USAA, Assurant, W.R. Berkley: Insurance, insurtech people moves

May 23, 2022 6:30 AM

Commuters view departure boards on a railway concourse after arriving at London Waterloo railway station, in London, U.K. on Monday, March 14, 2022. U.K. unemployment dropped below its pre-pandemic level for the first time as companies generated more jobs and granted higher wages than expected. Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg — Commuters view departure boards on a railway concourse after arriving at London Waterloo railway station, in London, U.K. on March 14, 2022.

USAA announced Clyde Douglas will join the insurer as its senior vice president and general manager of claims. Douglas was previously at Chubb where he was most recently the executive vice president and chief operations officer of global claims. He was responsible for digital and intelligent process automation programs, as well as global claims transformation and optimization. Douglas, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard for nine years, will oversee the USAA claims organization.

Sari Granat, president and chief operating officer of Chainalysis, a blockchain data platform, is a new member of Assurant’s board of directors. Granat will be on the nominating and corporate governance committee. Granat was previously the executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel at IHS Markit.

W.R. Berkley announced two new appointments. Luis Rivera is the new president of Berkley global product recall. Rivera will succeed Louis Lubrano who has been named chairman. Rivera’s previous experience includes commercial property and casualty underwriting and claims management. Additionally, Michael Marcus has been announced as president of Berkley Industrial Comp, formerly American Mining Insurance Group. Marcus will succeed Chandler F. Cox, Jr. who will be named chairman of the business. Marcus, who has more than 30 years of commercial property and casualty insurance experience, joined Berkley in 2008 as a regional director at Key Risk. Cox co-founded Berkley Industrial Comp and served as president and CEO.

Lincoln Financial announced the promotion of Stephen Turer to senior vice president and head of annuity business. Turer will succeed Brian Kroll, who is retiring. The appointment is effective July 1. Turer started at Lincoln Financial in 2005. Most recently, he was the senior vice president, annuity product, pricing and valuation.

Matthew Kirk is the new executive vice president and head of insurance strategy and execution at Acrisure. Kirk will focus on the deployment of artificial intelligence technology and an MGA platform strategy. Kirk was previously with The Hartford for 16 years, where he was senior vice president and chief sales and distribution officer of small commercial. Acrisure recently announced a partnership with Coalition. Acrisure’s cyber division will offer Coalition Risk Assessment to help organizations understand cyber and digital risk exposure.

Athene Holding has hired Rebecca H. Tadikonda as its executive vice president of strategy and innovation. In this role, Tadikonda will focus on accelerating the company’s growth through strategy and innovation. Tadikonda was previously the executive vice president and head of MetLife Holdings. She was also chief strategy officer and head of strategic growth markets in Asia at MetLife.

Newfront announced the hiring of Jeff Simpson as senior vice president and P&C producer. Simpson spent 15 years at Marsh where he managed and built insurance programs for clients. In this new role, Simpson will serve clients across the U.S. in technology, life science, nonprofit and manufacturing industries.

Kaitlyn Mattson

Managing Editor, Digital Insurance