Job Moves and Senior Appointments 29.04.2024

Time once again for a round-up of the senior appointments and job moves across the insurance sector and its key suppliers;

LOCKTON

Lockton is proud to announce two key senior promotions within its Crisis Management team. Helen Sandford has been appointed as Head of Special Crime and Freddie Schlesinger has been appointed as Head of Product Recall and Reputational Risk, effective 1st May 2024. They will both support the continued growth of the Crisis Management team, which includes War, Terrorism & Political Violence, Special Crime, and Product Recall & Reputational Risk under one roof. Helen and Freddie will report to Matt Humphries, Head of Crisis Management.

Helen brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in providing bespoke placements across Special Crime risk to her new role. She was previously Assistant Vice President at Lockton, serving as Special Crime Lead for the Lockton Crisis Management team. Freddie Schlesinger joined Lockton in 2019, serving as Vice President and has extensive experience and a proven track record in product recall, and a demonstrable commitment to client excellence. These appointments follow the appointment of James Bannister as Head of War, Terrorism & Policial Violence in the Crisis Management team last year.

Matt Humphries, Head of Crisis Management at Lockton, said: “We are growing rapidly and differentiating ourself from our peers through getting niche expertise to our clients & prospects. As we grow, I am delighted that we have the strength in depth to continually promote from within. Freddie and Helen are the latest example of our approach to talent development.

CYTORA

Cytora has announced the expansion of its global advisory board in welcoming commercial insurance veteran James Platt. The move is designed to support Cytora’s global growth.

Formerly Group COO and Chief Digital Officer of Aon, James Platt has had a broad and successful career in the insurance industry from leading the big data and advanced analytics practice at BCG before establishing the group wide digitization initiative at Aon. Platt joined Aon first as CEO of Data Analytics before accelerating the transition to a digital-first operating model as Group COO and then as Chief Digital Officer. Platt has recently co-founded Trimstone Partners, a boutique consultancy focused on enabling strategic change across financial services.

INARI

Inari, a core technology solution provider for the global insurance and reinsurance industry, has announced the appointment of Amanda Strazdins as Vice President of Sales. Based in London, Ms. Strazdins joined in April to lead all commercial operations strategy at inari. Ms. Strazdins has held senior roles in sales, operations, and marketing across insurtech, retail, and travel sectors, in the US, the UK, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

As an established global leader in (re)insurance technology services, this latest senior appointment will further support inari’s ambitious global growth strategy, which was boosted by a successful funding round in September 2023, which raised $5.2 million. Based in Barcelona and founded in 2017, inari offers a core insurance policy administration, an underwriting Workbench and bordereaux management systems suitable for Managing General Agents (MGAs), insurance carriers, Lloyd’s syndicates and reinsurance companies worldwide.

BMS RE

BMS Re, the rapidly expanding specialty reinsurance arm of global broker BMS Group, announces the appointment of John Canavan as chief operating officer, US, effective 1^st May 2024. Canavan will report to Chris Brook, Group COO, and Andrew Wheeler, president, BMS Re.

Canavan joins having held previous operational roles at Willis Re, Guy Carpenter and more recently AIG, where he was the Global COO of Reinsurance. In these roles, he was instrumental in improving client and market services, formulating, and executing a digitisation strategy and strengthening reinsurance finance policies.

BIRKETT LONG

Birkett Long is delighted to announce that solicitor Jennifer Tully has joined its Commercial Property team as a Senior Associate. Jennifer specialises in land acquisition and disposals for housebuilders, landowners, and land promoters, with a particular focus on strategic land work (such as conditional contracts, options, promotion agreements, collaboration agreements and complex overage arrangements).

DAVIES GROUP

Davies has announced the appointment of Pino Vallejo as the new CEO of its multi-sector global consulting division, formerly known as Sionic.

Pino Vallejo has over 30 years’ senior executive leadership experience in financial services, eight of which have been spent within Davies’ highly successful Banking and Markets team. His multidisciplinary background spans finance, operations, international business, and regulatory environments. Pino also oversaw the opening of the firm’s first office in Madrid, Spain, as Davies continues to expand its operations to new markets and geographies.

Consulting at Davies, incorporates eight, expert-led specialist practices serving clients across the globe: Asset & Wealth Management, Banking & Markets, Customer Experience, Assurance, Financial Crime & Compliance, Insurance and People & Organisational Performance and Specialist Operations. Under Pino’s leadership Consulting at Davies will form part of Davies’ Global Solutions division which also incorporates the firm’s SaaS technology suite and insurance services and forensic accounting businesses, led by Global Solutions CEO Mark Grocott.

CYBER MONITORING CENTRE

The Cyber Monitoring Centre (CMC), recently announced the appointment of Gaven Smith to its Technical Committee.

Gaven is an internationally recognised technology and cyber leader with more than 30 years of experience in UK National Security. Until late 2023, he was the Director General for Technology and Chief Technology Officer at GCHQ during which time he was responsible for the research and development of a wide range of critical UK national security capabilities.

Chair of the CMC Technical Committee and former head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, Ciaran Martin, said: “Gaven knows technological security and cyber capabilities as well as anyone in this country. He brings experience, skill and pragmatism to our vital task. I am beyond delighted to have him on board.”

CONSUMER INTELLIGENCE

Consumer Intelligence, a pivotal partner in financial services insights, has proudly announced the appointment of Ben Evans as its new Head of Partnerships. This strategic addition underlines the company’s commitment to enhancing growth and leveraging data analysis for confident decision-making within the financial services sector (please see the attached press release, which includes a picture of Ben).

Ben will take the helm of the Partnerships team at Consumer Intelligence, which works extensively with many of the UK’s leading insurers, alongside brokers, aggregators, data agencies, and other financial institutions. His leadership is expected to fortify long-term client relationships and foster strategic growth.

SUPERCEDE

Supercede, the leading reinsurance platform for submission data preparation and deal management, has elevated Tom Spier to Chief Commercial Officer as it continues to lead the charge in revolutionising an antiquated reinsurance industry.

This promotion reflects Supercede’s commitment to driving substantial digital change, leveraging its innovative platform to enhance the efficiency, transparency, and connectivity of reinsurance transactions.

Tom Spier, previously Head of Commercial, has played a pivotal role in Supercede’s rapid growth and expansion. Supercede’s revenues grew over 500% in the last year to produce an ecosystem which now boasts over 140 member companies globally, including insurers, brokers, and reinsurers. His new position will pave the way for further expansion of Supercede’s go-to-market teams and operations.

NEWFRONT

Newfront, the tech-driven insurance brokerage firm based in San Francisco, announces the appointment of Katherine August-deWilde to the Newfront Board of Directors. Ms. August-deWilde brings 30 years of expertise in the financial services industry to the Board. Ms. August-deWilde has been an investor and advisor to the company for the last six years.

ALLIANZ BROKER

Allianz has thanked Mike Crane for his dedicated contribution following his decision to leave his role as Managing Director (MD) of Allianz’s personal lines broker business in the UK, which rebrands next Wednesday from LV= Broker to Allianz. He is replaced by Nicola George, subject to regulatory approval.

In addition to his broker role, Mike successfully led the integration of the L&G GI business into LV= as CEO of L&G GI, as well as caretaking the Pricing Director role for Allianz Personal in the second half of 2023. Nicola’s new role is effective immediately and she will lead the strategic growth of an integral part of the overall Allianz family. She joined LV= Broker in 2022 as Portfolio Pricing Director, where she has made a strong contribution to the overall success of the business. She was previously with Aviva General Insurance for 11 years, developing her extensive industry knowledge through a series of leadership positions in actuarial and pricing roles, most recently as Head of Intermediated Pricing and Underwriting.

Serge said: “Nicola is an established leader who brings invaluable experience and insights into this key role. She understands the dynamics of the personal lines broker market thoroughly, and we’re excited to see how she will grow and develop our presence.”

FM GLOBAL

Commercial property insurer FM Global has appointed Johnell Holly senior vice president, overseeing global client services, sales, broker relations, marketing and the company’s business risk consulting group.

In this newly created role, Holly will assume responsibility for unifying and driving strategic alignment across the functions, ensuring they scale with the company’s long-term business goals while at the same time elevating the experience FM Global’s clients and brokers receive. He will begin his new role on May 1.

“With his extensive operations and leadership experience and long track record of delivering results for our clients and company, Johnell brings a unique set of skills to this new and critical role,” said Randy Hodge, executive vice president, staff insurance operations at FM Global. “Our success is driven by the strong partnerships and relationships we develop. By unifying all our client, prospective client and broker functions together under Johnell, we are positioned to take industry engagement to a new level around the globe.”

THOMAS CARROLL

Ian Price, Director of Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Wales, has joined Thomas Carroll Group as a non-executive Director.

Ian has been at CBI Wales for 19 years, having initially joined as Assistant Director for Wales and the South West before becoming Director for Wales in 2017. Prior to joining the CBI, he worked at Newport-based recruitment agency Acorn. This is his first non-executive position with a private company. Thomas Carroll Group, the independent insurance, risk and wealth management group, recently transitioned into an employee ownership trust (EOT). Ian is the latest person to join the Group’s board, following the appointment of insurance broking expert, David Whittaker as its COO.

Speaking on his appointment, Ian said: “Thomas Carroll is a name that is synonymous with insurance in Wales and the South West, and works with some of the region’s biggest and most successful businesses.

“It has always been a highly regarded company with a reputation for professionalism and putting clients first, so when I was approached to join the board as a non-executive Director, I didn’t hesitate.”