Executive Changes
Everest Re Names Group CFO and Group COO

Everest Re has named Mark Kociancic to succeed Craig Howie as group chief financial officer and Jim Williamson as group chief operating officer.

Kociancic, set to transition to his new role on Oct. 12, replaces Howie, who has been with the company for eight years and will stay at Everest through Dec. 31 to ensure an orderly transition, according to the company.

Kociancic joins Everest from Scor, where he most recently served as group CFO since 2013. He had served in various senior executive roles with Scor's U.S. operations, beginning in 2006, prior to being named group deputy CFO in 2012 and then group CFO.

Williamson was to transition to his new role Oct. 5. He will be responsible for advancing underwriting excellence, digital transformation, innovation and efficiency across the group. He joins Everest from Chubb, where he most recently served as division president, small business. He previously served in various senior executive roles with Chubb's North America and international operations, as well as at Hartford Financial.

—Staff Report

Euler Hermes Group Names CEO

Euler Hermes Group has named Clarisse Kopff to succeed Wilfried Verstraete as chief executive officer and chairperson of the board of management, subject to regulatory approval.

Kopff will transition to her new role on Jan. 1, 2021. Verstraete, who has decided to step down from his operational duties after 12 years in the role, will continue as an adviser to the new CEO through 2021. Verstraete joined Euler Hermes in 2009.

Kopff, currently chief financial officer of Allianz France, began her career in debt origination at Lehman Bros. in London, then was an auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Paris before joining Euler Hermes in 2001 as controller for the company's French entity in Paris. From 2007, she served Euler Hermes in several positions of increasing responsibility and international scope. She was promoted as group chief financial officer in 2014.

New Director of Climate Transition Risk at Willis Towers Watson

Willis Towers Watson has named Tony Rooke as director of climate transition risk in the organization's climate and resilience hub.

In his new role, Rooke will guide the advice and analysis that Willis Towers Watson provides clients to help them navigate in the transition to a low-carbon economy, and contribute to the innovation of services and products across the investment, risk and human capital businesses.

Prior to joining Willis Towers Watson, Rooke was global director for disclosure at CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project), responsible for delivering and maintaining the world's leading environmental disclosure platform. He has also set up and led environmental and sustainability consulting practices at Infosys and Logica across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and Asia-Pacific.

Starr Appoints Head of Global Aviation

Starr Insurance Cos. has named Andy Trundle as head of global aviation. Trundle will be responsible for all aspects of Starr's aviation portfolio, including airlines, general aviation, light aviation and aerospace.

Trundle joined Starr in 2017 as global head of airlines. He has more than 35 years of aviation experience. He began his career as an airline underwriter and has held a range of underwriting leadership roles, according to the company.

American International Group Names Chief Diversity Officer

American International Group has named Ronald Reeves as chief diversity officer. This newly redefined and focused leadership role reflects AIG's commitment to creating an inclusive workplace, focused on attracting, retaining and developing diverse talent and fostering a culture of belonging for all employees, according to a company statement.

In this role, Reeves will be responsible for the acceleration of AIG's diversity, equity and inclusion agenda across the organization. He also co-chairs AIG's newly established Executive Diversity Council with David McElroy, AIG's chief executive officer of general insurance, and with AIG CEO Brian Duperreault serving as its sponsor.

Reeves has been with AIG for more than 20 years and previously served as AIG's head of diversity &inclusion for the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean from 2016 to 2020. Reeves has held talent and leadership-development roles of increasing responsibility since joining AIG in 1999.

He was previously a manager and sales training leader at Allstate.

Olympus Insurance Names Former Milliman Exec as CFO

Gemini Financial Holdings Co., the parent company of Olympus Insurance Co., has named John W. Rollins as chief financial officer.

Rollins has more than 30 years of experience as a property/casualty actuary, the past 21 years being in the Florida property insurance market, and executive experience at public and private-sector insurers, technology firms and consulting firms.

Before his more recent role as a principal and consulting actuary at Milliman Inc., he served as chief risk officer of three coastal property insurers, including Florida's Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the largest state-run wind insurer in the United States.

BCBSA Board Names Kim Keck Association's President, CEO

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association board of directors has named Kim A. Keck to succeed Scott Serota as BCBSA's president and chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors.

Keck, currently president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island, will transition to her new role on Jan. 4, 2021. Serota is retiring after more than 20 years as president and CEO. To ensure a smooth leadership transition, Serota announced in 2019 his plans to retire at the end of 2020, according to a company statement.

Keck is the first woman to serve as the association's president and CEO since the organization's founding four decades ago.

Prior to her tenure at BCBSRI, Keck spent 28 years at Aetna. She held numerous leadership positions, including president of Aetna's Northeast region and interim president of the Southeast region. In those positions she was responsible for $20 billion in revenue and approximately 5 million members across the commercial and Medicare segments.

Boston Insurance Brokerage Names Chief Executive Officer

Boston Insurance Brokerage LLC, a wholesale brokerage that offers commercial insurance products, has named Keith Driscoll as chief executive officer.

Driscoll has been a member of the Boston Insurance Brokerage team since 2013, beginning as vice president of the workers' compensation division before being promoted to executive vice president and chief operation officer in September of 2017.

He held positions at Markel FirstComp in marketing, underwriting and sales management. In addition, Driscoll spent several years in marketing and operations at Anheuser-Busch's Michelob Championship at Kingsmill and IMG as director of operations of the Deutsche Bank Championship, a FedExCup playoff event on the PGA Tour.

Chief Human Resources Officer Named at Guy Carpenter

Guy Carpenter and Co. LLC, part of Marsh & McLennan Cos., named Melissa Hartshorn chief human resources officer.

Hartshorn is responsible for leading all of Guy Carpenter's HR activities, focusing on areas including organizational structure and design, change management, performance management, training and development, and compensation management.

Hartshorn was most recently interim chief human resources officer at Guy Carpenter, and prior to this was HR leader for the company's global operations and global strategic advisory divisions. She joined MMC in 2011 and was senior HR business partner at Mercer before joining Guy Carpenter in 2018.

Independence Health Group Announces Successor to Retiring CEO Melissa Hartshorn

Independence Health Group has named Greg Deavens, currently executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of Independence, to succeed Dan Hilferty as president and chief executive officer.

Deavens will transition to his new role on Jan. 1, 2021. Hilferty, who will retire on Dec. 31, will serve in an advisory capacity through the end of 2022.

Hilferty served as president and CEO of Independence for 10 years, following one year as president of Independence's Health Markets. He led Independence Health Group's Medicaid managed care subsidiary, AmeriHealth Caritas, for 13 years prior. He has held leadership positions within the organization for almost a quarter of a century.

Hilferty retires as a recognized leader on the national stage. From 2015-2017, he was elected by his peers to serve as chairman of the board of directors for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

As executive vice president, CFO and treasurer for Independence, Deavens directs all financial functions for the company and its subsidiaries while playing a key role in strategy for the organization. Deavens worked with colleagues to support regional health systems as part of the company's response to COVID-19, according to a company statement.

Prior to joining Independence, Deavens was with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. from 2006 to 2016, where he served as the company's senior vice president and corporate controller.

Conn. Insurance Commissioner Names New Director of Captive Division

Connecticut Insurance Department Commissioner Andrew N. Mais has named Fenhua Liu as the new director of the department's captive insurance division.

Liu has more than 25 years of global insurance experience. She was an insurance regulator for the state of Connecticut for more than 11 years and also worked at a large insurance company and a specialty insurance company. Liu also was an economic analyst for pensions and unemployment insurance in Asia for five years.

Scor Names Chief Financial Officer

Scor has named Ian Kelly, currently head of investor relations, to succeed Mark Kociancic as chief financial officer. Kelly will also join the group executive committee.

Kelly was to begin transitioning to his new role on Oct. 2. Kociancic has decided to pursue another opportunity outside of the company.

Kelly began his career with Prudential and subsequently joined the London-based life reinsurance department of the Gerling Group, which later became Revios U.K. There he held the role of chief accountant.

Following the acquisition of Revios by Scor, Kelly was appointed chief financial officer of the U.K. operations in 2007.

In 2009, Kelly was appointed director of general accounting and group reporting. He was appointed head of group financial planning and analysis in 2011 and was additionally appointed head of investor relations in 2016.