Executives On The Move at Everest Re, AXIS Insurance and Argo Group

October 2, 2020

Two former executives from Chubb and SCOR are joining Everest Re Group in C-level roles. AXIS Insurance brought on four experienced underwriters who will work for its U.S. Management Liability team. Argo Group International Holdings Ltd. appointed a new general counsel.

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Two former executives from Chubb and SCOR are joining Everest Re Group in C-level roles.

Mark Kociancic is Everest Re’s new Executive Vice President and Group Chief Financial Officer. Jim Williamson signed on as Vice President and Group Chief Operating Officer. Both will serve on the Everest Executive Leadership Committee and report directly to President and Chief Executive Officer Juan Andrade.

Kociancic joins Everest from SCOR, where he most recently served as Group Chief Financial Officer dating back to 2013. He had previously served in various senior executive roles with SCOR’s U.S. operations beginning in 2006, before being named Group Deputy Chief Financial Officer in 2012 and then Group Chief Financial Officer. Kociancic’s appointment is effective October 12. He succeeds Craig Howie, who will stay with Everest through December 31, 2020, to aid in the transition.

Williamson joins Everest from Chubb, where he most recently served as Division President, Small Business. He previously served in various senior executive roles with Chubb’s North America and International operations, as well as at The Hartford. His expertise includes underwriting, operations, distribution, and the application of technology across these disciplines. Williamson will be primarily responsible for advancing underwriting excellence, digital transformation, innovation, and efficiency across the Group. His appointment is effective October 5.

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AXIS Insurance, the specialty insurance business segment of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited, brought on four experienced underwriters who will work for its U.S. Management Liability team.

Christina Segreti, Drew Kushnick, Matthew Holzinger and Sherry Alexakis have joined AXIS as Senior Underwriters to help support the Company’s profitable growth in the Management Liability market.

Segreti will work across Management Liability lines, including public and private Directors and Officers Liability (D&O), Employment Practices Liability (EPL), Fiduciary Liability and Crime coverages. She was most recently a Broker for Property & Casualty lines at Gallagher. Previously, Ms. Segreti focused on Management Liability insurance products as a Client Service Associate at Marsh & McLennan and as a Financial Products Underwriter at Great American Insurance. She began her career at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management as a Client Service Associate.

Kushnick’s work will also span across Management Liability lines, including public and private D&O, EPL, Fiduciary Liability and Crime coverages. Before AXIS, he was a Senior Underwriter at Chubb Insurance, evaluating and underwriting professional liability lines for private companies and large-scale nonprofits. He began his career in insurance at Chubb as a Financial Lines Underwriter. Previously he held positions of Regulatory Compliance Attorney at Interbank Mortgage Company, and Wealth Strategies Analyst at Bank of America Private Bank.

Holzinger will work closely with AXIS’ Private Equity product team and will focus on underwriting insurance products for private equity and venture capital firms as well as private equity-backed public and private portfolio company investments. He joins AXIS from Starr Companies where he was a Financial Institutions Underwriter. He began his career as a Wealth Management Associate at Merrill Lynch before transitioning into specialty insurance.

Alexakis will focus on Commercial Crime underwriting. She joins AXIS from Chubb Insurance where she was a Senior Management Liability Underwriter. Alexakis brings 15 years’ experience assessing private and non-profit companies for D&O, EPL, Fiduciary, Crime and other related insurance coverages. She started her career at Chubb working as a Claims Adjuster negotiating personal property claims before transitioning into various underwriting roles.

In related news, Alexandra Tucker also recently joined AXIS as an Underwriter for middle market private company Management Liability products, for both wholesale and retail distribution.

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Argo Group International Holdings Ltd. appointed Allison Kiene to serve as the company’s general counsel.

In this role, Kiene will be responsible for the company’s legal and compliance teams and will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Kevin Rehnberg.

Kiene joins Argo from Sompo International Holdings Ltd., where she served as assistant general counsel and chief compliance officer, data protection officer. She held similar roles with increasing responsibility at Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd., Blue Capital Management Ltd. and Familymeds Group Inc.

Argo Group is specialist property/casualty insurer and reinsurer.

Sources: SCOR, AXIS Insurance, Argo Group