Argo Group International Holdings Ltd., an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products, has appointed Axel Schmidt as group chief underwriting officer. He will succeed Andrew Carrier, who has announced he will be leaving Argo for personal reasons this summer.

Schmidt has more than 25 years’ experience in the global insurance and reinsurance market. He comes to Argo from Aviva, where he served as CUO for the company’s U.K. and Ireland business across personal, commercial and corporate/specialty lines.

Prior to joining Aviva, Schmidt spent 20 years at Zurich, where he held a number of senior underwriting and management positions including deputy CEO/CUO of Zurich’s corporate business in Europe and the U.K. and underwriting director for Zurich’s global corporate business.