It’s a day late, but here are the latest senior hires across the sector for you;
ORTEC
Ortec Finance, a leading provider of technology and risk management solutions for financial institutions, has appointed Koen de Reus as the new Head of Client Servicing in its Climate & ESG Solutions team.
As Head of Client Servicing, Koen will lead a team of climate risk professionals to advise a wide range of financial institutions on integrating climate strategy within their investment decision-making processes. He will oversee the team to effectively help clients measure, manage, and monitor their investment portfolio’s climate risk exposure by evaluating worldwide macroeconomic, asset class, and sector impacts under different futures, using quantitative and qualitative insights from Ortec Finance’s climate scenario analysis solution.
GENERALI GC&C
Generali Global Corporate & Commercial (GC&C) has made a strategic appointment in its leadership team in the Asia region. Effective November 18th, Nicholas Selff is being appointed Head of Underwriting for Asia.
Nicholas has a strong background in the P&C insurance industry, having worked for over 15 years in various positions across the APAC region, where he gained deep knowledge of all relevant technical and commercial aspects. He has held key leadership positions in renowned companies including Chubb, AIG, and Zurich. We trust that he will further enhance the development of Generali’s business across Asia, ensuring underwriting excellence to drive profitable growth and deliver exceptional value to customers and brokers.
ACRISURE
Acrisure London Wholesale (“ALW”) the London-based wholesale division of Acrisure, today announces a leadership transition. Effective 1st January 2025, Tom Quy will be promoted to Managing Director, succeeding John Sutton as he transitions into a new role. John Sutton will remain with the company as a consultant, providing strategic guidance to the ALW management team. Tom Quy will report to Simon Hedley, Global CEO of Acrisure Re.
In his new role, Quy will lead ALW’s overall business strategy, collaborating closely with Acrisure’s senior leaders to identify growth opportunities and expand product offerings and solutions. In addition, he will focus on enhancing the existing team while continuing to attract top talent to support the company’s growth and culture.
Quy joined ALW in 2019 as Senior Vice President, shortly after the London Wholesale business launched in 2018. He played a pivotal role in building ALW’s cyber wholesale practice and later launched Acrisure Re’s cyber reinsurance division, becoming cyber practice leader. With over 17 years of industry experience, Tom previously held senior roles at Miller, Paragon International and began his career at THB Group.
LOCKTON
Lockton Companies, the world’s largest independent insurance broker, today announces the appointment of Mark Drummond-Brady to the Board of Lockton International as Non-Executive Director, effective immediately.
Drummond-Brady brings over 40 years’ experience in the insurance industry. He initially joined Lockton International in 2023 and will retain his role as Adviser to the Senior Leadership Team, which has seen him contribute to Lockton International’s strategic aims. Drummond-Brady’s new position will deepen his involvement in key areas of global strategic development.
Lockton International has achieved market-leading organic growth over the past five years, driven by a client-centric focus and commitment to service excellence. To sustain this, Lockton will invest in key new geographies, such as India, and in developing new products and services to best meet the needs of clients. Mark will support Lockton International in building on this success, using his experience leading international networks and global teams.
HDI GLOBAL
HDI Global has announced the appointment of Tom Major as Chief Claims Officer with effect from 7 February 2025. Tom will join the Executive team, reporting to Stephanie Ogden, Chief Executive Officer, UK and Ireland. This announcement comes just two months after Ogden confirmed her Executive team and underlines the firm’s focus on attracting the best talent to lead its strategic plans, with a focus on growth and service excellence.
Major joins HDI from Allianz, where he currently serves as UK Head of Claims at Allianz Commercial, leading a large team of London Market claims experts with responsibility for a portfolio that covers nine lines of business. In the 12 year’s spent at Allianz, he has held a variety of roles across Underwriting and Claims.
OPTIO GROUP
Optio Group, a leading specialty MGA, today announces the appointment of Oliver Sheppard as Head of Financial Lines with immediate effect. He will be based in London and report to Chief Executive Officer Deepak Soni. In his new role, Sheppard will be responsible for the management and development of Optio’s Professional Indemnity portfolio, including overall P&L and market capacity responsibility.
Sheppard has nearly 20 years’ experience in Financial Lines at both Lloyd’s and Company markets in London. Most recently he spent three years at Munitus Insurance as Head of UK and International professional Indemnity. He has also held various senior PI underwriter positions at Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty, AIG, RSA and Zurich.
COALITION
Coalition, the world’s first Active Insurance provider designed to prevent digital risk before it strikes, has hired Matt Foster as its new Head of London Markets. The role places Foster as the lead underwriter for the London Market and complex risks, reporting to Stephen Wares, Head of International Underwriting.
Wares said: “Matt is stepping into an important role in expanding our UK business. He will play a central part in supporting our broker partners with complex UK risks and with London Market international wholesale business, as well as being a key leader of our underwriting team.”
FAIRER FINANCE
Fairer Finance is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Pond as Chair of its Consumer Advisory Board (CAB). With a distinguished career dedicated to consumer protection, financial inclusion, and public service, Chris brings a wealth of expertise to the independent consumer group that ensures Fairer Finance remains committed to prioritising the interests of consumers over commercial considerations.
The Fairer Finance Consumer Advisory Board plays a critical role in overseeing the consumer group’s activities, scrutinising its commercial relationships, research, ratings, campaigning efforts, and media commentary to uphold transparency and independence.
Chris Pond is a highly respected figure in the financial services sector, currently serving as Chair of the Financial Inclusion Commission and Trustmark. He was formerly chair of the Lending Standards Board, The Money Charity, and the Equity Release Council Standards Board. Chris was a member of the senior leadership team of the Financial Services Authority for four years, serving as Director of Financial Capability, Senior Adviser, and Head of Consumer Affairs, leading the development of the Financial Capability Division, and the establishment of the independent Money Advice Service.
HOWDEN
Charles Taylor, a leading international loss adjusting business, proudly announces the expansion of its Marine Technical Services (MTS) team with strategic new hires across Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and China.
The four new hires bring a wealth of experience and specialised expertise to the team:
- Allwyn D’Souza – Senior Surveyor, Sydney, Australia: With over 46 years’ experience in the marine and insurance industry — 32 years’ of those as a marine claims adjuster — Allwyn is a seasoned expert in high-value and complex claims. His credentials include expertise in cargo claims, hull damage, and liability cases.
- Ong Eng Hong – Marine Surveyor, Singapore: A seasoned surveyor with over 20 years of experience in the marine sector, Eng Hong’s background includes overseeing shipbuilding and conversion projects, H&M damage investigations and conducting extensive Marine Warranty Surveys across Southeast Asia for oil majors like Chevron Thailand and Petrovietnam.
- Steve Hawthorne – Senior Marine Surveyor, Hong Kong: Bringing 34 years in the marine industry, with 16 years as a Marine Surveyor, Steve offers deep expertise in marine casualty response, heavy lift, project cargoes, and marine warranty services. His expertise includes marine casualty work for H&M and P&I insurers, overseeing drydocking repairs, mega yacht inspections and cargo damage.
- Duan Mingxin – Surveyor, Shanghai, China: With 8 years’ experience as a salvage engineer and 2 years as a project manager of a cruise design project, Duan is experienced in design and associated calculations. His notable projects include leading an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) design project, overseeing the design of a 150,000-tonne cruise ship, and serving as a salvage engineer on complex salvage operations such as the Sewol sunken Ro-Ro ship in South Korea.
Additionally, Harshvardhan Kumar has been appointed Director – Marine Technical Services, Australia, reporting directly to Graeme Temple, Regional Director – Marine Technical Services. His leadership in Australia bolsters Charles Taylor’s commitment to delivering a seamless, end-to-end service for marine clients across Asia Pacific.
OPEN GI
Open GI announces the appointment of Peter Thompson as its chair, effective immediately.
Peter is a seasoned industry leader with experience in growing general insurance businesses through adopting emerging technology and leading high-performance teams to deliver outstanding customer propositions.
His career includes 17 years at BGL Insurance, with the latter five as CEO. He led its motor and home intermediated business to reach c.£1bn million gross written premium, delivering profitable growth and culminating in a successful sale to Markerstudy Group. Other experience includes leadership roles within HBOS and RSA Insurance.
ALLIANZ COMMERCIAL
Allianz Commercial has announced changes to the Board of Management of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (‘AGCS SE’ as the legal entity of Allianz with Board responsibility for Allianz Commercial).
Tracy Ryan, who leads Allianz Commercial in the Americas, has decided to step down from the AGCS SE Board at the end of 2024 to become CEO of the National Council on Compensation Insurance, the not-for-profit U.S. provider of workers’ compensation services. Shanil Williams, current Chief Underwriting Officer, will take over her responsibilities in early 2025. In parallel and from December 1, 2024, Vanessa Maxwell, Global Head of the Financial Lines & Cyber lines of business, steps up to the Board replacing Shanil as Chief Underwriting Officer. These Board appointments are subject to the normal regulatory approvals.
In related moves beyond the Board, Jarrod Schlesinger, Regional Head of Financial Lines North America, will succeed Vanessa as Global Head of Allianz Commercial’s Financial Lines and Cyber lines of business, while Jenise Klein, Regional Head of Property North America, will take on the newly created role of CUO North America. Both she and Jarrod will retain their current responsibilities until successors are confirmed.
Allianz Commercial has also promoted Gabrielle Durisch, currently Global Head of Sustainability Solutions, to the new position of Chief Sustainability Officer from December 1, 2024, reporting to CEO Chris Townsend. She will be responsible for leading Allianz Commercial’s sustainability activities globally, covering both customer solutions and operational topics.
ALLIANZ LONDON
Allianz Commercial has appointed Rob Carslake as its new head of London region for mid-market.
Rob is responsible for the leadership of Allianz’s London region, shaping the business strategy and delivering on its underwriting goals. He brings with him over 13 years’ experience in the insurance industry, with a strong underwriting background and extensive market experience with global and regional brokers.
PRICE FORBES
Price Forbes is pleased to announce that Henry Morgan will be joining its Global Construction team in London as Director – Construction.
With over 13 years of experience in the US construction wholesale market, Henry brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to further enhance Price Forbes’ strategic focus on growth in this area. Henry is expected to join the Price Forbes team in March 2025. Henry Morgan is a Divisional Director at BMS where he has been for 8 years, Prior to that he was an Account Handler at JLT for five years.
Paul Lewis, CEO of Global Construction at Price Forbes, commented: “We are excited to welcome Henry to our team. His extensive industry expertise will complement our existing market leading construction team and will undoubtedly strengthen our position in the US construction wholesale market. Henry’s appointment aligns perfectly with our strategic priority of driving growth and expanding our client offering. I look forward to working with him as we continue to build on the significant momentum, we’ve established this year.”
MPHASIS
Mphasis, (BSE:526299; NSE: MPHASIS), a leading Information Technology (IT) solutions provider specialising in cloud and cognitive services, today announced the appointment of Mike Meyer as Head of Strategic Sales. Mike will lead cross-functional deal execution teams to drive closure on large and strategic deals.
In this role, Mike will spearhead strategic deals in collaboration with various business units, enhancing overall growth, alignment, and effectiveness. He will be responsible for pipeline development along with end-to-end sales cycle management to optimize market opportunities for high-value contracts.
HANDL GROUP
Buy-and-hold investors handl Group are continuing to develop their successful divisional strategy with the appointment of directors to three key roles in their Health and Wellbeing Division.
The division’s new managing director, Margaret McNab, has over 22 years’ experience in the healthcare market, working in a vast range of roles at Maximus, United Health Group, HCML, Bupa, Spire Healthcare and Capita.
Joining Margaret as the new Finance Director and Commercial Director respectively are David Trendle and Scot Smith.
Trained at Baker Tilly, and with a CV boasting multiple CFO roles, David Trendle brings with him a career’s-worth of experience. Like Margaret, David’s background includes time spent at Capita where as a commercially-focused finance director, he was responsible for delivering a £700m contract for the British Army and The Pensions Regulator’s auto-enrolment contract.
This vision for growth is shared by Scot Smith, previously Chief Growth Officer at Medigold and its divisions, and a former CEO. Drawing upon his experiences as Commercial Director at Nuffield Health, MD of Capita Health, and work with the NHS, the government, councils, private companies and insurers, Scot’s impressed by the brands he’ll be working with and the chance for growth.
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