Chubb appoints EVP; MassMutual hires new head of HR: Career moves

February 8, 2024 6:32 AM

Office workers sit inside an illuminated office building in the City of London, U.K., on Nov. 22, 2018.

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Chubb appointed Seth Gillston as executive vice president, head of North America industry practices. Gillston will continue as private equity industry practice leader and will now also lead overall strategy for industry-focused initiatives and coordinate underwriting, risk engineering and claims services. Gillston joined Chubb in 2000 and has held several leadership roles in M&A and private equity. John Lupica, vice chairman, Chubb group and president, North America insurance, said in a statement: "Seth's rich history with Chubb, including experience leading some of our Industry Practices over the years, positions him to succeed in his new role. The relationships he has built over more than two decades with our organization will allow him to advance these practices and primes them for future success."

Cindy Ryan is the new head of human resources at MassMutual. Ryan will assume oversight of the company's HR organization. Ryan joins the company after 25 years in various leadership roles at Cigna, where she was most recently the chief human resources officer. Roger Crandall, chairman, president and CEO of MassMutual. "I look forward to her dedicated focus on developing and evolving our approach to build a highly engaged and effective workforce that will enable us to deliver on our ambitious strategy and fulfill our long-term commitments to our policyowners and customers."

Prudential Financial announced Yanela Frias as chief financial officer. Frias was previously the president of group insurance. Frias, who has held several leadership roles during her nearly 30 years with the company, will succeed Ken Tanji in March. Tanji will stay with the company until September. Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, said in a statement: "Yanela's extensive finance, operations and leadership experience will serve us well as we execute on our strategy to become a higher-growth, less market-sensitive and more nimble company, creating lasting value for our customers, our shareholders, and our employees."

The company also announced that Mike Estep will take over as president of group insurance. Jess Gillespie will take on the head of product for group insurance role from Estep, who joined the company in 2022. Caroline Feeney, head of Prudential's U.S. businesses, said in a statement: "Mike and Jess's promotions are indicative of both the value of their contributions to our organization and the real progress we are making toward our vision of becoming a global leader in expanding access to investing, insurance, and retirement security."

CFC announced Jason Hart as its new head of proactive cyber. In the newly created role, Hart will continue to develop cyber threat analysis and threat detection services for the company. He was previously CTO at Rapid7, a cybersecurity platform and was the founder of WhiteHat Security and CRYPTOCard. Jonathan Fletcher, Chief Technology Officer at CFC, said in a statement: "Jason combines his technical skills with a pragmatic view on security, the ability to build teams, and to drive innovation and disruptive offerings at a global scale. I can't think of a better person to help us accelerate the evolution of our proactive cyber service with new cutting-edge proprietary technology."

Ascot Group announced new leadership appointments within its U.S. excess casualty team. Ashley Hofler Hunley joins as VP, Southeast. Hunley was previously with Great American Professional Insurance services. Erin Osborne joins as VP, Northeast. Osborne was most recently managing director for excess casualty at Nationwide. Shawna Hadjipateras joins as VP, West. Hadjipateras was an assistant vice president, excess casualty underwriting for Chubb. Brian DelTufo joins as VP, construction product lead. DelTufo was at Liberty Mutual Insurance, in charge of new and renewal casualty business for national construction. Matt Kramer, Ascot U.S. Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement: "Attracting top-tier underwriting and leadership talent with a unique understanding of the specialized space they are operating in remains a top priority for Ascot. These four new appointments, and their significant excess casualty experience, will be critical to our relentless pursuit of client-centric underwriting in this market."

Ascot Group also appointed Elizabeth Johnson, who joined the company four years ago, as its group chief operating officer. Johnson is responsible for global operational support and overseeing technology, business intelligence, communications and marketing. She joined the company as chief underwriting officer, North American and in 2022 was promoted to chief operating officer, North America. Jonathan Zaffino, group CEO and president, said in a statement: "Since joining the company nearly four years ago, Elizabeth has consistently demonstrated the strategic vision and execution skills needed to drive and support our Group's success. Her efforts have been instrumental in enhancing our operational efficiencies and underwriting discipline, and in delivering advancements in our IT capabilities. Elizabeth is a strong advocate of our authentic culture and embodies the Ascot Way through collaborative engagement, strong leadership, and a commitment to exemplary execution in all areas of the business."

Accounting and advisory firm Centri Business Consulting LLC hired John Swanick as senior director and Joe Hayes as managing director in its insurance practice. Swanick and Hayes have more than 70 years experience combined in the insurance and financial services sectors. Previously, they helped build the insurance practice at Grant Thornton. Centri's practice covers property and casualty, life and annuity, health insurance, mutuals, agents and brokers, insurtech and reinsurance companies. At Centri, Swanick and Hayes will enhance its insurance practice's services which include auditing, compliance, cyber security, IT, M&A and accounting. "The rapidly evolving insurance industry presents a tremendous avenue of potential growth for Centri," said Michael Aiello, CEO & Managing Partner of Centri. "Both John and Joe have shown the capacity to assist insurance enterprises in formulating strategies to navigate risks and capitalize on market opportunities throughout their careers. We are excited to welcome them and their extensive experience to the team to expand this important area of service."

Digital risk insurance company Coalition hired Robert Jones as head of global claims. Previously, he worked at AIG for 32 years, most recently as executive vice president of financial lines, specialty claims. Joining Coalition on February 5, Jones will partner with senior leaders at the company to develop its global claims offering, develop its cyber claims team, and collaborate with the company's security and technology teams to serve policyholders proactively and with loss incidents. Jones will also work on Coalition's risk selection strategy. Jones is supervising Coalition teams including relationship management, coverage issues and high-value claim reporting. Jones will report to Shawn Ram, head of insurance at the company.