It’s been a while since the last job moves round-up, so let’s get busy – lots to cover.
HDI GLOBAL
Dr Renate Strasser is appointed as a new member of the Executive Board of HDI Global SE effective 1 April 2025. She succeeds Ralph Beutter, the Board member responsible for Specialty Lines, who is retiring on 31 May 2025 but will continue to support the company in an advisory capacity and in committee roles.
Renate Strasser (50) has a long-standing, proven track record of expertise in business with Corporate and Specialty insurance solutions. She began her career in 2004 in aviation business with Munich Re and took over as worldwide Head of Aviation Facultative in 2007, before moving to Zurich in 2016 to take on roles as CEO and Managing Director for a Swiss subsidiary of Munich Re. The native Austrian joined the Board of Management of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty in 2020 in the role of Chief Underwriting Officer Specialty, assuming overall responsibility in 2023 as Chief Technical Officer with Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty & Allianz Commercial.
LIBERTY SPECIALTY
Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, has announced the appointment of Nikunj Mahida as Head of Third Party Claims, UK & MENA with immediate effect. Mahida reports directly to Scott Kellers, Head of Claims, UK & MENA.
Mahida leads the London claim team for LSM’s Financial and Professional (FINPRO), Cyber and Casualty lines. His promotion into this role is not only reflective of his technical acumen but also based upon his deep-seated understanding of clients’ needs.
Mahida joined LSM in November 2015 as a Senior Claims Specialist, FINPRO, and subsequently moved into the role of Claims Manager, FINPRO in September 2018. Mahida was promoted to Head of FINPRO Claims and LSM Cyber Claims Lead in October 2023.
ARGENTA
Argenta is pleased to announce the appointment of Sarah Reeve as Senior Property Underwriter. Sarah brings over 17 years of global property underwriting experience, with a particular focus on heavy industry and international markets. Based in London, Sarah joins Hannah Wyatt, Unit Head of Open Market Property, and James Blackwell, Divisional Head of Property, to further develop Argenta’s D&F Property portfolio. Her expertise will be instrumental in strengthening the team’s market presence and advancing its strategic objectives within the sector.
Sarah joins Argenta from WR Berkley, where she served as a Senior Commercial Property Underwriter. Throughout her career, Sarah has gained experience across multiple regions, including North America, South America, Asia Pacific, and Europe, specialising in direct and facultative property risks. Her work has spanned sectors such as light and heavy industry, municipalities and real estate, making her a significant addition to Argenta’s experienced property team.
BPL
BPL, the world’s leading broker specialising exclusively in credit and political risk insurance (CPRI), has appointed Catherine Aubert as Director. Catherine is a highly respected figure in CPRI markets and brings nearly 30 years of experience to BPL, where she will work closely on strategy, client serving and professional support.
Aubert joins BPL from Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking where she held the position of Managing Director, as well as built and led the bank’s Credit Insurance Distribution division for 25 years.
Reporting to BPL’s Group CEO, Sian Aspinall, Aubert will work primarily out of BPL’s Paris office and in connection with its London office.
LOGPOINT
Logpoint is announcing the appointment of Frank Koelmel as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), underscoring Logpoint’s dedication to establishing itself as a European cybersecurity powerhouse. The appointment will enable Logpoint to continue to focus on market growth by providing high-impact cybersecurity solutions that make it easier for security teams to defend against cyberattacks and for organizations to navigate the compliance and threat landscape.
TAXTEC
TaxTec, the world’s first fully digital tax reclamation service, is extremely pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew Douglas as Chair of their newly formed Strategic Advisory Group comprised of senior leaders from across institutional financial services.
Andrew Douglas has spent 35 years in the City, specifically in the post trade space. Currently, he is Chair of the UK Accelerated Settlement taskforce leading planning of the UK’s migration to T+1. Prior to this, Mr Douglas spent 13 years at the DTCC as head of Regulatory Affairs outside the US as well as CEO of their largest Derivatives Trade Repository, DDRL. Until earlier this year when his term expired, he was also Chair of the Data Standards Committee for the Bank of England’s ‘Transforming Data Collection’ initiative.
CBH BANK
The Board of Directors of CBH Bank announces the appointment of Simon Benhamou as Chief Executive Officer. This appointment, which is effective immediately, follows the retirement of his predecessor Philippe Cordonier. The Board also announces the appointment of Alfonso Liparulo as the new Head of Private Banking. He will also join the Executive Committee.
DESCARTES
Descartes, a world leader in corporate parametric insurance solutions for climate and emerging risks, announces the appointment of Francisco Javier Herrera Escalante (ABOVE) as Country Manager, Mexico, to lead Descartes’ expansion there and throughout Latin America, from a new Descartes office in Mexico City.
Inquiries from brokers and corporate clients for parametric support in Latin America – particularly for agriculture, tropical cyclone, renewable energy and earthquake covers – have been increasing steadily over the past few years. Descartes’ first office in the LatAm region
will meet this demand with Francisco’s local market knowledge, coupled with Descartes’ forward-thinking, tech-driven approach to crafting parametric insurance products and customer-focused service.
PREMIUM CREDIT
Premium Credit is pleased to announce the appointment of Rohit Ghai as its Chief Risk Officer. This new role highlights the significant, ongoing investment Premium Credit is making to enhance its finance and regulatory solutions business models and to build capabilities for the future.
Rohit will lead Premium Credit’s Risk, Compliance and Legal functions as the business proudly supports its community of customers and partners in creating opportunities through convenient payments.
Rohit joins Premium Credit from PayPal UK, where he was most recently the interim Chief Risk & Compliance Officer. Prior to PayPal, Rohit held multiple Risk and Compliance leadership roles at Visa Europe and GE Capital across a range of geographies. Rohit began his career with GE’s Corporate Leadership programmes.
TOWERGATE
Towergate Employee Benefits announces the appointment of Mark Pugh in a new role as Head of Consulting Services, a key commercial role that supports the adviser’s growth plan for employee benefits services, following its acquisition of Benefiz.
Mark will join the Leadership Team at Towergate Employee Benefits, reporting into Tim Gillingham, Director of Employee Benefits. Previously Head of Employee Benefits at Verlingue UK, Mark’s knowledge, skills and experience will strengthen the Towergate Employee Benefits team, helping to deliver on its ambitious plans for growth.
In this new role, Mark will support the development and expansion of the full-service employee benefits capability that the Benefiz acquisition brings to the business, helping to ensure the successful delivery of complex services to larger clients. Mark will also take over the leadership of Towergate Employee Benefit’s role with the Worldwide Broker Network from 2025.
Iain Laws, CEO, Towergate Employee Benefits, says: “We are delighted to welcome Mark to our team at Towergate Employee Benefits. He joins us at an exciting time for the company as we evolve with newly expanded capabilities into the pensions and benefits technology market, to become a comprehensive employee benefits adviser.”
LMA
The Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) is pleased to announce the appointment, with immediate effect, of John Levett to the position of Head of Regulatory Affairs. In this role he will report to Arabella Ramage, Legal Director of the LMA.
John joined the LMA in October 2023 as Senior Executive, Regulatory Affairs and has worked on a broad range of consultations with bodies such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulatory Authority, as well as chairing the LMA committee for Environmental and Climate Litigation.
Previously, John was the Senior Regulatory Lead at RSA Insurance. From 2017 to 2022, John worked at the FCA where he was a technical specialist in general insurance compliance and worked on product governance-related thematics.
BROADSTONE
Jeremy Clack has been appointed to the newly created role of Head of Commercial Strategy in its Consulting & Actuarial (C&A) division.
Jeremy’s new role will be dedicated to defining and implementing a strategic, commercial plan for the C&A business, focusing on the identification, implementation and promotion of new propositions. This will include: developing appropriate systems and processes for consistent commercial management across clients; identifying potential areas for new proposition development; and preparing and testing commercial strategies for new propositions.
Jeremy will report directly to Nigel Jones, Broadstone’s Head of Consulting & Actuarial, and will take on this role in addition to his existing responsibilities as Head of Midlands Advisory. He will also work closely with other Heads of Advisory from across Broadstone’s ten UK offices, bringing together expertise from across its national footprint to ensure an aligned, consistent offering to clients.
MELBOURNE CAPITAL
Melbourne Capital Group (MCG) is pleased to announce the appointment of Rob Atherton as Head of International Wealth. Rob’s appointment is a key step in MCG’s strategy to enhance its advisory capabilities across Asia.
In addition, Mark Owens has assumed the role of Head of Strategic Growth. In this role, he will lead MCG’s expansion efforts across ASEAN, focusing on talent acquisition, mergers and acquisitions, and overall business growth. His role is critical to positioning MCG for continued success in the region.
As part of this expansion, MCG is introducing an Advisor Academy, aimed at addressing the advice gap by developing a new generation of financial advisors. The academy will focus on equipping advisors with UK Level 6 qualifications or their equivalent, ensuring they meet international standards of expertise and professionalism.
LIBERTY MUTUAL
Liberty Mutual Reinsurance (LM Re), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, has announced the appointment of Cara Sweeney as Specialty Casualty Underwriting Manager. Sweeney reports to Chantal Rodriguez, Chief Underwriting Officer, LM Re and is based in Stamford.
Sweeney will oversee the underwriting strategy and performance of LM Re’s US Specialty Casualty portfolio. In her new role, she will continue to develop risk assessments for complex financial institutions requiring D&O and E&O insurance, including those in private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, banking and insurance sectors.
Sweeney has extensive insurance experience with her most recent role as VP at Vantage Risk where she was a part of an underwriting team responsible for the US Financial Lines business. She brings more than 16 years’ industry experience to the role and her primary expertise is an excellent complement to the existing team’s strong reinsurance expertise.
OPTIO GROUP
Optio Group, a leading specialty MGA, today announces the appointment of Marc Van der Veer to the newly created role of managing director, Europe, effective immediately. In his new permanent role, he will be responsible for originating and orchestrating further European acquisitions as a core part of Optio’s plans for global expansion.
His appointment underlines Optio’s ambitious plans for growth through strategic acquisitions, alongside profitable organic growth. This follows Optio’s recent acquisitions of Netherlands and Brussels based MGA Den Hartigh Beheer & Exploitatie B.V., Luxembourg-based MGA Circles Group and Italian MGA Heca.
Van der Veer, who has held several senior positions during his 30-year career, joins Optio from MGM Holdings, and before that Nexus Group, where he was chief executive officer, European Ventures. He joined Nexus in 2019 from the Ardonagh Group, where he was CEO, International for specialty MGA Geo Underwriting. He also previously served as general manager of PartnerRe Wholesale, chief underwriting officer of Torus and managing director of Hiscox Europe.
KROLL
Equiom, a leading provider of private client, family office, and corporate services, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jonathan Wheeler as Head of Middle East. In this role, Jonathan will lead the strategic direction and operations across Equiom’s Middle East businesses, overseeing offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, and ensuring alignment with Equiom’s global vision and strategy.
With over 28 years of international experience across the UK, USA, Western Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Jonathan has held various senior leadership positions, including Group Director for Strategy & Strategic Partnerships and Regional Director for the Middle East & Africa at TMF Group. His extensive expertise in corporate governance, risk management, financial services, and corporate structuring makes him a valuable addition to Equiom’s leadership team.
RESILIENCE
Resilience, the leading cyber risk solutions company, has named industry leader and former CrowdStrike executive Matthew Polly as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). He will work across Resilience’s executive and senior leadership team to align, integrate, and scale the company’s revenue-generating functions. As Resilience’s primary revenue strategist, Polly will help accelerate all existing and future revenue streams.
The addition of Polly as CRO comes as Resilience continues to scale its team to meet demand for its core offering: the most effective cyber loss prevention solution on the market. A veteran sales leader, Polly brings more than two decades of experience to his position at Resilience. Most recently, he held the title of Vice President of Sales at CrowdStrike, where he helped accelerate the adoption of the CrowdStrike Falcon Platform and grow the company’s extensive network of enterprise partnerships.
HCML
HCML the leading provider of corporate health and wellbeing services, specialist rehabilitation and case management, announces the appointment of two new senior hires.
James Murray joins as HCML’s Chief Executive Officer from 30 September 2024. Originally a pharmacist, James has enjoyed a successful career in healthcare leadership roles. Most recently he was a member of the Executive Board of Nuffield Health where he was Chief Commercial Officer and then Chief Customer and Strategy Officer.
James supersedes outgoing CEO, Nick Delaney, who will stay on with HCML as a Non-Executive Director. Nick has been with HCML since November 2021, leading the business from £20m to £50m revenue through a combination of strong organic growth and strategic M&A with the acquisition of healthcare rm and CA Case Management.
Alongside James, Vish Buldawoo also joins as Managing Director of the Corporate Health and Wellbeing arm of HCML where he will be responsible for leading the direction of the division and managing corporate relationships. Vish joins from Centrica where he spent 11 years, more recently in senior leadership positions including HR Director and leading Benefits, Pensions and Health & Wellbeing across the Group. He also undertook board responsibilities as well as Chairing Centrica’s Healthcare Trust.
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