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Executive Changes
Former CFO at AIG Joins Health Insurtech Oscar

Also: New commissioners in Connecticut and West Virginia, former Lloyd’s chairman dies at 85 and Arch Capital names chief risk officer.

Sid Sankaran

Sid Sankaran

Oscar Health appointed former American International Group Inc. chief financial officer Sid Sankaran as its new CFO.

He will oversee accounting, financial planning and analysis, strategic finance, actuarial, pricing and plan design at the consumer-focused, technology-driven health care company and will be based in the Oscar's New York headquarters.

Sankaran “embodies an unmatched breadth and depth of experience in subjects critical to any company, such as capital and strategy, as well as those particularly important at Oscar, such as actuarial and risk,” Mario Schlosser, chief executive officer and co-founder at Oscar, said in a statement. He said Sankaran “will be a valuable addition to Oscar.”

Speaking about Oscar, Sankaran said “I have been impressed with the company's efforts to restructure how insurers and consumers interact, and I see great potential in Oscar's technology-driven approach to bending health care's cost curve.”

Sankaran succeeds Brian West, who left Oscar last year to become CFO of Refinitiv.

Sankaran was most recently CFO at AIG, where he oversaw a nearly $500 billion balance sheet and was responsible for AIG's end-to-end financial operations, corporate development and capital markets activities, according to Oscar. Before that, he spent five years as AIG's chief risk officer and was a member of the executive leadership team that helped lead AIG through its restructuring.

Before joining AIG, he was a partner in the finance and risk practice of Oliver Wyman Financial Services.

—David Pilla


Andrew Mais

Andrew N. Mais

Deloitte Executive Tapped as Connecticut's Next Insurance Commissioner

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont nominated Andrew N. Mais, a member of Deloitte's insurance industry group, to be the state's next insurance commissioner.

Mais specialized in insurance regulation at the Deloitte Center for Financial Services in Stamford, Connecticut, where he worked since 2011, Lamont's office said. Before that, he served in the senior leadership team of the New York State Insurance Department, including as the agency's director of public affairs. In addition to his career in insurance, Mais also served as a talk show host on Cablevision from 2001 to 2007.

Mais succeeds Katharine Wade, who left office Dec. 19 in the waning days of Gov. Dannel Malloy's second term. Malloy appointed Wade commissioner in March 2015.

Lamont, a Democrat, won a slim victory in November over Republican Bob Stefanowski.


David Altmaier

David Altmaier

State Insurance Regulators Elect Florida Commissioner as NAIC Vice President

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners elected Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier to fill the vacant position of the office of NAIC vice president. The position became vacant when Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Gordon Ito was replaced in January.

Altmaier joins other 2019 NAIC officers, NAIC president and Maine Insurance Superintendent Eric A. Cioppa; NAIC president-elect and South Carolina Director of Insurance Raymond G. Farmer; and secretary-treasurer and Idaho Insurance Commissioner Dean L. Cameron.

In November, Cioppa was elected as the new president for 2019. He succeeded Julie Mix McPeak, Tennessee Commissioner of Commerce and Insurance.

Altmaier was appointed as the Florida Insurance Commissioner in April 2016 by the state Financial Services Commission.


West Virginia Governor Names New Insurance Commissioner

James A. Dodrill was named West Virginia's insurance commissioner, according to an announcement by Gov. Jim Justice.

Dodrill succeeds Allen McVey, who earlier this year was named secretary of the Department of Administration. McVey was appointed as insurance commissioner in 2017.

Since McVey's move over to the Department of Administration, Erin K. Hunter, the department's general counsel, has served as acting insurance commissioner.

Dodrill worked for two decades as the corporate claims counsel for Progressive Group of Insurance Cos. Before that, he worked as a lawyer in private practice. Dodrill is a colonel in the Civil Air Patrol and is retired from the West Virginia Air National Guard.


Anthony Mercurio

Anthony J. Mercurio

David L. Thompson Jr.

David L. Thompson Jr.

Great American Names Executive Vice Presidents to P/C Group

Great American Insurance Group has promoted both Anthony J. Mercurio and David L. Thompson Jr. to executive vice president of its property/casualty group.

The Cincinnati-based company created the new positions to strengthen its leadership team, according to a company spokesperson.

Mercurio will continue to serve as president and chief executive officer of National Interstate, a position he has held since 2016, the company said in a statement. National Interstate merged with parent company American Financial Group in a $660 million deal in 2016.

Since joining National Interstate in 1997, Mercurio has held a variety of leadership positions. He led the acquisition of Vanliner Insurance Co. in 2010 and served as its CEO. He is a 24-year veteran of the industry.

Thompson has served as senior vice president of Great American's property/casualty group since 2016. He joined the company in 2006 and has held various positions, including divisional president for the agribusiness division. He recently served as senior reporting officer with responsibility for six P/C businesses, oversight of the P/C group's predictive analytics function and the Dempsey and Siders Agency. He has 13 years of industry experience.


George Schalick

George Schalick

Philadelphia Insurance Cos. Names SVP

Philadelphia Insurance Cos. named George Schalick senior vice president of underwriting.

Schalick, who had been division vice president, will continue to oversee the management and professional liability underwriting division in his new role, Philadelphia Insurance said in a statement. He joined the company in 2002 as an underwriting trainee and has held several positions over the past 17 years, including underwriter, underwriting manager, product manager and assistant vice president.


Melanie Jeannotte

Melanie Jeannotte

Arthur J. Gallagher Names Benefit Services President for Canada

Global broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has appointed Melanie Jeannotte as its first national president of Gallagher Benefit Services (Canada) Group Inc.

Previously, she was Western Canada area president for Gallagher's benefit and human resources consulting practice.


David Rowland

David Rowland

David Rowland, Lloyd's Chairman During
Mid-1990s, Dies at 85

David Rowland, who as chairman of Lloyd's between 1993 and 1997 is credited with bringing in the structural changes that protected Lloyd's from possible devastation from U.S. health and pollution losses, has died at the age of 85.

In confirming Rowland's death with “great sadness,” Bruce Carnegie-Brown, Lloyd's current chairman, credited him with heading off the threats posed by growing asbestos, pollution and health claims, and the after-effects of such disasters as the 1988 Piper Alpha oil rig explosion and the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the San Francisco earthquake, both in 1989.

Under Rowland, “Lloyd's was able to confront and address the losses it was facing and put in place many of the necessary structural changes that still underpin the market, ensuring it remained on a firm footing,” Carnegie-Brown said.


Shali Vasudeva

Shali Vasudeva

Axa UK and Ireland Fills Newly Created
Chief Operating Officer Role

Axa UK and Ireland has appointed Shali Vasudeva to the newly created role of chief operating officer.

As COO, she will lead a transformation office focused on simplifying the company's operations, Axa UK said in a statement. Subject to regulatory approval, Vasudeva was to begin her new role on March 1.

Vasudeva moves to Axa UK from Hiscox, where she led group-wide change, Axa UK said. She will join the management committee of Axa UK and Ireland and report directly to Chief Executive Officer Claudio Gienal.


Arch Capital Names Chief Risk Officer

Arch Capital Group Ltd. has named Janice Englesbe senior vice president and chief risk officer.

She will be based in Arch's Bermuda office and will report to François Morin, the group's chief financial officer. Englesbe takes over the CRO role after Morin, who previously held the position, was promoted to CFO.

Englesbe has more than 25 years of risk and finance experience, including as group deputy CRO of General Re.


Kimberly Holmes

Kimberly Holmes

Kemper Appoints Chief Actuary-Strategic Analytics Officer

Kemper Corp. has appointed Kimberly Holmes as senior vice president, chief actuary and strategic analytics officer.

She has more than 25 years of experience in insurance, actuarial functions and advanced analytics. Most recently, she served as senior vice president and global head of strategic analytics for Axa XL. Earlier, she held chief actuary roles at Endurance Risk Solutions, Endurance Specialty Insurance Ltd., Enterprise Reinsurance Ltd. and Starr Excess Liability Insurance Co.



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