Everest names CUO, more career moves: Insurance news

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors.

The following summaries are written by the Digital Insurance editorial staff.

Digital Insurance reviews a high volume of news leads every week for this and other stories. Please send press releases and other information to kaitlyn.mattson@arizent.com.

Everest appoints chief underwriting officer

Everest Reinsurance announced Jiten Voralia as chief underwriting officer for global reinsurance. Voralia succeeds Chris Downey, who has been promoted EVP and Group chief underwriting officer. Voralia was most recently the head of North America Treaty Reinsurance.

Jill Beggs, EVP and CEO of Reinsurance, said in a statement: “Jiten has already made significant contributions to Everest, optimizing our North America portfolio for profitable growth. His technical acumen, strong relationships and proven cross-cycle underwriting expertise make him the ideal leader to guide our underwriting strategy and continue delivering exceptional value to our customers and trading partners over the long-term.”

Allianz Commercial names head of liability

Allianz Commercial announced Mary Ann Stewart as regional head of liability, North America. Stewart will oversee all liability underwriters and the direction and management of the liability portfolio including excess casualty, construction liability and environmental coverages in the U.S. and Canada. Stewart joins the company from Markel where she was most recently senior director, global casualty underwriting within the casualty business line. 

Jenise Klein, CUO of Allianz Commercial North America, said in a statement: “Liability remains a core product for Allianz Commercial as we strive to be the most trusted commercial insurer to our customers across a broad range of solutions. We are delighted to welcome Mary Ann to the Allianz North American team. Her exceptional expertise in both global and regional liability underwriting and strong leadership will be pivotal to our continued success in the region.”

AmTrust names EVP, head of field operations

AmTrust names Carl Canales as executive vice president, head of field operations for North American P&C. Canales, who joins the company from Liberty Mutual, will oversee distribution strategy, revenue growth, underwriting and relationship management. 

Chris Foy, EVP, head of North American Commercial P&C, said in a statement: “We’re thrilled to welcome Carl to AmTrust. He brings deep expertise across the insurance industry and a strong track record of building agent and broker relationships. His leadership will further strengthen our commitment to delivering innovative solutions and outstanding service to our agent partners in support of our insureds.”

Sedgwick names chief transformation officer

Sedgwick announced Vishy Padmanabhan as chief transformation officer, a new role. Padmanabhan has held previous positions at Wells Fargo and Bain & Company. 

Michael Arbour, CEO of Sedgwick, said in a statement: “This is a defining moment for Sedgwick. It marks a bold step, and clear investment, in how we harness technology to shape the future of our company. As Chief Transformation Officer, Vishy will champion innovation and agility at scale, partnering across technology and operations to drive an integrated transformation agenda spanning digital, data, and enterprise processes.”

Elysian raises $6 million in capital

Commercial insurance third-party administrator Elysian has closed a $6 million seed round of funding led by Portage, American Family Ventures and TenOneTen Ventures.

The new funding will support further development of the company’s operations and technology.

“We strongly believe the full category of claims administration will be transformed by modern software, predictive modeling, and generative AI. We are excited to support Elysian as they modernize one of the most challenging and highest value segments of commercial claims.” said Kyle Beatty, Managing Director at American Family Ventures.

Karen Clark & Company hires strategist

Climate and weather modeling technology firm Karen Clark & Company has hired Dr. Milan Simic as global strategy advisor.

In his new role, Dr. Simic will be responsible for global growth initiatives and international client relationships.

He has more than 35 years of experience in risk assessment and modeling, engineering research and consulting. He was most recently executive vice president and managing director of international operations at Verisk Extreme Event Solutions (formerly AIR Worldwide). Prior to Verisk and AIR, he held positions at Benfield and in engineering consulting.

Florida state insurers upgrade with Origami Risk

American Guaranty Fund Group (AGFG), which manages Florida state insurance associations, has upgraded those associations’ operations with the Origami Risk property and casualty claims platform.

Served by AGFG and Origami Risk, adjusters and claims teams from the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) and the Florida Workers’ Compensation Insurance Guaranty Association (FWCIGA) will be able to automate workflows with greater speed, accuracy and efficiency.