People Moves: Carpenter Names Willis Re’s Harden President of APAC; HUB Appoints Stait to Lead Canada Cannabis Specialty; Riega Is Fidelis’ Head of Sustainability

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Guy Carpenter, HUB International and Fidelis Insurance.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

Guy Carpenter Names Willis Re’s Harden as President of Asia Pacific

Guy Carpenter & Co., the reinsurance brokerage business of Marsh McLennan, announced the appointment of Michael Harden as president of Asia Pacific, with immediate effect.

In this role, Harden will work closely with colleagues and clients across Guy Carpenter’s network of offices in the Asia Pacific region. Aligning with the firm’s focus on delivering strategic solutions and differentiated value to clients, he will play a central role in further expanding the range and enhancing the delivery of the client services that it provides.

Based in Australia, Harden will report to Tony Gallagher, CEO of Asia Pacific, Guy Carpenter.

Harden brings more than 45 years of re/insurance industry experience to the position and joins from Willis Re, where he was most recently president, Asia Pacific. He joined Willis Re in Australia in 1991 as a Director and became CEO in 2006. During his time at the company, he was also CEO of Willis Re Bermuda.

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HUB International Promotes Evan Stait as Canada Cannabis Specialty Leader

HUB International continues to strengthen its cannabis capabilities with the appointment of Evan Stait as Canada Cannabis Specialty leader.

Stait will work alongside Jay Virdi, HUB chief sales officer of Cannabis Specialty for North America, in supporting the practice strategy nationally.

Stait will play a leading role in continuing the rapid growth of HUB’s presence in the cannabis industry. As Canada legalized cannabis for recreational use in 2018 and medicinal purposes in 2001, and with the continued advancements in the industry, his focus will be on enhancing cannabis insurance solutions and risk services, further developing innovative resources for clients to support their needs and expanding HUB’s knowledge and expertise to help cannabis clients succeed.

Stait began his insurance career in 2012 and joined HUB in 2014. He specializes in emerging and complex risk sectors, such as cannabis manufacturing, and cross-border solutions. Recently, he led the team to devise some of the first outdoor crop insurance solutions for cannabis and hemp.

Stait has also published multiple articles related to cannabis insurance risks and has been featured on industry podcasts. He received his master’s degree from the University of Alberta and carries the Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker (CAIB) designation.

“Evan is a top producer and retail insurance adviser,” said Virdi. “With his depth of expertise and experience, Evan’s appointment further strengthens our industry leading Cannabis specialty practice group.”

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Fidelis Appoints Riega as Head of Sustainability

Fidelis has appointed Victor Riega as its first head of sustainability. Riega joins Fidelis from Standard Chartered where he was a senior sustainability manager. Previously, Riega worked at Aviva where he led the insurer’s approach to human rights, its corporate responsibility governance framework and risk management.

Riega previously collaborated with Fidelis on their anti-slavery initiatives in working with Anti-Slavery International (ASI), to promote the use of a forced labor clause in marine cargo contracts.

“We are delighted Victor has joined Fidelis having experienced the quality of his work and dedication to ESG during our anti-slavery initiative collaboration. As an industry, insurance is lagging behind others, including our own clients, on ESG,” commented Richard Brindle, chairman and group chief executive officer of Fidelis.

“We have considerable soft power which we should be using to raise issues and drive change. We need to have measurable milestones in the coming years, not decades, and work with our clients in achieving these targets. That is what we intend to do at Fidelis,” Brindle added.

“I’m excited to be joining Fidelis at a time when it is aspiring to be a market leader for sustainability in insurance. Turning good intentions into concrete actions is a commitment I share with Fidelis, and I look forward to leading and collaborating on that across the whole scope of environmental and social issues,” said Riega.

Topics Cannabis Canada Willis Towers Watson