Going Places

Broker

Marsh
Marc Vassanelli has been appointed chief financial officer (CFO) of Marsh, Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Vassanelli will be responsible for all finance and comptroller activities in the region. Country CFOs in the region will report to him as well as to their respective chief executives.

Prior to joining Marsh, Vassanelli was at Kroll Zolfo Cooper where he focused on the analysis, turnaround, valuation, purchase and sale of special situations companies.

Howden
Howden has appointed Jas Bolla as HR manager. Bolla has over eight years' experience of developing and implementing HR strategies across a number of industries. She joins from Research International.

Blyth Valley
Blyth Valley has announced details of three recruits.

Amanda Flett joins the Ipswich-based broker as an accounts assistant in the finance department.

Natasha Lee is an account handler, having completed her technical training in professional indemnity insurance with the company.

William Ling has joined Blyth Valley's in-house ICT team as a solutions developer.

John Holman & Sons
John Holman & Sons has appointed Sarah Kendall senior account executive on the professional risks team.

Kendall has wide ranging experience handling wholesale professional indemnity risks across most professions, including five years with Senior Wright Indemnity.

THB
Specialist insurance broker THB Risk Solutions has appointed Jeff Gilbert to the role of technical manager.

He will be responsible for technical training and standards across the company. Gilbert will also help with product enhancements and new broker initiatives.

Prior to joining THB, Gilbert worked for NIG and AMP Pearl in a variety of technical and service related roles.

Insurer

Pavilion
Pavilion has appointed two joint managing directors to the board of its principal operating subsidiary Pavilion Insurance Management.

Sarah Gow becomes joint managing director with responsibility for commercial matters within the company. She joined Pavilion in 2001 and has held a number of senior positions in the company, latterly as sales director.

Gow was previously with Royal & SunAlliance.

David Lloyd becomes joint managing director with responsibility for technology and operations.

Lloyd joined Pavilion as technology director in 2004.

Endurance
Endurance has announced the promotion of Alan Barlow to senior vice president, claims director.

Additionally, Margaret Sawyer has been appointed UK claims leader of the UK & international direct property business.

Barlow joined Endurance in 2004 and has more than 25 years of international claims experience in a lead claims office environment.

Sawyer joins from Royal & SunAlliance's commercial technical claims unit and has 17 years' claims experience.

Markel
Robin Ungless has been appointed as property treaty underwriter for Markel International's specialty division.

Ungless has more than 15 years of underwriting experience and joins from Brit Insurance.

Zenith
Zenith Services has appointed Andrew Bennett as general manager of development, marketing and agency.

He joins from the Budget Insurance Group where he was senior manager for group business development.

Bennett will lead the development and implement-ation of business development and marketing strategies.

Susan McGuire has been appointed Group HR general manager of Zenith.

McGuire joins from Grampian Country Food Group, where she was divisional HR manager.

Aegis
Aegis London has appointed Mike Shillabeer as cargo & specie underwriter.

Prior to joining Aegis, Shillabeer was cargo underwriter with Ace European Group and has held various positions with Tryg Baltica and Brockbank Syndicate 588.

Shillabeer will assume responsibility for Aegis London's specie account.

Chubb
Chubb Insurance has appointed Robbie Spear as personal lines development underwriter.

He will be responsible for the development of the Masterpiece business, Chubb Insurance's high net worth (HNW) policy, within Leeds and Scotland.

Spear joins Chubb from Coulter & Hurst where he worked in the HNW arena, developing and servicing new and existing clients.

Other

SSP
Software Solutions Partners (SSP) has appointed Jim Robinson and John Wilson to senior account management roles within its corporate broker division.

Wilson joins from CSC where he was business development manager. His role as head of account management includes responsibility for account management for SSP Insight and Sector customers.

Robinson, who joins as key account manager, was previously business development director at CSC.

Christian & Timbers
Matthew Andrews has joined Christian & Timbers as a partner, to focus on building up a global insurance practice.

He will manage assignments where financial services and insurance converge.

Andrews joins from Korn/Ferry where he was responsible for its UK and European Insurance Practices.

IRM
The Institute of Risk Management (IRM) has appointed Cary Depel as its new chairman.

Depel was formerly the deputy chairman of the IRM.

He is legal and compliance director for IFX Markets and a director of City Index. He replaces Mike Walker.

DAS
DAS has created two new broker service teams under the management of Diane Willshire and Darren Weekes.

Willshire will be in charge of the South West region and Weekes will manage the London and South East region.

Between them, the pair have over 23 years' combined experience within DAS sales.

Both Willshire and Weekes will have responsibility for designated key accounts within their respective regions.

Profile

Novae
Novae has appointed Rob Preston as a dedicated terrorism underwriter as the company launches into the market for stand-alone terrorism cover.

Preston joined Novae from Aon's crisis management team, where he provided terrorism risk consulting services. His background includes working with weather derivatives and nine years in the Army, including two in Northern Ireland.

Group chief underwriting officer Peter Matson says: "We're known for the quality of our underwriting - that's why we attract talent and get the results that we do."

Preston says the market for stand-alone terrorism cover was maturing since the enormous upheaval that followed the 2001 attacks in the US, with clients increasingly demanding ever more specialist underwriting.

He says: "I believe strongly that a catastrophic book should have diversity to reflect the loss ratio of the class.

"There is an increased perception among insurance buyers of threats around the world, but there is also an increased sophistication and understanding of what this means from a practical point of view. As a result, purchasing decisions which were previously pretty coarse, have now become much more refined."