Executives on the Move at Everspan, Liberty Mutual, Canopius

November 30, 2022

Everspan Group, a specialty property/casualty insurance platform owned by Ambac Financial Group, has appointed Steven K. Dresner as president. He succeeds Wyatt Blackburn, who has retired.

Blackburn will assume the role of vice chairman of Everspan Holdings and become a member of the board of directors.

“It was my great honor to launch Everspan under Ambac’s ownership and to work with a talented team of industry professionals to grow Everspan into a differentiated, hybrid fronting carrier,” said Blackburn in a statement. “As Everspan continues to grow and expand, I can think of no better person to shepherd the company forward than Steve Dresner, whose skill and expertise in the specialty program space will be a great asset to Everspan’s future growth.”

Dresner has nearly four decades of experience working in program business and surplus lines. He joined Everspan in July 2020 as chief underwriting and reinsurance officer. Prior to joining Everspan, he was senior vice president at Crum & Forster and spent 10 years with Endurance Specialty Holdings, where he was executive VP and head of Brokerage for Endurance Specialty Underwriters as well as SVP and head of Casualty Treaty for Endurance Reinsurance Corporation of America. He also was VP and head of Casualty for The Hartford’s reinsurance unit. He started his career as a facultative underwriter at Gen Re.

Everspan launched in February 2021 with two entities—Everspan Indemnity Insurance Company and Everspan Insurance Company. It has since expanded through acquisition and now consists of five admitted carriers and one non-admitted carrier.

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Liberty Mutual Insurance has appointed Maria Grace as global product leader, Property, effective Jan. 3, 2023.

Grace, who will report to Global Risk Solutions (GRS) President of Underwriting Matthew Moore, will be responsible for the profit and loss of property across the global commercial and specialty re/insurer.

Before joining GRS, Grace served as global chief underwriting officer, Property, and head of International Property at the Everest Re Group. She brings more than 15 years of experience and expertise in the property space to the role.

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Canopius Group has hired Ruchama Graff to serve as U.S. head of Actuarial, part of the company’s continued expansion in the U.S. and Bermuda.

In her new role, Graff will oversee actuarial reserving functions and technical pricing for business underwritten in the U.S. and Bermuda markets. She will report to Lisa Davis, chief executive, U.S. and Bermuda.

Graff brings more than 15 years of actuarial and insurance leadership experience to her new role. She most recently served as actuary, Global Specialty and Global Reinsurance Reserving for The Hartford Financial Services Group, where she managed The Hartford Global Specialty and Assumed Reinsurance reserving team. Prior to that, Graff held actuarial leadership positions at The Navigators Group and Liberty International Underwriters.