DUAL Group announced the appointment of Ed Ashby as chief executive officer, DUAL North America, effective March 23.

Ashby will lead the U.S. business from New York, reporting to Richard Clapham, CEO, DUAL Group.

Ashby joins from Axis, where he was chief commercial officer. Prior to that, he held leadership roles at QBE, including head of global distribution, North America and head of credit and surety. He brings 30 years of experience in the U.S. market, having begun his career in the UK.

Clapham said Ashby will “focus on expanding our offering for our U.S. broker network and their clients, strengthening our carrier partnerships, and creating additional capacity vehicles.”

London-based DUAL, a managing general agent, is the underwriting arm of Howden Group. CEO David Howden said the U.S. “represents the single largest growth opportunity for DUAL.”

“Our ambition to accelerate our model in North America – attracting the very best underwriting talent and giving them a platform to drive innovative capacity and products to meet the needs of brokers and clients – matches the opportunity that this important market presents,” he added.

John Johnson was CEO of DUAL North America, a role he held since DUAL acquired Align Financial Holdings in 2021. Clapham thanked Johnson, who will be working with Ashby to “ensure a seamless transition.”

DUAL Group also announced the appointment of Paul Schiavone as executive vice president, Cyber and Professional Lines.

Schiavone joins DUAL with more than 25 years of experience in the cyber and professional liability market. He most recently, he served as senior vice president of Professional Lines at Coaction.

Schiavone will be based out of New York, reporting to Connie Germano, chief casualty officer of DUAL Group.

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Marsh appointed Nick Studer as president and CEO of Marsh Risk, succeeding Martin South. South will take on an enterprise-wide role as chief client officer of Marsh and work closely with the leaders of the company’s businesses.

Studer has been the CEO of Marsh’s Oliver Wyman for the last five years. He has been with Oliver Wyman for about 30 years, and has held senior consulting roles across its consumer, industrial, and financial services practices.

Studer’s “experience advising corporate and public sector leaders on risk and transformation makes Nick the ideal executive to continue Marsh Risk’s market leadership and further its trajectory of growth and service excellence,” said John Doyle, president and CEO of Marsh, in a statement.

South rejoined Marsh in 2007 and served as CEO of the business in multiple regions, including Asia-Pacific, UK and Ireland, Europe, and U.S. and Canada, before becoming president and CEO of Marsh Risk in 2022.

The changes begin April 1. Studer and South will continue to serve on the company’s executive committee and report to Doyle.

Marsh expects to announce a new CEO of Oliver Wyman and Marsh Management Consulting by April 1.