People Moves: Everest Insurance Int’l Taps Brionne and Benson From Chubb, Promotes Mah; SiriusPoint Hires TMK’s Kattan as Global Head of Ceded Reinsurance

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Everest Insurance International and SiriusPoint.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

Everest Insurance Int’l Taps Chubb’s Brionne, Benson, Promotes Mah

Everest Insurance International, an insurance division of Everest Group Ltd., announced key leadership appointments including industry veteran Véronique Brionne who will join as Insurance head of Europe, effective Sept. 28, based in Paris. The company also named Martyn Benson, head of Operations, effective Aug. 7, based in London. Both will report to Adam Clifford, co-lead of Everest Insurance International and will serve as members of the division’s International Leadership Group. The company also announced Swee Keong Mah has been promoted to interim regional head of Insurance, Asia,

Details of the three appointments careers follow here.

Véronique Brionne is an accomplished international industry leader who brings 25 years of deep local market expertise to her role at Everest where she will drive the ongoing growth and success of the company’s insurance offering in Continental Europe. Brionne was most recently deputy managing director for Chubb European Group SE and served as country president for its operations in France. Additionally, she was director of Accident & Health, Continental Europe, and prior to that she served as country president for operations in Spain and Portugal.

Before that, she held roles of increasing responsibility at AXA, including international actuarial analyst and P&C program director of the Northern, Central and Eastern Europe region. Brionne is a mentor and passionate advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), serving as a co-founder, board member and treasurer of the French chapter of ISC Group, a non-profit association that provides personal, professional and business development for the advancement of women in the insurance industry. She received her Master of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science from Université Catholique de l’Ouest and her Master of Business Administration from Centre des Hautes Etudes en Assurance.

Martyn Benson will draw on his extensive experience leading international operations at major global financial services firms to oversee the company’s insurance operations across all regions of its international business including underwriting processes, policyholder servicing and portfolio and project management.

He recently served as chief operations officer for Consumer Lines EMEA at Chubb, as well as the company’s head of Operations for Asia Pacific. Earlier in his career, Benson spent nearly a decade at WTW including roles as chief operating officer of Asia Pacific, Global Wealth Solutions and Europe. Benson received his Bachelor of Engineering (Honors) degree in Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering from Loughborough University and completed a masters’ program for Design, Manufacture and Management at the University of Cambridge.

Swee Keong Mah has been promoted to interim regional head of Insurance, Asia, replacing Ben Carey, effective immediately. Mah joined Everest in early 2022 as head of Legal, Asia Pacific. He played a pivotal role establishing the division’s Singapore operations, serving as a member of the division’s Asia Pacific leadership team.

Prior to Everest, he served in various general counsel roles including head of Legal, Risk & Compliance for Asia and Middle East at Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance. Mah holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honors) from National University in Singapore and received his Master of Business Administration (Honors) from University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. In addition to his interim role, Mah will retain his position as head of Legal, Asia Pacific.

Commenting on Carey’s departure, Clifford said: “We are grateful for Ben’s leadership and guidance through the launch of our primary insurance business in Singapore and wish him great success in his future endeavors. I look forward to working with Ben in the transition of his responsibilities.”

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SiriusPoint Names TMK’s Kattan as Global Head of Ceded Reinsurance

SiriusPoint Ltd., the Bermuda-based specialty insurer and reinsurer, has appointed Habib Kattan as global head of Ceded Reinsurance. Kattan will join the business, based in London, on Aug. 1, 2023.

Kattan will report to David Govrin, group president and chief underwriting officer (CUO). His role will include establishing the strategy and structure of SiriusPoint’s global ceded reinsurance function, aligning with the company’s risk appetite, key performance indicators and strategic priorities. He will be responsible for coordinating and managing the ceded team, based in Stockholm, in addition to the execution and administration of all reinsurance placements.

Kattan was previously the group head of Ceded Reinsurance and Credit Control at Tokio Marine Kiln and, latterly, acted as an adviser on outwards reinsurance at MS Amlin.

“Ceded reinsurance is a core component of our strategy. We have a strong panel of reinsurers who support many of our business lines,” said Govrin. “I am very pleased to have been able to attract Habib to join the SiriusPoint team. Habib has over 25 years of exceptional experience buying reinsurance in addition to a variety of senior roles in broking and underwriting across the sector. His depth of knowledge and expertise will support the delivery of our strategic goals, our commitment to our reinsurers, and our continued focus on performance and value creation across our underwriting portfolio.”

Topics Reinsurance Chubb