AIG Lures Berkshire Hathaway’s Bolt for Chief Underwriting Post

American International Group said Tom Bolt will join the company as chief underwriting officer, General Insurance. He will be responsible for developing a global framework for underwriting standards, authority and structure that is aligned with AIG’s overall risk appetite.

Bolt has 30 years of experience in the insurance and reinsurance industry. He joins AIG from Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, where he has been serving as president and CEO of the U.K. and Southern Europe, and as a member of Berkshire Hathaway International Insurance Ltd.’s board of directors, since March 2016, when Berkshire Hathaway International Insurance Ltd. began its specialty insurance unit to Europe.

Prior to Berkshire Hathaway, Bolt was director of Performance Management at Lloyd’s of London and managing director of Marlborough Managing Agency at Lloyd’s. Before joining Lloyd’s, he spent 25 years at Berkshire Hathaway in a variety of senior executive roles.

Bolt will report to Peter Zaffino, chief executive officer, General Insurance, as a member of the General Insurance Executive Leadership Team. He is expected to join the company in January 2018.

Zaffino said Bolt will play a key role in building AIG’s data and analytical capabilities to empower underwriters.

General Insurance includes Commercial, Personal Insurance, and U.S. and international field operations. The unit was created in a reorganization by CEO Brian Duperreault in September. AIG reorganized its underwriting businesses into three main segments—General Insurance, Life & Retirement, and its standalone technology-enabled platform that it recently named Blackboard. The company no longer has Commercial and Consumer segments.