Sompo International Holdings Ltd said that John Charman, chairman of the board of directors and CEO of Sompo International, is getting a promotion.

Charman’s new position will be chief executive officer of Overseas Insurance Business in Sompo Holdings Inc., effective April 1, 2019.

Sompo International Holdings is a Bermuda-based specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and a unit of Sompo Holdings.

The segment of Sompo Holdings’ business that Charman will be running represents more than 27 percent of Sompo Holdings Group’s adjusted profit, employing around 9,000 people in 30 countries and regions and is projected to have more than $10 billion in gross premiums by 2020. In such capacity, Charman will join the new Global Executive Committee (Global ExCo) of Sompo Holdings, which will be established in April 2019 to provide expertise and input on groupwide strategic decisions.

Charman will remain as executive chairman of Sompo International’s board of directors, a role he has held since joining the company in May 2013.

The company also announced that Nigel Frudd will succeed Charman, becoming chief executive officer of Sompo International, effective Jan. 1, 2019, subject to applicable regulatory approvals. Frudd will also join the Global ExCo and be appointed to the new role at Sompo Holdings of senior executive vice president and chairman of Overseas M&A.

Frudd was appointed by Sompo Holdings as a non-executive director of Canopius upon its acquisition in 2014, taking on a full-time role with Sompo Holdings as managing executive officer of Global M&A in 2015, in which capacity he led the acquisition of Endurance and later the sale of Canopius.

Frudd joined Sompo International in March 2017 as chief strategy officer and a member of the board of directors. At the time, he also retained his role as managing executive officer of Sompo Holdings, where he was head of Global M&A. Previously Frudd has held senior positions in leading U.K. insurance companies; been a partner in City of London law firms, specializing in the corporate and financial services sector; and a partner in the Corporate Finance division of a leading U.K. firm of Chartered Accountants.

Sompo’s Board of Directors

Consistent with the planned build-out of Sompo International, the company is expanding its board of directors. Katsuyuki (Dave) Tajiri will be appointed to the company’s board as an executive director, effective Jan. 1, 2019. Having joined Sompo Holdings in 1990, he brings a wealth of experience in the retail insurance market, including his recent tenure as executive director of Sompo Holdings (Asia) Pte. Ltd., which serves the ASEAN countries. Last year, Tajiri was appointed executive officer of Sompo International Retail, responsible for laying the foundation for this new integrated retail platform, which primarily focuses on personal lines products.

The company announced that Recai Dalas, currently CEO and director, Sompo Japan Sigorta, which serves the Turkish market, will be appointed to CEO of Retail and chairman of the Retail Executive Committee in Sompo International. In this role, he will drive the integration of retail business outside of Japan as well as continuing to lead Sompo Holdings’ subsidiary in Turkey, a role he has held since that company was founded in 2001.

The Commercial Property and Casualty executive leaders currently reporting to Charman, along with Dalas in his capacity as CEO of Retail, will now report directly to Frudd as CEO of Sompo International.

“We are excited that these strategic management changes will enable Sompo International to reach the next level of growth, with a greater presence globally in both the commercial and retail insurance industry,” commented Kengo Sakurada, group CEO of Sompo Holdings.

Source: Sompo International Holdings