People in the News
XL Catlin hires EMEA energy boss from Allianz
Nicola Harris joins XL Catlin from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty where she was head of energy & marine, based in Dubai since 2014.
Prior to that, she held a number of roles at Marsh in London and then Cape Town, where she was appointed regional leader for power & energy in 2011.
In her new role, Ms Harris is responsible for providing and designing insurance solutions for the energy sector across EMEA, while leading a team of underwriters based in Dubai, Paris, Amsterdam and Madrid. She is based in Dubai.
AEGIS London appoints Trudeau to lead Canada claims
Lloyd’s managing agent AEGIS London has hired Carrie Trudeau to manage claims notified by its Canadian coverholders. She joins from Crawford & Company (Canada), where she was director of Lloyd’s and dedicated units.
Ms Trudeau will replace Spencer Shusterman who is retiring from his position as senior vice president claims at the end of this year, after seven years with AEGIS London.
Based in Toronto, Ms Trudeau will focus on strengthening relationships with London market brokers while supporting AEGIS London’s coverholders writing property and other lines of business in Canada, the company said.
Trudeau has 18 years of experience in the Canadian insurance market. She began her career with Markel, rising to senior claims examiner before joining Crawford as client services manager in 2008. She is a Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional and Canadian Risk Manager.
RMS appoints new CEO
RMS has appointed Karen White as the group’s new chief executive, replacing current chief executive and co-founder Hemant Shah.
Ms White started her career in Silicon Valley in 1993 as a senior executive at Oracle reporting to chief executive Larry Ellison.
Navigators swoops for Chubb financial lines veteran in Europe
Specialty insurer Navigators has appointed Marina Chierici as a financial lines underwriter in its international management and professional liability division NavPro. She joins from Chubb Insurance Company of Europe.
Ms Chierici has extensive underwriting experience and deep knowledge of the Italian market and brokerage community. Prior to joining Navigators, she spent almost 30 years with Chubb as a financial lines manager.
Navigators said that her addition to the team is part of its strategic plan to build its presence and commitment to local markets across continental Europe, offering the specialty products and capabilities.
MsChierici will be responsible for the development and accelerated growth of the open market financial lines business. She also will work with the company’s existing team in Italy to expand Navigators’ business and relationships with brokers in the region.
She will be based in Milan and report to Michael Zanetti, Navigators’ country manager in Italy.
XL Catlin swoops for AXA exec to boost broker management
Re/insurer XL Catlin has appointed Elie Hanna as head of central broker management.
He joins from AXA where he worked as global head of mid-market and broker engagement.
Prior to AXA, Mr Hanna worked at AIG for more than ten years in both underwriting and senior distribution roles in London and across the Middle East.
Based in London, Mr Hanna will be responsible for managing XL Catlin’s strategic relationships with brokers for the insurance segment. He will report to Philippe Gouraud, head of strategic client and broker management, insurance.
AFL Insurance Brokers Taps JLT’s Rowland, Alston Gayler’s Cavani for Property Team
Independent Lloyd’s broker AFL Insurance Brokers Ltdhas hired re/insurance professionals Barry Rowland and Chris Cavani to augment its wholesale property team.
Formerly a facilities and binder partner at JLT Re, Mr Rowland joins AFL as director, Property & Casualty. Mr Cavani joins from Alston Gayler where he was head of Property. He takes on the role of director in AFL’s Property Practice.
Prior to JLT Re, Mr Rowland was a producer at CGNMB Specialty from April 2014 to September 2015. Over the past 30-plus years, he has worked on both the retail and wholesale side of the business, on both sides of the Atlantic, AFL said.
Prior to his tenure at Alston Gayler which began in July 2015, Mr Cavani also worked for brokers Faber Global Ltd and Glencairn, according to his LinkedIn profile. In a career spanning 16 years, Mr Cavani has specialized in providing solutions to clients through binder, line-slips and stand-alone placements, focused on the US and Canadian retail and wholesale business.
Cunningham Lindsey taps Crawford exec as Sweden CEO
Claims management firm Cunningham Lindsey has appointed Claes Frick as chief executive officer for Sweden.
Mr Frick joins Cunningham Lindsey from a position as managing director and Nordic business development manager of Crawford & Company, having previously held claims management roles in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland.
He has over 32 years of experience in the insurance industry with expertise in general insurance, claims management, and business development in Sweden and across Scandinavian insurance market.
As CEO of Cunningham Lindsey Sweden, Mr Frick will be responsible for driving new business growth and leading the operations in Sweden.
The company said that his appointment will enable a dedicated focus on Swedish clients, providing tailored services in claims management and specifically major & complex loss adjusting. He will also be part of the overall Nordic management team, supporting the operation of Cunningham Lindsey business across the Nordic countries.
Brokerslink Appoints Legrand as CEO, Succeeding Fonseca
Brokerslink has announced the appointment of Jacqueline Legrand as CEO, succeeding José Manuel Dias da Fonseca, who is stepping back to focus his efforts on managing the growth of MDS Group, a Brokerslink reference shareholder, of which he is CEO.
Ms Legrand is chief operating officer and board member at MDS Group, where she oversees business development and operations in Portugal and Brazil. She has worked in the Brokerslink team for nine years, most recently as regional director for Europe.
BMS hires Price Forbes executive to launch new direct energy operation
The London market wholesaler BMS is to launch an energy insurance division later this year, led by Price Forbes executive James Chicken.
37-year-old Chicken resigned from Price Forbes early in February and will re-emerge at BMS later this year once his notice period is served.
He was listed as an executive director of Price Forbes’ power, utilities and nuclear division.
Joining Mr Chicken is fellow former Price Forbes executive Charlie Bowring who joins BMS as chairman, having been a director at Price Forbes since 2010.
Sebastian Graham has also joined the broker as a director. He was formerly a downstream energy broker at Miller.
The trio will report to Ian Gormley, board director of BMS Group.
Employee owned BMS – which itself has backing from PE in the form of Capital Z – has a well-established marine & energy reinsurance practice led by Tim Paske, but little direct energy business. It has earmarked Mr Chicken to build out a team which will focus on both US and international energy business.
BMS and Price Forbes have a similar heritage as independent London market intermediaries with a sizeable client base of North American retail brokers.
BMS is part of the Minova group, which also owns the Lloyd’s insurer/MGA manager Pioneer Underwriters. In 2016, it broke through the £100 million revenue milestone for the first time with a top line of £103 million and reported EBITDA of £17.4 million.
In addition to Capital Z’s financial partnership, ownership is spread broadly among existing and former management and staff with hybrid debt supplied by Pricoa following a 2017 refinancing arranged by Minova CEO Dane Douetil.