People Moves: 14 - 18 March 2022

Featuring: Marsh, Rokstone, Axa, Open GI

Marsh McLennan appoints Katherine Brennan as General Counsel
Marsh McLennan has promoted Katherine Brennan to senior vice president and general counsel replacing Peter Beshar who is leaving to serve as general counsel of the US Department of the Air Force.

Brennan has held several legal and compliance leadership roles at the company, most recently as general counsel for Marsh. She was deputy corporate secretary and chief compliance officer for Marsh McLennan from 2017 to 2021, and prior to that, as general counsel of Guy Carpenter.

She will report to Dan Glaser, CEO of Marsh McLennan, and will join the company’s executive committee. The appointment made on 11 March was effective immediately.

In her new role Brennan will lead Marsh McLennan’s global legal, compliance and public affairs function, which supports the company’s four businesses, Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer and Oliver Wyman. She will also continue to lead the company’s ESG efforts.

“Kate is a remarkable leader and lawyer, who has grown throughout her career here. Her experience leading a range of complex legal, compliance and regulatory matters on behalf of the Company makes her the ideal candidate for this role,” said Glaser.

“We’re fortunate to have a colleague with her knowledge, integrity and commitment poised to take on this critical position.”

She succeeds Beshar, who has been executive vice president and general counsel since 2004. Last autumn, Beshar was nominated by President Biden to serve as the general counsel of the US Department of the Air Force. The US Senate unanimously confirmed his nomination on 10 March.

Glaser stated: “On behalf of our 83,000 colleagues, I want to express my gratitude to Peter for his leadership and devotion to the company throughout nearly 20 years.”

“Peter has embodied our commitment to advancing good and tirelessly promoted the company’s reputation, helping us grow and thrive. He has also been a champion of ethics, strong and effective governance practices, and environmental and social causes. He leaves an amazing legacy at the company. We wish him continued success as he serves the United States at a critical moment.”

Rokstone takes Gavin Dollings from Covéa as chief digital underwriting officer
Rokstone, the international speciality (re)insurance managing general agent, part of the Aventum Group, has appointed Gavin Dollings as chief digital underwriting officer.

With a career of more than 25 years in the industry, Dollings joins from Covéa where he was commercial underwriting director for the past six years.

Prior to that he spent 10 years at Allianz firstly as head of UK casualty & construction and later as its South East regional manager.

At Rokstone he will lead the digital underwriting team as part of the group’s multi-million pound investment in its digital transformation that was announced last year.

In the role Dollings will have strategic and operational oversight of all business distributed through Rokstone’s digital platform globally.

The appointment has followed that of Jo Lambe as digital product development manager at Rokstone which was announced earlier this month.

Tony Lawrence, chief digital distribution officer at Aventum, commented that Dollings was “a highly capable and pragmatic chief underwriting officer with extensive experience from some of the biggest and most agile insurers”.

Adding: “He has an impeccable track record of developing and improving the underwriting framework for optimal performance.”

Dollings said: “Aventum is a dynamic, delivery focused business with some exceptional people and it is clearly on a trajectory to the top. I’m really excited to be joining the journey with them to help them achieve their ambitions. I’m also very much looking forward to working again with a number of individuals that I’ve worked with previously in my career and whom I know and trust.”

Axa adds retail claims director
Axa UK has announced the appointment of Dean Witherington as retail claims director. He will be responsible for overseeing claims operations, technical operations and counter fraud across the Retail business.

Witherington has substantial claims experience, including 30 years at Zurich where he held a series of senior claims roles across operations, management information and change. He joins Axa UK’s Retail business from NFU Mutual where he was head of claims change, risk and insight. He will start his new role in April 2022.

Witherington commented: “I am looking forward to joining AxaUK Retail and building on the progress that has already been made across its claims and customer support functions.

“There are huge opportunities for innovation within claims amid growing customer expectations and evolving technologies. Axa UK is seizing the opportunity to embed innovation into its claims processes and I am very excited to be a part of this.” 

His appointment is part of a series of changes to AxaUK’s Claims function which will ensure that both AXA UK’s Retail and Commercial businesses have clear, strategic ownership of the end-to-end customer journey. Best practice and market leading technical support will also be provided by the newly formed Claims Technical and Central Services function. As part of this ongoing transformation, Axa UK recently announced the appointment of Clare Davies as supply chain and engineering director for the new function.

Anna Fleming, chief operating officer at Axa UK Retail, added: “I’m looking forward to Dean joining us and working with him to build on all the great work that’s been done to improve the overall claims experience and ensure we provide the best outcomes for our Retail customers. Dean has proven experience in driving innovation within claims and he will be at the forefront of AXA Retail’s overall customer-first transformation.” 

Marsh names Simon Delchar as head of placement, UK & Ireland
Marsh has appointed Simon Delchar as head of placement, UK & Ireland joining the executive team.

Effective 1 July, Delchar will relocate from Singapore to London and report to Lucy Clarke, president of Marsh Specialty and Global Placement, and Chris Lay, CEO of UK & Ireland at Marsh.

With over 35 years’ industry experience, primarily in international broking roles, Delchar is currently head of Marsh Specialty in Asia, a position he has held since 2019.

He has also worked in senior broking roles at Lloyd & Partners and JLT Group.

Marsh also announced the appointment of Clarissa Franks as placement leader for UK & Ireland, for the risk management, corporate, and commercial businesses. She has worked with Marsh for 13 years and is currently UK placement leader for risk management.

The business confirmed that Winsee Cheung will continue in her role as placement leader for UK & Ireland at Marsh Specialty.

Both Franks and Cheung will continue to be based in London; Franks will report to Delchar while Cheung will report to Delchar and Dominic Samengo-Turner, CEO of UK and Ireland for Marsh Specialty.

Clarke said: “Supporting our clients in the management of their risks and securing optimal insurance that protects their people and assets underpins our global placement strategy.

“As these risks become more complex – and the insurance market more challenging – Simon, Clarissa, and Winsee will play pivotal roles in developing of these fast-growing areas of our business. It is also a reflection of the deep pool of talent within Marsh that we are able to promote such exceptional talent to these roles.”

Open GI’s Machine Learning Programs adds CEO
Machine Learning Programs (MLP), part of Open GI Group, has confirmed the appointment of Damian Baxter as chief executive officer. The move is part of a strategic decision to grow the machine learning and AI specialist by its original founders and investors.

Over the next few months, Baxter will work closely with MLP’s co-founder and CEO, Tom Murphy, to learn more about the business, its people, and customers before transitioning fully into the CEO role. Murphy will then take on the role of chief technology officer, focusing on product strategy and design, and the delivery of MLP’s vision.

Baxter said: “Adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced machine learning are one of the top strategic technology decisions for insurance companies as they look to adapt to the digital, data-driven age. I am incredibly excited to be joining MLP as it continues to grow and offer innovative machine learning and AI services.

“Tom and his team have built a fantastic business and I look forward to helping accelerate MLP’s success through a combination of strategic, sales, and people leadership. I feel that MLP has a truly innovative and market-leading offering as well as a highly skilled data science team. I am pleased to be part of its continued success.”

Damian joins MLP from Hughub, having spent 4 years as sales director, and brings a wealth of sales and operational leadership experience in the GI market. He previously led the Business Development teams at Open GI for over 6 years.