People Moves: SiriusPoint Promotes Chester for U.S./Canada Reinsurance; Banyan Risk Names Ascot’s Horrobin as Co-Founder, Co-CEO; SCOR Reinforces Sustainability Teams

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at re/insurer SiriusPoint, specialty MGA Banyan Risk and reinsurer SCOR.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

SiriusPoint Ltd., the Bermuda-based global specialty insurer and reinsurer, has appointed Ari Chester as head of U.S. and Canada Reinsurance.

Chester will be responsible for managing the U.S. and Canadian business across property treaty, casualty treaty, and other specialist lines. Chester moves into this role from chief operating officer, Americas Reinsurance, at SiriusPoint, replacing industry veteran Warren Trace who has retired.

Prior to joining SiriusPoint in early 2021, Chester was a partner at McKinsey & Co., where he held leadership roles in underwriting, risk and strategy, serving insurance and reinsurance companies in the U.S., Bermuda, London Market, and Europe. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York University and an MBA from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Chester holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation and is currently on the 2022 Leadership Council for the Institute’s CPCU Society.

Trace has retired after 38 years of service at Sirius Group and predecessor companies. Prior to the merger of Sirius Group and Third Point Re last year, Trace acted as president of North America Reinsurance and deputy CUO for the Americas at Sirius Group. Previously, he was the chief executive officer of Sirius Bermuda.

“Warren has been a true industry leader. I value him as both a colleague and a friend, and we will miss his presence. I am grateful for Warren’s passion, his dedication to our company and the numerous people he has mentored and generously shared his time and expertise with. We all wish him well in his retirement,” commented Monica Cramer Manhem, president International Reinsurance.

She noted that Chester played an instrumental role in the launch of SiriusPoint.

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Specialty MGA Banyan Risk Announces Ascot’s Horrobin as Co-Founder, Co-CEO

Banyan Risk Ltd., the specialty managing general agent (MGA) which launched in Bermuda in 2021, announced Peter Horrobin’s role as co-founder and co-chief executive officer.

Horrobin joins Tim Usher-Jones to lead Banyan Risk. The Bermuda-regulated MGA creates bespoke directors and officers (D&O) insurance risk solutions for life sciences, global initial public offerings (IPOs), the technology sector, and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).

Horrobin has 15 years of underwriting experience in professional liability and management liability. He takes his place as co-founder and co-chief executive at Banyan following three years at Ascot Bermuda, where he held the role of senior vice president. Previously, he served as managing director at Chubb Atlantic Indemnity, where he was also a board member.

Banyan Risk recently announced plans to expand its operations into Canada, subject to regulatory approval, with Michael Densham announced as president of the Toronto-based office.

“I am delighted to be joining Tim to lead Banyan Risk at such an exciting stage in the company’s growth,” said Horrobin. “It is clear that the opportunity we saw to develop a specialized platform is being embraced by clients and the broker community.”

SiriusPoint Ltd. owns a significant minority stake in Banyan Risk and provides insurance paper and capacity to the MGA.

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SCOR Reinforces Chief Sustainability Officer’s Teams

SCOR reinforces its Chief Sustainability Officer’s teams with the following appointments:

• Michèle Lacroix, as group head of sustainability. She will oversee an extended team of sustainability experts focused on sustainable business, corporate sustainability, reporting and ESG data. They will focus on how to support SCOR in its sustainable development which is a key success factor for its upcoming strategic plan. (See biographies below).

In this new team, Paul Nunn, currently head of ESG within the P&C Business Unit, is promoted to head of Sustainable Insurance and Yun Wai Song, currently head of Market Risk & Sustainability, is promoted to head of Sustainable Investment. Nunn and Song will use their expertise to reconcile business constraints with ambitious sustainability objectives. Andreas Frank, currently CEO of SCOR Switzerland and CFO of Switzerland and Germany, is promoted to Head of Corporate Sustainability. His strong knowledge in operations and finance will support SCOR’s sustainable journey.

• Nathalie Mikaeloff, as group head of Communications & Marketing. Mikaeloffwill be in charge of internal and external communications as well as Global Marketing. By combining communications and marketing forces, new synergies will emerge through the management of the entire value chain: from strategic positioning to brand and content management, leveraging a multiformat and multichannel approach.

Within this new extended team, the current group communications team will work alongside Natasha Ashe-Suber, currently AVP Client Marketing and Communities for the U.S. Life & Health unit, who is promoted to head of Marketing for Life & Health, and Alixane Dauger, currently deputy head of Marketing P/C, who is promoted to head of Marketing Property & Casualty.

Biographies

Lacroix joined SCOR in 2008 as chief investment officer at SCOR Global Investments and has since held various roles within the Investments business unit. She became head of Group Investment Office in 2014 and became head of Group Investment Risk & Sustainability in 2019. She is a recognized expert in sustainability, having been appointed a member of the European Lab PTF on climate-related reporting in 2019, a member of the Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance at the European Commission in 2018. She also was a member of the Climate and Sustainable Commission at the French Financial Markets Authority since 2019. Lacroix is a graduate of HEC Business School and is based in France.

Nunn joined SCOR in 2011 as global head of Catastrophe Risk Modeling, following senior roles at Lloyd’s and in the London insurance market. Since 2019 he has been leading the development of ESG activities at P/C and is actively supporting SCOR’s participation in the Net Zero Insurance Alliance and other industry initiatives.

Song joined SCOR Global Investments in 2009 as head of Market Risk, following various roles in the asset management industry. Since 2016 he has participated in the development of sustainable finance at SCOR Global Investments and is actively supporting SCOR’s journey in sustainable investing.

Frank joined SCOR in 2007 with the acquisition of Converium and was director of SCOR’s Group Financial Planning & Analysis before being named CFO for SCOR in Switzerland in 2011. Since 2018 he has been CEO of SCOR in Switzerland. He is an active member of SCOR’s sustainability committee and has driven various sustainability initiatives in Switzerland.

Mikaeloff joined SCOR in 2014 as global head of Marketing for P/C, leading the client management initiative and developing a client engagement approach and tools, including CRM-Salesforce. More recently she was in charge of ESG business development, with a view to supporting the development of P/C business with social and/or environmental impacts. She has more than 20 years’ experience in marketing and communications in international B2B services companies.

Ashe-Suber joined SCOR in 2020 to lead client marketing & communities for SGL U.S. The team manages multichannel internal and external initiatives including publication/content development, sponsorships, advertising, events, media relations, and employee, community and client engagement; and promotes thought leadership strategies to increase awareness of SCOR’s expertise in the areas of health and wellness, research/innovation and client solutions. Ashe-Suber brings 20 years of marketing and communications experience leading high-achieving teams and award-winning campaigns.

Dauger joined SCOR in 2015 to support the transformation of the P/C marketing strategy and operations, from the roll-out and management of the CRM tool to the digitalization of global marketing tools and processes, including event management, content marketing, and operational support to global P/C business and underwriting teams. Dauger relies on her 18 years of experience in international B2B marketing and a solid team to adapt and develop new marketing approaches to engage with SCOR’s P/C clients and partners.

“These new positions are key to drive our sustainability journey and to support our upcoming strategic plan. I am particularly proud that these new positions are being filled through internal promotions, demonstrating continuity and highlighting the group’s deep talent bench,” commented Claire Le Gall-Robinson, group chief sustainability officer.

Topics Reinsurance Canada