Executives on the Move at Aspen, QBE, Markel and Safety

January 5, 2016

cm-executives-on-the-move-square-3-capsAspen Insurance made a number of new global product leadership appointments. QBE North America hired on an AIG veteran to oversee and grow its risk business. Markel’s venture arm promoted an executive to lead the division. And Safety Insurance is getting a new leader.

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Aspen Insurance, as part of an ongoing revamp, has appointed a number of new global product heads.

They include:

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QBE-InsuranceAn AIG veteran executive is joining QBE North America as its new senior vice president for risk management overseeing the insurer’s large North America risk business.

Joseph Davide will be tasked with developing and riving underwriting and business strategies for large/complex property, primary casualty and excess casualty risks. He will be based in New York City and report to Kathleen Zortman, president, Standard Lines – Property & Casualty, for QBE North America.

QBE’s North America risk arm falls under its Standard Lines – Property & Casualty division, which includes commercial, personal, program and agricultural businesses.

Davide is a longtime AIG veteran, and has held a number of leadership roles there over 21 years. Most recently, he was senior vice president, head of Excess Casualty, Corporate Accounts.

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Markel Ventures appointed Michael Heaton, its chief operating officer, as president. Markel Logo B&W

Heaton, who will retain his COO title, will lead a division of Markel Corp., a company that markets and underwrites specialty insurance for a variety of niche markets. He’s been with Markel since 2006, and has held a number of leadership roles with the company.

Markel Ventures invests in a number of industrial and service businesses that operate outside of the specialty insurance marketplace, companies that are separate from Markel’s insurance operations.

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David Brussard, the president and CEO of Safety Insurance Group, plans to retire on March 31, but the Massachusetts-based property/casualty insurer already has a succession plan in place.

Replacing Brussard will be George Murphy, vice president of marketing as of April 1. Murphy has been at Safety since 1989 and has held a number of executive positions at the company since then. His experience has mostly focused on developing strong relationships with Safety’s network of independent agents, as well as building Safety’s brand recognition in New England.

Brussard won’t go away entirely, however. He’ll remain as non-executive chairman of the board of directors of Safety Insurance Group.

Brussard helped grow Safety into a Northeast-based publicly-traded property/casualty insurer with more than $1.2 billion in assets and nearly $800 million in premiums.

Sources: Aspen Insurance, QBE North America, Markel and Safety Insurance.