Market moves: Summer lightning

For example, Alan Boswell Group has recruited Alex Thorpe as group development manager, Lockton appointed a senior vice president to its northern business and Towergate added three new recruits to expand its London operations. Other brokers who have hired new staff include Lorica Insurance Brokers, Bluefin, Henderson Insurance and Hyperion.

Over on the insurer side, RSA has taken Scott Egan from Towergate in one of the biggest moves of the summer (see box) and Covéa has taken the next step to complete its integration with Sterling. 

And to top it all off, the Financial Conduct Authority announced Martin Wheatley was to leave his post as chief executive and Robert Fletcher was elected new CII president.

Brokers

Bluefin has appointed Richard Lloyd as the branch director for its Stockton office reporting to Tim Mortimer, the regional managing director for the northern region. The broker said Lloyd brings more than twenty years of experience to the role after seven years at Marsh in Newcastle and previous positions at Willis and Independent Insurance.

Meanwhile Lockton revealed it had added Kelvin Chadwick as senior vice president to its northern business. Joining the broker in September, Chadwick most recently worked as sales leader for Aon North and Midlands. The firm also appointed Elaine Owen as senior vice president based in Manchester. She brings 34 years of experience to the role most recently from Bluefin as regional strategic accounts director for the corporate division in the North.

Edward Creasy has taken hold of the reins as chairman at Lycetts following the departure of his predecessor Edward Nicholl earlier this year. The broker said Creasy has a wealth of experience in the London market and was chairman and chief executive of the Kiln Group and a founder director of the Lloyd’s Franchise Board.

On the commercial side, Alan Boswell Group has hired Alex Thorpe as group development manager with a focus on large commercial clients. Thorpe most recently worked as area sales director in Towergate’s Bury St Edmunds office and he also has experience from Beckett Group and Norwich Union.

On the topic of Towergate the consolidator has expanded its London broking operations with three new hires. It appointed Richard Morgan as sales and service director. Joining from Willis where he most recently worked as development director, Morgan has also held the post of vice president at Marsh. In addition, Tim Simpson-Lee and Richard Turner were appointed to Towergate London Market.

Non-executive news now and Peter Blanc has been added to the board of directors at Hastings Direct. The firm said he brought a wealth of industry experience with him and would take on the role of non-executive chairman, replacing Edward Fitzmaurice who will remain on the group board.

At Lorica Insurance Brokers, Graham Faux has been hired as finance director after most recently working as interim FD at Aviva Ireland. According to the broker, Faux has also held senior finance roles at Howden Broking Group, HSBC Insurance and Marsh.

In an effort to boost its agricultural insurance team, Henderson Insurance Brokers has hired Kimberley Darkes as an agricultural account handler. Darkes has previously worked at BIB Underwriters for seven years, and in her new role she will work on farm combined insurance and motor insurance.

Hyperion has appointed Oliver Corbett as chief financial officer. Until recently, Corbett served as interim CFO at Towergate and in his new role he will replace Eric Fady who has decided to step down from his post. Prior to joining Towergate, Corbett worked as CFO at Novae.

Richard Beaven has joined Swinton Insurance as distribution director, focusing on optimising customer service and operational efficiency. Beaven has become a member of the broker’s executive committee and his previous experience includes roles at Lloyds, Reuters, Bank of New York and Barclays. 

Moving on to departures, Willis confirmed its deputy CEO Steve Hearn has decided to leave the broker. He joined in 2008 and held a number of different chief executive positions at the company, including CEO of Willis Global. Hearn is set to take up the role of CEO at Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford in November. 

Meanwhile, Adrian Colosso has retired from his post as CEO of Howden UK. Colosso actually came out of retirement in 2013 to support Hyperion-owned Howden Insurance Group’s development and expansion and became CEO of the group in January 2014. Prior to this, with over 40 years in the industry, he had worked in a range of roles including jobs at Gallagher Heath and Heath Lambert.

And finally, Jon Mainwaring has joined P J Hayman as broker development manager. He has spent over 20 years in different jobs within the insurance industry and his previous experience includes roles at LV, Midas Underwriting, Lorega, Axa and Marsh.

Insurers & MGAs

Pen Underwriting wins the prize for the largest number of appointments after adding a team of six. The new senior business development managers are Chris Dark, who joins from Zurich Insurance, Derek McCormick, who joins from Barbon Insurance Group and Suzanne Meare, who most recently worked at Prestige Underwriting. The fi rm also added three new business development managers, Mark Briggs, who also joins from Prestige, Damian Frampton, who joins from Willis Commercial Network, and Bryony Glover, who was promoted from within Pen.

Meanwhile, ERS has recruited Martin Harris from Towergate-owned Motaquote. His latest role was as business unit managing director and according to ERS his previous experience includes positions at Broker Network and Barclays.

Allianz has promoted Stacey Keen to broker partnership manager in its retail division. Having held various roles at the insurer since 2011, Keen also has experience from Affi nion International. In addition, the provider confi rmed that its Midlands and South West regional manager Colin Bates will retire from the business in September. Following his departure, Jason Howes, currently development manager at the insurer, will be taking over the reins.

Speaking of exits, Zurich’s Tim Holliday has left his post as managing director for UKGI personal lines and Endsleigh. Holliday has spent over 20 years at Zurich and held a number of diff erent roles at the insurer.

Four leadership appointments have been made to Covéa Insurance’s commercial and high net worth team as part of its integration process with Sterling Insurance. Sterling’s James Guthrie will be responsible for distribution and broker development, Covéa’s Keith Hector will lead regional operations, Sterling’s Sara Simmons is set to head up the high and mid net worth team and Covéa’s Paul Hodgson takes the lead of commercial underwriting. In addition, Holly Simkin has joined the insurer’s real estate team as assistant underwriter.

Hiscox has promoted James Brady to head of media for UK and Ireland. Brady has been with the business since 2007 and has held a number of roles including senior development underwriter in Manchester and regional manager in Maidenhead.

Axa announced it had completed the revamp of its online SME proposition for brokers, adding fi ve new staff to its team. The insurer has recruited Jessica Abetti as head of marketing and Charlie Hardie as head of customer and operations. It also made three internal appointments, including Jason Bridgman as head of digital SME and partners, Wayne Barker as head of digital SME underwriting and Anita Fenna as head of digital SME sales. 

And fi nally, Dual has decided to enter the agricultural sector with a new farms and estates team led by Dean Robertson. Prior to joining Dual, Robertson worked as group sales director at UK General and as head of sales and marketing at Rural Insurance Group.

Others

Over at The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) Robert Fletcher was elected new president. Fletcher is secured lending operations director at Lloyds Banking Group and has experience from Aviva. He succeeds Brokerbility chairman Ashwin Mistry. CII members also elected John Moore, chairman of Thomas Carroll Group, as deputy president.

Last but not least, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that Martin Wheatley will stand down as chief executive offi cer on 12 September after leading the regulator for four years. Wheatley will stay on as adviser to the FCA board until 31 January 2016. The watchdog has also appointed Jonathan Davidson, previously chief operating offi cer for Direct Line, as director of supervision – retail and authorisations.