People Moves: SiriusPoint Names Lopez as CTO, Succeeding Siry; IQUW Appoints MacDonald and Hennessey to Lead Property; Chaucer Promotes Tighe to Head of ESG
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at three re/insurers SiriusPoint, IQUW and Chaucer.
A summary of these new hires follows here.
SiriusPoint Names Lopez as CTO, Succeeding Siry
SiriusPoint Ltd., the Bermuda-based specialty insurer and reinsurer, announced that it has appointed Nestor Lopez to the Executive Leadership Team as chief technology officer.
Lopez was most recently Chief Information Officer, and replaces Darryl Siry. Siry will be leaving SiriusPoint at the end of June, after a handover period, to pursue other career opportunities.
Lopez joined SiriusPoint in 2022 as CIO reporting to Siry. Lopez takes on leadership of the IT team, reporting to Scott Egan, chief executive officer at SiriusPoint. He is responsible for building out SiriusPoint’s data capabilities, as well as developing and maintaining an efficient and scalable operating platform for the company.
Lopez has over two decades of business transformation experience leveraging technology in the Insurance and Financial Services sectors. Prior to SiriusPoint, he served as CIO at Coaction Specialty Insurance (formerly known as ProSight Specialty Insurance). Previously, Lopez held various leadership roles in information technology and operations, at CNA Insurance, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company / Allianz Group and General Electric.
“The quality and accessibility of our data is central to SiriusPoint’s strategy and best-in-class aspirations. I look forward to continuing to work with Nestor as we further develop our data and tech capabilities. It is a pleasure to announce his promotion and to recognize the talent we have at SiriusPoint,” commented Egan.
“Darryl leaves with our best wishes for the future: the IT function and team have thrived under his leadership, and he has been a valuable and active member of the Executive Leadership Team.”
IQUW Appoints MacDonald and Hennessey to Lead Property
Property speciality insurer and reinsurer IQUW announced the promotion of Robbie MacDonald to head of Property Direct and Facultative (D&F), and Tom Hennessey to head of Property, Delegated Authority (DA).
Both based in London, they will be jointly responsible for the global property book, and will report to Steven Tebbutt, active underwriter at IQUW.
MacDonald, who has been promoted from his role of lead underwriter, Property D&F, started his career at Marsh in 2007 in London. He then moved to Tokio Marine Global, followed by a move to Tokio Marine Kiln, and then to Tokio Marine HCC. He joined the IQUW D&F underwriting team in 2021.
Hennessey started his career at Price Forbes & Partners as an insurance broker in the Property team. After nine years, he moved to be a Property Underwriter at Hiscox, before moving to Arcus Syndicate in 2020. When Arcus was acquired by IQUW in 2021, he became IQUW’s Lead Underwriter, Property DA.
MacDonald and Hennessey will be supported by the wider IQUW Property team, including Lead Underwriter John Brown, who has over 20 years’ experience in the property insurance industry, and Stuart Bell, head of Property Claims. Both joined IQUW in 2022 from Beazley and have a wealth of knowledge in the property market.
“I am delighted to be able to promote Robbie and Tom into their new roles to support our brokers and continue to grow our property portfolio,” said Tebbutt. “Their appointments will help us retain our lead capability – particularly as we enter an important renewal season – and develop our proposition as we continue our invest in technology, data, and analytics to help inform underwriting decision making and empower our team through real-time access to valuation, mapping, and risk scoring metrics.”
Chaucer Promotes Tighe to Group Head of ESG
Chaucer, the international specialty re/insurance group, has promoted Simon Tighe to become its group head of ESG, in addition to his role as group head of Investments & Treasury within the firm.
Tighe has been instrumental in driving Chaucer’s ESG sustainability strategy, which is committed to embedding ESG into the decision-making process.
Tighe has played a crucial role in the development of Chaucer’s major ESG initiative which it developed in partnership with Moody’s. The ESG Balanced Scorecard enables businesses to measure their ESG performance, across up to 158 distinct metrics, enabling them to evaluate business risks and opportunities.
“I am delighted to announce Simon’s new role as group head of ESG. He has been a driving force in the evolution of our ESG strategy, in particular the design and development of our ESG Balanced Scorecard with Moody’s allowing an objective measurement of ESG,” commented John Fowle, CEO of Chaucer.
“At Chaucer we are committed to adding meaningful value to all our counterparties as we strive to support transition and deliver on our sustainability goals including becoming net zero by 2050 and carbon neutral by 2030.”
Chaucer recently announced it has signed up to the United Nations Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI). The principles will serve to address ESG risks and opportunities for the insurance and reinsurance industries.
Underwriting the Transition: Chaucer, Moody’s Break New Ground With ESG Scorecard
The ESG Balanced Scorecard which Chaucer developed jointly with Moody’s, the leading global provider of financial intelligence, uses up to 158 metrics to evaluate the ESG performance of a business, based on its disclosures. The design marries Chaucer’s expertise in underwriting risk, with Moody’s data and ESG-modelling expertise, to help businesses identify and manage ESG risks and opportunities, helping them to become more sustainable. The scorecard not only enabling (re)insurers to manage their own ESG profiles but also helps re/insurers better understand potential risks and areas for improvement related to the ESG of their customers.