It is time for the weekly job moves round up, let’s dive in;
PEN UNDERWRITING
Pen Underwriting, the multi-class multi-territory managing general agent (MGA), has made four underwriting appointments into its specialist UK Construction & Casualty practice, expanding its footprint of regionally based casualty underwriters with hires into its Birmingham and Liphook offices, as well as London.
Dawn Strong has been appointed Senior Casualty Underwriter and joins Pen’s Liphook office in Hampshire today, bringing more than 20 years’ commercial insurance experience. Having established her career representing clients on the broking side, Dawn later transferred her skills into underwriting and joins from Zurich Insurance where she has spent the past three years as Trading Underwriter.
In Birmingham, Ravi Banger has joined Pen as Casualty Underwriter. A specialist liability underwriter with over a decade of industry experience, Ravi brings technical underwriting expertise in complex risks, combined with valuable insight gained from an insurance career which began in customer services and claims. He joins from NFU Mutual where he was Corporate Insurance Liability Underwriter, having previously worked for Zurich, LV, Wesleyan and Direct Line Group.
Meanwhile the London team has been expanded with the recent appointment of Ollie Jochimsen, also as Casualty Underwriter. Joining Pen from Lloyd’s broker Bridge Specialty International, Oliver’s years of casualty risk experience come with a deep understanding of what brokers and their clients need in this specialist area of underwriting. Also joining the Construction & Casualty team in London this month is Josh Murphy, as Assistant Underwriter.
INSTITUTE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
The Institute of Customer Service, the UK’s independent professional customer service body, has appointed Shirley Fell as Chair of its board, succeeding Giles Hawke (Vice President International of Celebrity Cruises), who stands down after more than 15 years on the Board.
Shirley Fell joins as Chair having served as a Non-Executive Director of The Institute of Customer Service for 10 years. She brings extensive financial services, governance and operations leadership experience, having spent 12 years at global insurer MetLife, including as UK Chief Operating Officer.
Shirley also served as Chief Operating Officer at Cirencester Friendly Society until retiring from that role in March 2026.
Shirley takes over from Giles Hawke, who joined the board in 2010 and has served as Chair since July 2022. Prior to Celebrity Cruises, he was CEO of Cosmos Tours. A long-standing champion of the service agenda, Giles has helped raise the profile of customer service across UK business during his time with The Institute.
SPHERA
Sphera has just announced the appointment of a new Chief Financial Officer, Colleen Prifogle, a powerful addition to the team expected to significantly strengthen and support the company’s strategic visions.
Colleen joins Sphera with more than 25 years’ experience leading finance functions across software, technology, manufacturing and services businesses. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President of Global Finance and Sales Operations at RLDatix. She has also held senior finance and transformation leadership roles at Amazon Web Services, Johnson Controls and Fiserv.
The appointment reflects Sphera’s continued investment in building its leadership team to support the company’s growth strategy. As CFO Colleen will lead Sphera’s global finance organisation, working closely with the executive leadership team to strengthen financial planning and support the continued development of the company’s Operational Intelligence Platform.
PRICE FORBES
Price Forbes Singapore today announces that Craig McCoig-Lees has been appointed head of casualty MGA. In his new role he will report directly to Bruce Ford, Chief Commercial Officer of Reinsurance & Wholesale.
Craig will be responsible for expanding Price Forbes Re’s MGA proposition, supporting third-party MGAs with access to capacity, underwriting expertise and strategic growth solutions.
McCoig-Lees brings more than three decades of industry experience to the role and joins from Howden Re where he was the head of casualty MGA. He has also held senior roles at Lockton International and JLT Re. He has been based in Singapore for the last 13 years.
CANOPIUS
Canopius Group, a leading global specialty and P&C (re)insurer, announces the appointment of Stacey Alioto as Group Chief Operating Officer.
Stacey will report to Neil Robertson, Canopius Group Chief Executive Officer, and will join the Group Leadership Team. She will join Canopius in September 2026.
Based in Chicago, Stacey joins Canopius from HSBC, where she most recently served as Deputy Group Chief Operating Officer. Over 25 years at HSBC, Stacey built a strong reputation for translating strategy into disciplined execution at scale. She has led operations spanning more than 60 markets, and led teams of up to 10,000 employees, managing significant cost bases and delivering consistently throughout the enterprise.
Stacey’s experience is highly relevant to the next phase of Canopius’ evolution, as the Group continues to scale internationally and sharpen its focus on operational excellence. She will bring a fresh, forward-looking perspective shaped by leading complex global operations, driving transformation and building the structures needed to support sustainable growth.
ACRISURE
Acrisure UK has appointed Lou Brown as Head of Risk Management to lead the development of its Acrisure Risk Management Services division.
Bringing more than a decade of experience across claims, risk engineering and strategic risk consultancy, including over four years at Marsh McLennan, Lou will establish a coordinated, UK-wide approach to risk management across broking, claims and advisory teams.
Acrisure Risk Management Services will focus on practical, operational risk areas including people and liability risk, property, motor, claims defensibility, and strategic risk, with a clear aim to reduce the total cost of risk and improve claims performance.
BARENTZ
Barentz announces new leadership appointments in its EMEA organisation, reinforcing continuity and strengthening regional expertise across Italy and the EMEA Performance Materials Division.
Effective 1 August 2026, Roberto Villa will assume the role of Managing Director and Country Manager of Barentz Italia, alongside his current responsibilities as VP Animal Nutrition EMEA. Roberto succeeds Oliver Fox, who will conclude his tenure at Barentz as Managing Director and Country Manager of Barentz Italia and VP Performance Materials EMEA on 31 July 2026.
Oliver Fox played an important role in developing the Italian business for Barentz over more than two decades. Under his leadership, Barentz Italia grew from a start-up into a recognised player in specialty distribution across multiple lines of businees, supported by several successful acquisitions and a strong local team. Barentz thanks Oliver for his dedication and contribution to the company and wishes him and his family all the best in the future.
Roberto has been with Barentz for more than sixteen years and brings extensive experience across the specialty ingredients industry, together with deep knowledge of the Italian business and the wider EMEA organisation. In his expanded role, he will focus on ensuring business continuity, supporting the continued development of the Italian team, and further strengthening Barentz’s position as a trusted partner to customers and principals in the market.
At the same time, Cagdas Cagri will take the role of VP Performance Materials EMEA, in addition to his current position as Managing Director and Country Manager of Barentz Türkiye. Cagdas brings more than 20 years of experience in the specialty chemicals distribution business, including extensive leadership experience, and will lead the continued development of Barentz’s Performance MaterialsDivision across the EMEA region.
TOKIO MARINE HCC
Tokio Marine HCC International (TMHCCI) has appointed Gülsah Dagdelen as Head of Cyber – International, effective 1 July 2026. Dagdelen will lead TMHCCI’s Cyber team as the business builds on a decade of specialist underwriting expertise and continues to grow its international practice.
Dagdelen succeeds Xavier Marguinaud, who helped develop TMHCCI’s Cyber offering from a single line within Financial Lines into a dedicated international practice over the last decade.
Dagdelen joined the company in 2013 as a Financial Lines Underwriter and moved into Cyber in 2019. With her career in insurance developing alongside the evolution of Cyber as a specialist line of business, Dagdelen is well placed to guide the team through an increasingly complex cyber risk landscape, drawing on almost two decades of technical and commercial underwriting expertise.
APOLLO
Apollo, a Skyward Group company (Nasdaq: SKWD), the innovation inspired insurance platform, announces the appointment of David Burke as class lead to its product recall line, highlighting Apollo’s continued investment in underwriting talent and specialist expertise.
Burke will lead the underwriting strategy for Apollo’s product recall offering, driving continued expansion of the business while broadening beyond its market leading automotive recall capabilities into additional profitable recall sectors. He joins Apollo from Hiscox, where he spent the past 10 years leading the product recall unit, becoming a partner in 2021.
The addition of Burke to the Apollo team builds on Apollo’s established strength in the recall market. Apollo recently ranked second in Gracechurch’s ‘2026 London’s Leading Underwriters Report’, reflecting the company’s strong reputation among brokers for underwriting expertise and service excellence.
ACQUIS
Chubb Limited (NYSE: CB) has announced key executive appointments to its global reinsurance business, Chubb Tempest Re. James Wixtead, Senior Vice President, Chubb Group and President, Chubb Tempest Re Group, has been named Executive Chairman. Michael O’Donnell, currently Division President, Chubb Tempest Re USA, has been named Senior Vice President, Chubb Group and President, Chubb Tempest Re, succeeding Wixtead. The appointments are effective August 1.
As Executive Chairman, Wixtead will provide governance oversight and advise on strategy for Chubb global reinsurance. As President, O’Donnell has day-to-day executive management responsibility for Chubb Tempest Re, both top and bottom line.
Chubb Tempest Re provides a broad range of traditional and specialty reinsurance products to a diverse array of primary property and casualty insurance companies. O’Donnell will report to Evan G. Greenberg, Chubb Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and John Keogh, President and Chief Operating Officer, Chubb Group.
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