People Moves: Orchid Names Cody CEO, Promotes Bowie, Carlsen

Orchid Underwriters Agency named Kathy Cody CEO.

Cody joined Orchid in 2019 as its COO and became president in 2021. She was previously chief operating officer, personal lines for Farmers Insurance Group. She was CFO of Farmers Life and head of operational finance for Zurich Global Life NA. Cody also worked for The Phoenix Companies in various executive positions and began her career with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Ross Bowie was named president and chief underwriting officer. Bowie joined Orchid as head of personal lines in 2020 and was appointed chief underwriting officer in 2021. Before joining Orchid, Bowie served as senior vice president at Bankers Insurance Group, overseeing personal and commercial lines and new product development. His early career was at American Strategic Insurance.

Steven Carlsen will take on a new role as an executive vice president in National Programs. Carlsen had been a board member of Orchid since its transition to private equity ownership in 2014, serving as executive chair and chair of the underwriting committee. He assumed the role as CEO in early 2021 and led the company through its sale to Brown & Brown in 2022. Carlsen was a co-founder of Endurance Specialty in 2001, serving as global CUW and Endurance Re North America president. He remained a director of Endurance until its sale to Sompo in 2017. He previously had senior underwriting roles at CAT Limited, NAC Re and Swiss Re and worked as a consultant to several private equity groups active in insurance and reinsurance.