Executive Changes
Megan Thomas Is New CEO of Hamilton Re

Hamilton Insurance Group Ltd. named Megan Thomas as chief executive officer of Hamilton Re Ltd., the company's reinsurance and insurance platform in Bermuda.

Thomas succeeds David Brown, who was named interim CEO when former CEO Kathleen Reardon left the company.

Thomas was to transition to her new role in October pending immigration and regulatory approvals. She will be based in Bermuda and will report to Pina Albo, group CEO.

“The breadth and depth of her underwriting experience across multiple lines of business on a global basis, as well as her strong leadership and relationships with clients and brokers, will help us to leverage the many opportunities we are seeing in today's hardening market,” said Albo. “We are indeed fortunate to have found Megan at this exciting stage of building a global specialty insurance and reinsurance franchise. Her discussions with members of our board and our executive team confirmed to all of us not only that Megan has what it takes to assist Hamilton in capitalizing on the market's potential, but also that she'll be a great fit for our company.”

Thomas has 20 years of insurance and reinsurance experience. Australian by birth and a lawyer by training, she joins the company from Axis Capital, where she has held the position of chief underwriting officer, reinsurance, for the past two years. Thomas began her career in the Australian insurance and financial services market. She spent almost 13 years at American International Group Inc., where she held increasingly senior roles, the last of which was CUO, liability lines, before assuming her role at Axis Capital.

—Staff Report

Bermuda Monetary Authority Names Director, Supervision of Insurance

The Bermuda Monetary Authority has named Gerald Gakundi as director, supervision of insurance. Gakundi joined the BMA in 2010 as assistant director, supervision of insurance, and was subsequently promoted to deputy director.

In his new role, Gakundi will participate as a member of the BMA's senior leadership team, contributing to the development and implementation of the authority's strategies and policies, with a specific focus on leading the teams supervising all (re)insurance licensed entities.

Gakundi has more than 15 years of experience in the insurance industry. He has extensive knowledge of Bermuda's insurance regulatory environment. This has allowed him to be an active contributor in the BMA's international engagement, including leading dialogue with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Executive Committee, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and numerous other insurance regulatory authorities.

AmeriLife Group Names Chief Operating Officer, InfoTech EVP

AmeriLife Group LLC has named Tim Calvert to the newly created role of chief operating officer and Paul Carter as executive vice president of operations and information technology integration.

In his new role, Calvert will be a member of the executive leadership team and will be responsible for leading all existing back- and middle-office functions, which include the company's information technology group functions and third-party administrator operations.

Calvert has over 25 years of experience working with the insurance industry, with a focus on serving the life and annuity and group/worksite insurance segments. Prior to joining AmeriLife, Calvert served as managing director and partner for Boston Consulting Group.

Long-Time Marsh Executive Named President of Guy Carpenter

Guy Carpenter and Marsh have named Dean Klisura in the newly created role of president of Guy Carpenter. Klisura was to transition to his new role on Oct. 1.

Klisura will be responsible for Guy Carpenter's North America, international, specialty, and global strategic advisory units and will assist CEO Peter Hearn in leading the firm's overall strategy. He will continue to be based in New York.

Klisura joins Guy Carpenter following a 27-year career at Marsh in a variety of senior roles, most recently as president of global placement and advisory.

Following Klisura's transition to his new role, Lucy Clarke, president of Marsh JLT Specialty, will assume additional responsibility for Marsh's global placement operations.

USAA Names Chief Financial Officer

USAA has named Jeff Wallace to succeed Laura Bishop as chief financial officer.

Wallace will report to Wayne Peacock, chief executive officer, and replaces Bishop, who announced her retirement in February after more than 19 years of service.

Wallace comes to USAA from Bank of America, where he most recently served as the chief financial officer of the consumer banking and global wealth and investment management business.

Prudential Financial Names Chief Marketing Officer

Prudential Financial Inc. named Susan Somersille Johnson to succeed Naveen Agarwal as chief marketing officer.

In her new role, Johnson is responsible for leading the company's global marketing and brand strategy and for helping to drive profitable growth for Prudential. She replaces Agarwal, who served as chief marketing officer since 2019 and will take on a new role as chief market development officer. Agarwal will be based in Silicon Valley.

Johnson joins Prudential from Truist Financial, the bank holding company formed in 2019 following the merger of SunTrust Bank and BB&T, where she was corporate executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Johnson began her career as an engineer at Apple before taking on a series of marketing leadership roles at organizations including NCR Corp. and Nokia.

Allstate Names New Executive Vice President-General Counsel

Allstate Corp. has named Rhonda Ferguson to succeed Susie Lees as executive vice president and general counsel.

Ferguson was to transition to her new role on Sept. 28 and replaces Lees, who has announced her decision to retire in 2021 after 32 years with Allstate. Lees will remain chief legal officer and secretary of the corporation until her retirement date. During the transition, Lees will expand her focus on Allstate's environmental, social and governance initiatives.

Ferguson joins Allstate from Union Pacific Railroad, where she has served as executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary and was responsible for all legal, regulatory and corporate governance initiatives.

Ferguson joined Union Pacific in 2016 after nearly a decade as vice president, corporate secretary and chief ethics officer at FirstEnergy, an electric utility in her home state of Ohio.

Markel Names Chief Risk Officer

Markel Corp. has named Julia Chu as chief risk officer.

Chu will be responsible for Markel's enterprise risk management, capital planning, and ceded reinsurance placements. Each function serves a critical role in managing insurance risk, and their combination under Chu's leadership will promote Markel's strategy of efficiently utilizing capital to create value for customers and shareholders.

Chu will report to Jeremy Noble, chief financial officer, and will be based in Markel's corporate headquarters in Richmond, Virginia.

Chubb Names Regional President, Far East

Chubb Ltd. has named Diego Sosa, currently chief operating officer for Chubb in Brazil, to succeed Brad Bennett as regional president, Far East.

Sosa was to transition to his new role on Oct. 1 and replaces Bennett, who was previously named chief operating officer of Chubb Life. Sosa will have overall responsibility for the management and business results of Chubb's general insurance operations in Japan.

He will relocate to Tokyo. The appointment is subject to regulatory approval in Japan.

Sosa has more than 25 years of experience in insurance and finance, including 13 years at Chubb. Prior to joining Chubb, he was at QBE, where he held country president roles in Mexico and Ecuador.

Lockton Names Chief Financial Officer and Chief People Officer

Lockton has named Troy Cook as chief financial officer.

Cook was to transition to his new role on Sept. 24 and will lead Lockton's strategic finance function in alignment with the company's aggressive growth plan.

Cook has more than 25 years of extensive financial and operational knowledge. Most recently, Cook served for over 20 years as executive vice president and chief financial officer at NPC International before retiring in 2018.

Earlier, Lockton had named Kelly Conway as chief people officer.

In this position, Conway will lead Lockton's people strategy, focusing on continuing to attract, develop, and retain industry-leading talent to support the company's growth.

In addition to taking responsibility for central human resource functions, Conway will partner across the organization to enhance the experience of all Lockton's people. Conway joins Lockton from Stryker, where she served most recently as vice president of human resources for the organization's global quality and operations group. Kelly had more than 15 years of human resources experience from TomoTherapy, Coca-Cola, and Bank of Arizona/New Mexico.

Founder of Somerset Reinsurance Ltd. Announces Retirement; Successor Named

Somerset Reinsurance Ltd. has named Jeff Burt, currently president of Hannover Life Reinsurance Company of America, to succeed Patrick Kelleher as chief executive officer.

Pete Schaefer, CEO of Hannover Re U.S. will reassume the title of president and CEO upon Burt's transition to his new role.

Burt will continue to serve as president of Hannover Re U.S. until the end of 2020 when he replaces Kelleher, the firm's founding CEO, who has announced his retirement effective Dec. 31. Kelleher has served as CEO and director of Somerset Re since the company's inception. Following his retirement, Kelleher will serve as a consultant to Somerset Re through March 31, 2021.

In addition to his new role with Somerset Re, Burt will become vice chairman of the Kubera Insurance board effective Jan. 1, 2021.

Insurtech Root Names Former Tenn. Insurance Commissioner Senior Deputy Counsel

Root Inc., the parent company of Root Insurance, has named Julie Mix McPeak, former insurance commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, as senior deputy general counsel.

McPeak comes to Root from the global law firm Greenberg Traurig P.A., where she led the insurance regulatory and transactions practice and helped establish an additional office for the firm in Nashville, Tennessee.

McPeak was first appointed Tennessee's insurance commissioner in 2011, and was reappointed to her state position in December 2018. She left that post on June 14, 2019.

She also is a former executive director of the Kentucky Office of Insurance.

Topa Insurance Group Names Vice President-Chief Information Officer

Topa Insurance Group, a boutique property/casualty insurer, has named Tracy Tillinghast as vice president and chief information officer. Tillinghast will be responsible for driving the company's technology strategy and leading the information technology department.

Tillinghast joined the company in 2018 as director of IT product management and earlier this year was promoted to assistant vice president of IT.