Executives On The Move at Hiscox Re, Hamilton Re and AXA XL

The CEO of Hiscox Re & ILS is leaving the company to pursue interests outside of insurance. Hamilton Re has appointed an interim CEO. AXA XL presented a new leadership team for the Americas.

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Hiscox announced that Mike Krefta, CEO of Hiscox Re & ILS based in Bermuda, will be leaving the company and returning to the UK in early 2021. After 17 years with Hiscox, he is looking to pursue interests outside of the insurance sector.

Hiscox said the search for Krefta’s successor has commenced and an appointment will be announced in due course.

Krefta has worked for Hiscox in both London and Bermuda in a variety of accounting, underwriting and catastrophe modeling roles, predominantly across the insurer’s big-ticket businesses. He has served as Hiscox Re chief underwriting officer, joint active underwriter of Syndicate 33 and active underwriter for Syndicate 6104, before becoming CEO of Hiscox Re & ILS and a member of the Executive Committee in 2017.

Bronek Masojada, Hiscox Group CEO, commented: “Mike has made an impressive contribution to the Hiscox Group during his tenure, and we have benefitted from his underwriting expertise, energy and commitment to the group. I would like to thank Mike for all he has done for Hiscox, and he leaves with our very best wishes for the next chapter.”

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Hamilton Re CEO Kathleen Reardon is leaving the company, according to an announcement from Hamilton Insurance Group Ltd.

David Brown has been appointed interim CEO and will oversee Hamilton’s Bermuda operations until a successor is announced.

Brown has been chairman of Hamilton Re Ltd. since 2015 and was Hamilton Insurance Group’s interim CEO for nine months until the appointment of Group CEO Pina Albo in February 2018.

“David’s leadership and experience will be instrumental as we accelerate plans, in current favorable market conditions, to take advantage of our expanded platform, products and our global teams to achieve our goals,” said Albo.

“In the meantime, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to Kathleen for all she has contributed to Hamilton’s growth and development since its inception. We wish her every success in her future endeavors.”

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As part of the proposed changes to its insurance operating model announced in April, AXA XL has appointed its new Americas leadership team, reporting to Joe Tocco, chief executive officer for the Americas.

The appointments include:

• Donna Nadeau to chief underwriting officer. Nadeau steps into this new role from her current position as AXA XL’s chief operating officer in North America, a position she has held since 2014. Jerome Itty, who joins AXA XL from AXA Partners where he recently served as Head of Asia, assumes Nadeau’s former role as COO.

• Bob Peretti to chief distribution officer. Since 2015, Peretti has led AXA XL’s North America Client and Distribution Management team. The new role expands his responsibilities to include global management of key broker relationships, and he also assumes management of the Americas marketing function in close collaboration with the global marketing function.

• Jim DiVirgilio as chief claims officer. Since joining AXA XL in 2008, DiVirgilio has held senior claims management positions, most recently leading AXA XL’s claims management activity across North America. Prior to joining XL, he was with Travelers for 24 years.

AXA XL’s new regional structure also included the creation of three zones in the U.S.—East, Central and West—and the appointments of three executives to lead business activity in each zone:

• Matt O’Malley will head the East U.S. zone, based in New York. During his 25-year tenure in the insurance industry, O’Malley has held numerous underwriting and management positions, most recently managing AXA XL’s Casualty E&S and Environmental business in the U.S.

• Todd Sutherland will head the Central U.S. Zone, based in Chicago. Sutherland joined AXA XL in 2018 as North Central Regional leader. During his 27-year insurance career, he also worked at Allied World and AIG.

• Mike Soper will head the West U.S. Zone, based in San Francisco. Since 2016, when he joined as Western Regional leader, Soper has led AXA XL’s Client and Distribution Management team and its regional growth throughout the western states. Soper has 25+ years in the insurance industry and joined AXA from Zurich Insurance.

These newly created roles join Tocco’s Americas country management team, which also includes Patrick Tannock as country manager, Bermuda; Urs Uhlmann as country manager, Canada; and Renato Rodrigues as regional manager, Latin America. The Americas region includes AXA XL’s collective property, casualty, professional and specialty insurance and risk management resources in the U.S., Canada, Bermuda and Latin America, including Brazil and Mexico.