Round-up of the weekly news and developments from the global (re)insurance market with stories from AIG, HDI Global, ArgoGlobal and more.
AIG appoints former CNA head Motamed to board
Former CEO of CNA Financial Corporation Tom Motamed has been elected to the board of directors of AIG.
Motamed joins the AIG board as a director with immediate effect. He will be included in AIG’s slate of nominees for election to the board at the 2019 annual meeting of shareholders.
He has also been appointed to the board’s risk & capital committee and the compensation & management resources committee.
Motamed was chairman and CEO of CNA from 2009 to 2016. Before CNA, he spent 31 years at The Chubb Corporation, where he began his career as a claims trainee and rose to vice chairman and chief operating officer.
Brian Duperreault, CEO of AIG commented: “Tom is a highly regarded insurance industry veteran, and we look forward to welcoming him to AIG’s board.”
Douglas Steenland, chairman of the AIG board of directors, added: “We are pleased to add Tom as a new Director and are confident he will bring valuable insights to the AIG board.”
HDI Global appoints McDonald as MD for UK&I
HDI Global SE has appointed Claire McDonald as managing director of its UK and Ireland operations, succeeding Richard Taylor.
Taylor recently joined the Executive Board of Management of HDI Global Specialty SE, the collaborative specialty insurance venture between HDI Global and Hannover Re, which commenced trading on 1 January. Taylor is responsible as chief marketing officer and UK managing director.
Taylor is responsible as chief marketing officer and UK managing director.
McDonald joins HDI Global from Allianz Global & Corporate Specialty SE, where she served as global head of operations. She previously worked for over 31 years within the Allianz group of companies in a number of senior operational and underwriting roles.
Until McDonald takes up her role in March 2019, HDI Global has named Alan Waters as interim UK and Ireland managing director.
Waters has spent the previous eight years as director of corporate risks at HDI and is a member of the UK and Ireland executive committee.
Commenting on the appointment Jens Wohlthat, HDI executive Board member said: “We are delighted to have attracted a leader of Claire’s calibre,”
“She combines strong insurance industry knowledge with proven operational skills and expertise that will be important to us as we focus on delivering our strategic growth and business opportunity targets in the region.”
Wohlthat continued: “I am very pleased that Alan has agreed to step up at this time. He is a true insurance professional with many years of experience in the market.
“His knowledge and in depth understanding of our UK and Irish businesses will provide strong leadership in the interim period, and a seamless handover in due course.”
Speaking on Taylor’s departure, Wohlthat added: “Richard has served the company as our UK and Ireland managing director for over 10 years. I would like to thank him for his dedication and very successful work and we wish him every success in his new role within HDI Global Specialty SE.”
ArgoGlobal partners with Italian insurtech for on-demand insurance
ArgoGlobal has partnered with Italian insurance broker Axieme to provide gig workers with on-demand insurance cover.
Axieme is connected to the digital platform Jobby, which enables users to activate their insurance when they accept a job.
Mario Borrelli, underwriting director of ArgoGlobal commented: “The growth of the gig economy has created a shifting and unpredictable employment environment in which workers lack the traditional protections supplied by employers against unexpected events such as sickness, injury and civil liability,”
“Our innovative collaboration with Jobby and Axieme, which relies on cutting-edge digital technology, offers gig-economy workers across Italy with steadfast, trustworthy insurance coverage combined with pay-as-you-go convenience.”
To date, more than 4,500 hours of coverage have been provided to some 600 gig workers via this partnership.
Barbican strengthens Syndicate 1955 leadership with trio of promotions
Barbican Insurance Group has announced a trio of promotions at its Barbican Syndicate 1955.
David Slade has been named deputy active underwriter, Ondine Bourrut Lacouture has been promoted to the new role of head of insurance and Simon Saunders to the new role of head of reinsurance.
All three roles are effective immediately.
Slade will work closely with Syndicate 1955 active underwriter, Andy Caldwell, to help bolster existing broker relationships and seek new opportunities for considered growth.
In their new roles, Bourrut Lacouture and Saunders will have oversight of the activities of the insurance and reinsurance business lines across Syndicate 1955, with the heads of underwriting reporting directly to them.
Speaking of the promotions, Caldwell commented: “David is an experienced underwriter with strong technical knowledge, he is held in high regard in the market. As deputy active underwriter I have no doubt that he will help sharpen our focus on profitable underwriting and further improve performance across the business.
“Establishing the new roles of head of insurance and reinsurance creates a more efficient internal structure. It enables quicker decision making, promotes greater interaction between business lines, and ultimately improves our ability to respond to our brokers. I am delighted that David, Ondine and Simon have taken on these roles and look forward to seeing the benefits that this new structure will generate.”
Mapfre names Smith as chief global brokers officer
Mapfre has hired Christopher Smith as its new chief global brokers officer.
In his role, Smith will be responsible for client relationship strategy and policies for the global brokers channel.
He will report to the general manager of the corporate business and clients area, José Manuel Corral.
Smith joined Mapfre Global Risk in 2013, where he worked as the head of European business and subsequently as chief regions & markets officer, international.
Before that, he spent almost 20 years at RSA, eventually becoming Head of European Business in 2006. Whilst working at RSA, Smith developed his career with major brokers and global clients on the London market, particularly Marsh, Aon, Willis and JLT.
MS Amlin CFO John Worth resigns
MS Amlin chief financial officer (CFO) John Worth will be stepping down from his role to join Hastings Group plc.
He will remain in the role of CFO for the time being. The company stated that a search to find his successor has already begun.
Worth is expected to join the board of Hastings in the next few months. He is succeeding Richard Hoskins, who is retiring from his position as group CFO.
Worth joined MS Amlin in November 2017. Before that, he worked with Co-operative Bank and Hiscox.
Simon Beale, CEO commented: "Since John joined the organisation, he has successfully led the Acturial, Business Management information and Finance teams through a challenging period. We would like to thank John for his contribution to the business and wish him all the best for the future when he leaves later this year."
Beazley adds financial lines underwriters to Barcelona team
Beazley has appointed Francisco Alcaide and Alexander van Nierop as financial lines underwriters at the company’s hub for continental Europe in Barcelona.
Alcaide joins Beazley from Hiscox where he has spent the previous eight years as a senior underwriter in the professional risks team, responsible for managing the insurer's relationships with several broker networks.
Alcaide started his career in insurance at AIG Spain where he spent four years as a financial lines underwriter.
In his new role, Alcaide will be responsible for launching Beazley's e-trading platform for speciality products in Spain - MyBeazley - and developing the SME Spanish book by growing the Beazley brand for the segment.
Van Nierop joins the company from Aon in the Netherlands where he most recently served as broker director and cyber broking solutions leader. He previously worked as a broking director for both international property and for financial institutions for Benelux. Prior to Aon van Nierop spent five years at Marsh where he held various roles including senior financial lines broker. He worked in Fortis Bank's corporate finance and capital markets divisions before crossing over into insurance.
In his new role, van Nierop will be responsible for developing Beazley's specialty book of business in Benelux, working closely with local brokers and producers from his wide network.
The two appointments follow the expansion of the financial lines team in Europe over the past 12 months in which financial lines underwriters and an international specialist lines claims manager joined Beazley's offices in Munich, Paris and Barcelona.
Beazley's financial lines regional manager for continental Europe commented: "Our growth strategy in Europe continues to gather pace and we are very pleased to welcome Francisco and Alexander to the team. At Beazley we've been expanding our specialist product offering and bringing on board experienced individuals whose product, territory and segment knowledge and strong market relationships will support our ambitions."
MS Amlin expands P&I capacity for 2019
MS Amlin has increased its protection and indemnity (P&I) capacity for 2019.
The company explained that it would now offer P&I capacity of up to US$500mn through its subsidiary MS Amlin Insurance SE, and up to $1bn with support from Lloyd’s of London and other selected insurers.
It can also provide ground up capacity of up to $100mn through its Lloyd’s Syndicate 100.
By increasing its capacity, MS Amlin claimed that it is now able to offer up to $1bn for shipowners’ P&I and up to $500mn for charterers’ liability.
MS Amlin currently provides specialist P&I insurance with a premium income of $60mn. It has P&I headquarters in Rotterdam and additional offices in London, Paris, Dubai and Singapore, with services delivered by more than 120 employees focusing on two core products; shipowners P&I and charterers’ liability, including FDD and cargo owners’ legal liability.
The (re)insurer also offers a range of additional P&I covers including; war risks, bunker, freight, and kidnap & ransom.
In a statement the company said: “As well as providing capacity for a wide range and size of risks, we are committed to delivering the best in technical P&I services from underwriting, claims, and advisory services, underpinned by the security and financial strength of MS&AD Insurance Group – a top ten global insurer.”