Markel, Chubb, W.R. Berkley new appointments: Career moves

December 14, 2023 6:17 AM

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Markel announced that Bob Cox, president and chief operating officer of global insurance operations, will leave the role at the end of December. Cox led the operations for five years. He previously held several executive leadership insurance positions before taking the role. The Markel specialty and international insurance divisions will report directly to Jeremy Noble, president of Markel. Noble said in a statement: "The further alignment of our operations positions us to increase our market presence, better leverage the full platform of our services and offerings and strengthen our focus on building the leading global specialty insurer."

Central Insurance announced a few changes to its executive leadership. Jessica Seymour, vice president of risk and capital management, will assume the role of chief financial officer. Seymour will lead the company's financial, accounting, actuarial, data science, risk and capital management and enterprise data teams. Chad Glenn, chief actuary, will serve as chief distribution officer and be responsible for aligning marketing and distribution. Jocelyn Pfeifer, former senior vice president of underwriting, will take on the role of chief insurance officer and oversee underwriting, product, pricing, and loss control. "These appointments of key leaders within our organization mark a significant step forward in strengthening our executive team," said Evan Purmort, president and CEO, in a statement. "All three leaders are remarkable individuals dedicated to maintaining the high level of care and commitment that sets us apart in the industry."

Chubb hired Federico Spagnoli as its division president, consumer lines for overseas general insurance. Spagnoli was the former CEO of Fully Ecosystem with Prudential Financial and spent about 13 years with AIG, where he held several positions. Spagnoli will report to Juan Luis Ortega, EVP, Chubb Group and president, overseas general insurance. Ortega said in a statement: "In this new role, Federico will provide leadership as we focus on optimizing and leveraging the full strengths of our consumer offering, from our broad range of personal lines and A&H products to our direct marketing platform, relationships with agents and brokers, and B2B2C digital distribution partnerships through Chubb Studio. We have substantial runway for growth in Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe, and Federico has the track record and expertise to help us realize the combined potential of our consumer businesses."

Ameritas announced Michele Wu as its senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer. Wu will oversee accounting, finance, corporate actuarial and capital management. Wu previously served as CFO for Principal Hong Kong. Sue Wilkinson, who currently holds the position, will move into the president and chief operating officer role in January.

W.R. Berkley named S. Akbar Khan as its president of preferred employers insurance. Khan succeeds Dennis J. Levesque, who will support the transition. W. Robert Berkley, Jr., president and chief executive officer of W. R. Berkley Corporation, said in a statement: "Dennis has been an excellent leader in furthering Preferred Employers' position as one of the most highly-regarded workers' compensation businesses in California. We sincerely thank him for his many contributions. Akbar's extensive underwriting experience and expertise in the California market will be tremendous assets as he leads the outstanding team at Preferred Employers."

Ascot Group announced David Larson as U.S. head of loss and control risk management services. Larson will be responsible for developing and launching a loss control and risk management program. Larson previously served as SVP and national director of risk services at McGriff Insurance Services. Jonathan Zaffino, Group CEO and president said in a statement: "As we continue to enhance our abilities to deliver sustained underwriting profitability, we are increasingly focused on risk mitigation strategies to support our clients across multiple industry sectors. In today's complex and volatile risk environment, these solutions are critical to long term success. Investing in talent like David affords us the opportunity to help our clients build robust risk mitigation plans while harnessing loss trend data to better inform risk selection and support portfolio optimization. We believe this is integral to the future of smart underwriting."

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