Insurance Executive Moves | Q1 2024

AMERICAS

American Automobile Association (the AAA) 

  • Gene Boehm has been appointed President and CEO Designate for AAA, succeeding Marshall Doney, who retires after nine years of service. Boehm, joins from The Auto Club Group.

AXIS Capital 

  • W. Marston (Marty) Becker will succeed Henry B. Smith as non-executive Chair of AXIS Capital’s Board of Directors. Mr. Smith, who has served as Chair since May of 2020, has decided to transition from the Chair role and will continue to maintain a seat on the Board. 

  • AXIS Capital has appointed Kyle Freeman as Head of AXIS ILS. Mr. Freeman’s responsibilities will include overseeing the Company’s activities related to third party assets under management in support of its ambition to achieve specialty leadership. He will report to CFO Peter Vogt.

  • Simon Dejung has been appointed as CUO, Global Cyber & Technology for AXIS Capital. He will be based in Zurich, Switzerland, and report to Lori Bailey, Head of Global Cyber & Technology.

  • AXIS Capital has hired Stephen Lord, as Global Chief Information Officer. Stephen Lord previously held the same role with The Hartford.

  • Robert Barriero has been named Global Head of Strategic Sourcing and Corporate Real Estate of AXIS Capital. Robert Barriero joins the newly created role from Morgan Stanley, where he was Head of Property Management – Americas.

  • AXIS Capital appoints Edward Ashby as Chief Commercial Officer, expanding his role to oversee global business development strategies and market visibility. Ashby, previously Global Head of Distribution, joined from QBE, where he led North American distribution efforts.

  • AXIS Capital names Anna Tan as Head of Wholesale Casualty. Tan joins from Navigators, where she served as Head of Excess Casualty.

Chubb 

  • Chubb has named Seth Gillston EVP, Head of North America Industry Practices. Gillston will continue to serve as Private Equity Industry Practice Leader. He will be based in New York City and report to John Lupica, Vice Chairman, Chubb Group and President, North America Insurance.

  • Chubb announced the appointment of Anna Källs as Country Manager for Sweden and Finland, effective from February 1. In her new role Källs will be responsible for Chubb's property and casualty, and accident and health operations across Sweden and Finland.

Everest Re 

  • Mike Karmilowicz has been appointed to Chairman, Everest Global Insurance. He will continue to report to Mr. Andrade.

  • Jim Williamson has been promoted to lead Everest’s reinsurance and insurance businesses. Mr. Williamson currently serves as Everest’s EVP, Group COO and Head of Reinsurance.

  • Jill Beggs, previously Head of North America Treaty and Global Specialty Reinsurance, has been promoted to Reinsurance EVP and COO of the Division, overseeing worldwide portfolio growth and reporting to Jim Williamson.

The Hartford 

  • The Hartford expands Deepa Soni’s role as Chief Information Officer and Head of Technology, Data, Analytics & Cyber to include Operations. John Kinney, who joined The Hartford in 2003 and has led Claims and Operations since 2021, will leave the company.

Markel

  • Markel appoints Mike Heaton as EVP and COO. Most recently, he was EVP, where he led the transformation from Markel Corporation to Markel Group. He succeeds Bob Cox, who has retired.

Marsh

  • Marsh appoints Andy Stirk as US Chief Growth Officer, a newly created role. He joins from Ascot Group, where he was most recently Chief Commercial Officer. 

MassMutual  

  • MassMutual appoints Cindy Ryan as Head of Human Resources. She was previously CHRO at Cigna.

Metlife 

  • Michelleta ("Mich") Razon, former VP at Google Cloud, joins MetLife as Head of Data Enablement, focusing on aligning enterprise data solutions across 40+ markets.

Northwestern Mutual  

  • Northwestern Mutual announces senior leadership changes in preparation for CEO succession, as John Schlifske announces plans to retire. Tim Gerend, formerly EVP and Chief Distribution Officer, assumes Presidency, while John Roberts, previously VP of Field Talent and Performance, becomes EVP and Chief Distribution Officer, succeeding Gerend.

PartnerRe 

  • Philippe Meyenhofer, previously CEO of PartnerRe's specialty lines, ascends to CEO. He joined PartnerRe in 2010, holding various leadership roles before becoming CEO of specialty lines in 2020. This comes as CEO Jacques Bonneau announces his retirement plans.

  • Christian Mitterer, previously CEO of P&C EMEA, now leads specialty lines. He's been with PartnerRe since 2012 and brings extensive experience in the industry.

  • Ingrid Gjonaj, who joined PartnerRe in 2006, assumes the role of P&C EMEA CEO.

  • Jon Colello, CEO of P&C Americas, will additionally serve as President, overseeing non-life underwriting. Colello joined in 2019 and has led P&C business in the Americas.

Prudential Financial  

  • Yanela Frias, President of Group Insurance, has been appointed EVP and CFO, succeeding Ken Tanji. Frias will join the executive leadership team as an executive officer and report to Robert Falzon, Vice Chair of Prudential.

  • Mike Estep, previously Head of Product for Group Insurance, succeeds Yanela Frias as President of Prudential's Group Insurance business. 

  • Jess Gillespie, who previously served as Head of Distribution for Group Insurance, succeeds Mike Estep as Head of Product

    .

APAC 

AIA Group  

  • Melita Teo, former Chief Customer and Digital Officer at AIA Singapore, will succeed Kelvin Ang as CEO of AIA Philippines. Ang is set to retire, but will remain in the company as an advisor.

QBE

  • Rob Kosova has been appointed as the CEO of QBE's Asia business. Kosova has been with QBE since 2018, leading underwriters in the Australia Pacific division responsible for various product lines and risk solutions. He succeeds Jason Hammond, former CEO of QBE Asia, who announced plans to return to his native Australia last year. 

Sompo

  • Kenneth Reilly has been appointed as CEO, Insurance, Asia Pacific, succeeding Daniel Neo who is set to retire. Mr. Reilly will continue to report to James Shea, CEO and Executive Chairman.

  • Sompo International has appointed David Bigley as EVP and Head of Ceded Reinsurance. Bigley joined the firm in 2016 and previously spent 12 years at Endurance.

Tokio Marine

  • Matthew Shaw has been appointed CEO of Tokio Marine Kiln, succeeding Brad Irick. Shaw was previously the company's CUO. Brad Irick has been named as co-head of international business for Tokio Marine Holdings, TMK's parent company. 

  • Vivek Syal has been promoted to CUO Tokio Marine Kiln from his previous role as CRO, taking over from Matthew Shaw

EMEA

AON

  • Jose Antonio Álvarez, former CEO of Santander, has been appointed to Aon’s Board of Directors.

  • Roman Romeo, formerly Executive Managing Director Wholesale Treaty at Aon, has been appointed CEO of its Reinsurance Solutions Bermuda unit, succeeding Tony Fox, who will remain Chairman.

  • Jane Kielty has been promoted to CEO UK at Aon, joining the EMEA leadership team, reporting to EMEA CEO Julie Page.

  • Rishi Mehra, formerly CFO for Asia and Greater China at Aon, has been appointed Head of India, joining Aon’s Asia Pacific Executive Committee and reporting to Anne Corona, CEO of Asia Pacific.

Aviva

  • Aviva has named Ian Clark as non-executive director, with the former Deloitte partner replacing Martin Strobel who retired from the board.

  • Susan Adams has been appointed Group Company Secretary joining from Lloyd’s Banking Group where she was Corporate Governance Director.

AXA

  • Anne Marie Elder has been named as Global CUO, Specialty, at AXA XL, a newly created role. Elder will oversee strategic direction and business development for Marine, Aerospace, and Specialty Niche portfolios, reporting to Libby Benet, Global CUO AXA XL.

  • AXA XL also has promoted Neil Cole to Global CUO, Marine.

Legal & General 

  • Craig Brown, the current CEO of Home Finance, will move to the role of COO of the Retail division.

  • Jayesh Patel, formerly Co-Head of DC Consulting at Willis Towers Watson, joins Legal & General as Head of Defined Contribution Clients, overseeing client relationships.

Lloyd’s

  • Lloyd’s announced Claire Schrader as General Counsel, a role she has been performing on an interim basis since August 2023. She remains a member of Lloyd’s Executive Committee. 

Prudential plc

  • Mark Saunders will join the Board of Prudential plc as a Non-executive Director and will also become a member of the Audit and Risk Committees. Mr Saunders previously served on the executive committee of AIA Group as Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer.

  • Prudential plc announced the appointment of Anette Bronder to the newly created position of Chief Technology & Operations Officer. Ms Bronder will report to CEO, Anil Wadhwani, and will join the Group Executive Committee.

  • Arjan Toor has been appointed as the new CEO Health at Prudential. He was previously CEO for Cigna Europe. Andrew Wong, the former Group Chief Health Officer at Prudential, has left the company to explore non-executive opportunities. 

 
 

 

Contact

Dr. Matthias Oberholzer
Russell Reynolds Associates
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Direct: +41-44-447-30-34
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matthias.oberholzer@russellreynolds.com
Dr. Corrado Menghini
Russell Reynolds Associates
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Tel: +41-44-447-30-30
Direct: +41-44-447-30-33
Mobile: +41-79-261-92-42
corrado.menghini@russellreynolds.com
Dr. Ines Affolter
Russell Reynolds Associates
Stampfenbachstrasse 5 | 8001 Zurich | Switzerland
Tel: +41-44-447-30-30
Direct: +41-44-447-30-50
Mobile: +41-79-576-27-79
ines.affolter@russellreynolds.com