People Moves: Markel Hires Senior Leaders for Casualty, Professional, Financial Risk Teams in Australia; BHSI Promotes Regan to Head of Casualty, Ireland

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Markel in Australia and Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI).

A summary of these new hires follows here.

Markel Hires Senior Leaders in Australia for Casualty, Professional, Financial Risk Teams

Markel, the insurance operation within Markel Group Inc., announced the expansion of the leadership team in Australia, with appointments of Ahmed Farag as head of Casualty and Kym Beazleigh as head of Professional and Financial Risk (PFR) and head of Sydney.

Farag joins Markel from Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, where he was casualty portfolio leader for Australia and New Zealand. Based in Melbourne, Farag has a strong reputation in the Casualty market, with technical and strategic experience across a diverse range of industries.

Beazleigh joins Markel from Allied World, where he was senior vice president and underwriting head, Asia Pacific Professional Lines Division. In his new role as head of PFR and head of Sydney, Beazleigh brings exceptional leadership experience in professional lines and a proven track record driving regional business growth.

Markel has also appointed Arné Booysen as senior underwriter, Professional Indemnity. Booysen will report to Beazleigh and joins Markel from Allied World, where he served as assistant vice president and underwriting manager, Australian Professional Lines Division. The commencement of Beazleigh and Booysen marks the opening of Markel’s Sydney office.

Markel is continuing its expansion in Australia with a proven strategy in international markets – establishing a strong onshore presence with an experienced and empowered underwriting team. The offering will initially include casualty, professional indemnity and directors & officers products, with other lines to follow as the organization continues to build its local presence.

“The appointment of Ahmed and Kym to lead our Casualty and PFR practices is a clear and exciting signal to the Australian market that Markel intends to build a leading position over the long term,” commented Rory Morison, managing director, Australia at Markel.

“Opening the Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney offices concurrently was a deliberate move to ensure our people are as close as possible to policyholders, and their brokers,” Morison added.

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BHSI Promotes Regan to Head of Casualty in Ireland

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) announced that it has promoted Donagh Regan to head of Casualty in Ireland.

Regan has more than 20 years of industry experience spanning underwriting, claims and risk engineering. He was previously senior casualty underwriter at BHSI.

Prior to joining BHSI in April 2021, Regan was development underwriter (specializing in public sector, education, healthcare and other not-for-profit sectors) at IPB Insurance, where he worked for eight years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Previously, Regan was development underwriter at Travelers Insurance where he worked for nearly seven years, his profile said.

In his new role, he continues to be based in Dublin and can be reached at Donagh.Regan@bhspecialty.com.

“Since joining BHSI in 2021, Donagh has been instrumental in building our solutions-focused casualty portfolio in Ireland,” said Louise Kidd, country manager, Ireland, BHSI. “His deep underwriting knowledge, casualty risk expertise and excellent character make him exceptionally well suited to lead our casualty business into the future.”

Topics Leadership Australia Casualty