RIMS announced that Gary LaBranche will take over as the society’s new CEO on June 1 following the retirement of Mary Roth, who served for 37 years at RIMS.
Since March 2017, LaBranche has served as president and CEO of Virginia-based NIRI: The Association for Investor Relations. NIRI’s members represent 1,600 publicly-traded companies with a combined market cap of $9 trillion. Previously, he was CEO for the Association for Corporate Growth, the Association Forum of Chicagoland and two other organizations. In addition, he was a senior executive at the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
ASAE named LaBranche the Key Award winner for 2007, the highest award in the association management profession. He was also named the 2012 National Association Executive of the Year. The Association Forum named him the 2019 recipient of the Samuel B. Shapiro Award for Chief Executive Achievement. He is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Association Committee of 100 and is past chairman of the Chamber’s Institute of Organization Management. He was named an ASAE Fellow in 1995.
Outgoing CEO Roth said: “My RIMS journey has been remarkable. Starting in the Society’s Research and Education department and advancing to its CEO, I am so proud of the progress we have made, the barriers we have broken and all the milestones we have achieved. I am eternally grateful for all the exceptional RIMS staff members, volunteers and risk leaders who have contributed to our success. Most importantly, throughout my RIMS career I have made some wonderful friendships that I know will carry-on long into my retirement. I want to congratulate our executive search team for their excellent work. Gary LaBranche will add tremendous value to RIMS and this amazing risk management profession.”
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Risk modeler RMS has appointed Michael Steel as general manager. Steel succeeds Karen White, who has recently stepped down following the completion of the Moody’s acquisition.
Steel most recently served as global head of Business Development at RMS and has been at the company since 2016. He will work directly with Steve Tulenko, president of Moody’s Analytics, along with the Moody’s and RMS senior management teams to ensure RMS continues its mission and vision.
Prior to RMS, Steel served as group chief risk officer at AXIS Capital, following a career in reinsurance broking, including 12 years at Benfield (later Aon Benfield and now Aon Reinsurance Solutions). In addition to his role with RMS, he serves as an independent non-executive director on the board of Allianz Re Dublin dac.
Previously, Steel served as an independent non-executive director on the board of Berkshire Hathaway’s international business, as an appointed director on the Casualty Actuarial Society, and as chairman of the Geneva Association’s CRO Network.
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EIS, a global core and digital platform provider for insurers, named Bill Miller as general manager for its property/casualty line.
For over 30 years, Miller has led IT departments of leading insurance companies including State Farm, Kemper Insurance and Globe Life.
“As a transformation leader for well-known insurers like State Farm, Bill brings a carrier’s perspective to EIS that will be extremely valuable in helping us better understand the needs of our P/C clients and their customers,” said Dan Galdenzi, executive vice president, General Management, at EIS. “Having deep experience in both the business and IT sides of insurance, Bill understands how to move insurers forward with the right technologies such as cloud-native and mobile-ready solutions and help them garner the best advantages from their investment in the EIS platform.”
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AmericanAg, a global provider of reinsurance services, announced that Michael A. Conlon, JD, has joined the company as general counsel. He is replacing Andrew Boris, who recently transitioned to the role of executive vice president and CEO.
Conlon previously served as vice president – Product Development at QBE North America, responsible for overseeing the development of property and casualty products across all lines at the company. Prior to that, he was partner at Chicago-based Tressler LLP, where he represented insurers, cedents and reinsurers in complex insurance coverage and reinsurance disputes.