UK, a role he has held since 2022.

Cécile Fresneau, Managing Director for QBE EO’s Insurance Division said:

“Kevin brings a wealth of experience to the role with a keen interest in innovation. I am thrilled that we have been able to fill this role internally, recognising a colleague who consistently performs at the highest level. Kevin will be focussed on continuing to shape and grow our wholesale business as a key part of our Insurance Division.”

He joined QBE in 2005 and has more than 18 years’ experience in the industry, including time spent in Singapore developing QBE’s Asian marine business. He also developed QBE’s portfolio solutions underwriting unit in the London market and managed it until 2022, driving significant growth. He will take responsibility as Joint Active Underwriter of Syndicate 2999.

WTW

WTW (NASDAQ: WTW), a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, has today announced the appointment of Julien Bosc to the Global Specialty team, within the company’s Insurance Consulting and Technology (ICT) business. Bosc will assume the newly created role of Global Specialty Director and continues the expansion of WTW’s Global Specialty team.

Bosc joins WTW from Aon, where he spent 15 years in Aon’s Strategy Consulting division, leading the delivery of business strategy projects for (re)insurers and co-leading Aon’s commercial due diligence proposition.

Bosc will be based in London and report to Richard Clarkson, Global Market Leader of WTW Global Speciality. He will be responsible for developing solutions for specialty insurance worldwide to help (re)insurers grow their top line, improve profitability, and reduce costs across their underwriting, trading and technical actuarial processes. His remit will also include the orchestration of strategic partnerships with selected third-party companies that can help expand the Consulting and Technology proposition.

ECCLESIASTICAL

Ecclesiastical Insurance has appointed Laura Carter as its new Customer Segment Director for the UK. Laura Carter will be responsible for developing and maintaining Ecclesiastical’s products and propositions to meet the needs of its specialist target markets. Previously Ecclesiastical’s Head of Customer Propositions, she replaces Faith Kitchen from 1^st March.

Laura brings a wealth of experience to the specialist insurer’s underwriting department. Prior to joining Ecclesiastical in October 2017 as a Product Development Consultant, she held proposition development positions at Zurich and Zurich Municipal. Most recently, Laura worked on launching Ecclesiastical’s new Leisure product, contributing to the specialist insurer’s ambitious growth strategy which is aiming to double the size of its business over the next few years.

Laura added: “I’m thrilled to be promoted to Customer Segment Director. It’s a really exciting time of ambitious growth at Ecclesiastical and the business continues to go from strength to strength.”

NN GROUP

The Supervisory Board of NN Group N.V. has decided to nominate Koos Timmermans for appointment as member of the Supervisory Board for a term of four years. The proposal for appointment has been approved by the Dutch Central Bank and is supported by the Central Works Council of NN Group (‘Central Works Council’). The proposal will be submitted for adoption at the annual general meeting to be held on 24 May 2024 (‘2024 AGM’). If appointed, Mr Timmermans will join the Supervisory Board’s Audit Committee and Risk Committee.

Koos Timmermans (1960, Dutch) has a strong background in the financial sector. He held various senior leadership roles at ING Groep N.V., including chief risk officer of the Executive Board (2007) and chief financial officer (2017). At ING, he was also responsible for the areas of sustainability, international relations and regulatory affairs.

FUSION SPECIALTY

Fusion Specialty (Fusion), a leading MGA platform within Pop Group Holdings (POP), is pleased to announce the appointment of Steven Harwood as managing partner, M&A, Fusion Asia Pacific (APAC). In his role, Harwood will spearhead the Fusion M&A team in the APAC region, overseeing operations from New Zealand to India.

A seasoned professional with more than 26 years of expertise in transactional liability risks, Harwood brings a wealth of experience to Fusion.  As an ex-Royal Navy officer, London-based reinsurance broker and English-qualified lawyer, Harwood has a diverse background that uniquely positions him for success in the specialty insurance sector. Fusion will look to leverage Steven’s extensive knowledge and skills to strengthen its presence in the Asia Pacific region. This strategic move aligns with Fusion’s commitment to providing innovative solutions and expanding its footprint in the specialty M&A insurance sector.

Harwood is regarded as one of the most experienced underwriters in APAC, having around 11 years’ experience spanning not only Warranty and Indemnity (W&I) but also Tax Indemnity – largely indirect tax matters involving India, Singapore, UAE, Mauritius and Netherlands but also Japanese, Australian and Korean tax risks.  He is also a market authority on contingent liability risks, including litigation buy-out risks, and is the go-to underwriter for Asian brokers expanding into this area.

PRICE FORBES

Sarah Horler has been appointed as Price Forbes’ new Deputy Chief Executive Officer. 

Sarah takes up her new role in May 2024. She joins the leadership team of Ardonagh Specialty’s insurance segment, working alongside Price Forbes trading CEOs Andrew Draycott, Conor Geraghty and Graham Kilby.

Sarah has spent the last 18 years at Lockton, latterly as a partner and executive committee member of its Private Equity Corporate Acquisitions Practice (PECAP), where she was responsible for the portfolio managers as well as clients across banking, financial institutions, commodities, shipping and professional services.

ACRISURE

Acrisure Re, the reinsurance division of global Fintech leader Acrisure, announces the appointment of Jim Botsis as Head of Chicago, effective immediately. He reports to Michael Cross, President of Acrisure Re North America, and has joined the North American Executive Committee.

Botsis is primarily responsible for expanding Acrisure Re’s Midwestern footprint while also acting as an advisor on regional business across North America. In addition, he is also focused on identifying synergies within Acrisure to optimize organic growth opportunities and cross sell products.

Botsis brings more than 25 years of industry experience and joins Acrisure Re from BMS, where he was executive vice president for 13 years. He is a prominent advocate for the reinsurance industry having consulted for multiple state insurance regulation departments on the industry’s behalf. Botsis’ background is focused on the agricultural industry, and he has placed specific agricultural reinsurance programs for both large, national and regional companies. He has also worked with agricultural aggregators to secure capital for the sector.

MORE FROM ACRISURE

Acrisure Re, the re/insurance division of global Fintech leader Acrisure, today announces the appointment of Joel Hodges as Executive Vice President, effective 1 March. He is based in London with a global role.

Hodges brings more than 25 years of re/insurance industry experience to Acrisure Re along with a broad range of expertise encompassing actuarial, underwriting, reinsurance buying, broking and portfolio management. As part of the Acrisure Re senior broking team, Hodges has a key leadership role in developing thoughtful client reinsurance treaty solutions in a fast evolving re/insurance world.

Hodges joins from Howden Tiger where he was the International Head of Analytics and responsible for overseeing data analytics across all product lines and leading initiatives to improve the performance of the business. Prior to Howden Tiger, Hodges held several senior roles at Liberty Mutual, most recently as head of portfolio management, Global Risk Solutions.

VISTA INSURANCE BROKERS

Vista Insurance Brokers Ltd has boosted its offering to the Recruitment sector with the appointment of Gary Brotherton as Head of Recruitment Insurance.

This appointment comes as part of Vista’s strategy to drive sales growth across its specialist sectors, namely Recruitment, Corporate Business Solutions, Private Equity, Tech & Life Science, Construction and International insurance.

Gary brings a wealth of knowledge with him having worked with some of the biggest names in the recruitment sector while at Kingsbridge as a Development Executive, and prior to that Marsh Commercial for nine years.

INSLY

Insly, the no/low code software provider to the insurance industry, has hired its first dedicated UK Sales Director, Alex Durham. Durham has more than 20 years of experience across the insurance industry, with the last 10 years in insurtech and SaaS businesses at HUG HUB, Zywave, and Applied Systems. Before that, he held roles spanning broking, underwriting, and business development at companies including Aon and NFU Mutual.

Half of Insly’s global client base is UK-based and Durham will be responsible for accelerating uptake of the Insly platform across UK MGAs and insurers. He will draw on his extensive network, and knowledge of the UK sector, while building a dedicated UK sales team.

PPL

John Mason has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of PPL, the London market’s electronic trading platform. Mason will take up his role in April, succeeding interim CEO Joe Gordon, whose tenure will end following a handover period. John was Group Head of Platform for the London Stock Exchange until recently. Prior to joining LSEG, he ran the European Enterprise Solutions for Bloomberg and also led Thomson Reuters’ response to MiFiD II and other regulatory and market structure initiatives. Steve Hearn, PPL’s Chairman, said: “Following what’s been a very competitive recruitment process, I’m delighted we’ve been able to attract someone of John’s calibre to lead PPL.

CYFOR

CYFOR Group, a provider of cyber security, e-discovery, and criminal digital forensics, has announced the appointments of Andrew Frowen as CTO and William Poole as Head of Incident Response.