Executives On The Move at AXIS, Church Mutual and Argo Group

AXIS Capital Holdings Lt. promoted one of its executives to lead a division domiciled in Ireland. Church Mutual Insurance Company promoted six individuals into new leadership roles. Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. elected three new board members.

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AXIS Capital Holdings Limited appointed Mark McCormick as CEO of AXIS Re SE, subject to regulatory approval.

The division is AXIS Capital’s reinsurance legal entity domiciled in Ireland and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, with a Zurich branch. In this role, McCormick will be responsible for AXIS Re SE and the legal entity aspects of its Zurich branch. He will also join the Board of Directors of AXIS Specialty Europe SE (“ASE”) as a Non-Executive Director. AXIS Specialty Europe is AXIS Capital’s specialty insurance legal entity domiciled in Ireland and regulated by the CBI, with branches in London, Brussels and Amsterdam.

Previously, McCormick was Co-Head of Specialty Pricing for AXIS Re, where helped to develop and oversee the business segment’s specialty reinsurance pricing unit. That connection will continue. In addition to his role as CEO of ARe, he will continue to provide support and advice to AXIS Re regarding actuarial pricing matters for its Aviation, Marine and Agriculture lines of business.

In the past, McCormack also managed all non-U.S. actuarial pricing for AXIS Accident & Health from 2010 until that business was merged into AXIS Capital’s insurance and reinsurance business segments in 2018. McCormick joined AXIS from AmTrust, where he was an actuary and underwriter, and previously held a variety of actuarial roles at Imagine and Fineos.

McCormick will continue to be based in Dublin. He succeeds Helen O’Sullivan, who will remain CEO and a Director of ASE. O’Sullivan will also continue to serve as a Director of ARe.

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Church Mutual Insurance Company promoted six individuals into new leadership roles.

• Jeff Steffen has been promoted to senior vice president – chief financial officer. Steffen joined the company in 2013 as director of financial planning and analysis. He was promoted to vice president – chief financial officer in 2016.
• Doug Sippel has been promoted to assistant vice president – treasurer and corporate controller. He has been in the insurance industry for 28 years, with the last 23 at Church Mutual.
• Peter Mahler has been promoted to vice president – Religious Markets Underwriting. He has been in the insurance industry for more than 20 years with 10 of those at Church Mutual.
• Dean Jarnow has been promoted to vice president – Strategic Resource Management. Jarnow has been with Church Mutual for two years. Before joining Church Mutual Jarnow worked on projects with Converge One, Bemis Company, United Health Group, Allianz Life, Ameriprise and Thrivent, among others.
• Alan Ogilvie has been promoted to president – Subsidiaries. Ogilvie was instrumental in establishing CM Vantage in 2016 and has provided great value to many enterprise-wide initiatives. He has been with Church Mutual since March 2015. Prior to joining Church Mutual, Ogilvie spent time with Capitol Insurance Companies, Caliber on Indemnity Company and Wausau Insurance, among others.
• Randy Oja is taking on additional responsibilities as vice president – Social Markets Underwriting. Oja joined Church Mutual as a senior actuary in September 2011. Previously Oja served as vice president – Broker Underwriting.
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Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. elected three new board members: Bernard C. Bailey, Fred R. Donner and Argo Group Chief Executive Officer Kevin J. Rehnberg.

“Today marks several noteworthy milestones for Argo,” said Thomas A. Bradley, Argo Group board chairman. “We appreciate the support from our shareholders approving meaningful governance enhancements and the election of the board.”

Five former directors are retiring from the board of the specialty insurer and reinsurer, including former Board Chairman Gary V. Woods, F. Sedgwick Brown, Hector De Leon, Mural R. Josephson and John R. Power. Shareholders also approved proposals to reduce the maximum board size from 13 to 11 directors and to declassify the board – voting on the full board annually.

Sources: AXIS Capital Holdings, Church Mutual, Argo Group International Holdings.