People Moves: Chubb Hires Global Aerospace’s Abbott; Brit Names Chaganty as Chief Data Officer; WTW Taps Marsh’s Gardner for GB Renewable Energy & Power Team

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Chubb Global Markets, Brit Ltd. and Willis Towers Watson.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

Chubb Global Markets Appoints Abbott as Product Head Aviation

Chubb appoints Simon Abbott as product head aviation for Chubb Global Markets (CGM), the company’s London Market wholesale and specialty arm including its Lloyd’s platform.

In this role, Abbott will lead all aspects of the insurer’s Aviation business, which is based in London and has hubs in Paris, France and Toronto, Canada. This includes responsibility for strategy, product and business development, underwriting and service operations, and overall profit and loss performance.

He will be based in London and report to Robert Wilson, chief underwriting officer for Chubb Global Markets and active underwriter of Chubb’s Lloyd’s Syndicate 2488. The appointment is effective from July.

Abbott joins Chubb from Global Aerospace Underwriting Managers where he was underwriting director since 2014. He has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry and has held a wide variety of roles within the Aviation sector. This includes an earlier nine-year spell at CGM where he was a senior underwriter, responsible for its aerospace products book from 2005. In addition, he has been chairman of the Insurance Institute of London’s Aviation Subcommittee since 2008.

“I am delighted to welcome Simon back to Chubb Global Markets to take up this significant role leading our important aviation business together with our existing experienced and talented team,” commented Wilson. “Simon is a well-known and highly respected aviation insurance specialist having worked within the market for three decades. His unrivaled knowledge, insights, expertise and understanding make him ideally placed to continue to grow our aviation business, and I very much look forward to working with him once more.”

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Brit Names Chaganty as Chief Data Officer

Brit Ltd. has appointed Kanika Chaganty as chief data officer as the business continues to build on its ambition to be a leading participant in the digitalization of the London market.

In the newly created role, Chaganty will be responsible for leading Brit’s data strategy and leveraging its data and analytics capabilities to support Brit’s digital vision and enhance how Brit underwrites and services claims.

Chaganty will report to newly appointed Chief Technology Officer Bilge Mert and be responsible for Brit’s centralized team of data expertise, including data science, analytics, data engineering and data governance. She began her role on Jan. 31, 2022.

Chaganty brings over 22 years of technology, data & business transformation experience, with strong expertise in the critical role of data within the insurance industry. She comes with diverse industry experience across financial services, healthcare, retail and manufacturing sectors, spanning EMEA, North America, APAC regions. She joins from Vitality UK Group where she has been for almost 10 years, most recently holding the role of chief data officer. Prior to joining Vitality UK Group, Chaganty also held roles with data consulting companies Business & Decision (now Sopra Steria) in the UK, Al Tayer Group in Dubai, Radiologix Inc. in the U.S. and Oracle & Citicorp groups in India.

Brit has been a leading participant in the digitalization of the London market, including launching Ki, the Lloyd’s market’s first fully digital and algorithmically driven syndicate in 2020.

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WTW Appoints Marsh’s Gardner for GB Renewable Energy & Power Team

Insurance broker WTW announced the appointment of Robert Gardner as GB Retail Industry Leader – Renewable Energy & Power for its Risk & Broking Division in GB.

Gardner joins as a 29-year industry veteran. Specializing in power and renewable energy, he held a variety of leadership roles at Marsh during a 27-year tenure based in London and New York.

Gardner reports to Adrian Willmott who leads Sales and Client Management for the GB Retail business and will support the expansion of WTW’s GB Retail footprint, working closely with both the GB Retail Utilities Practice and the Natural Resources Global Line of Business teams.

“Robert’s deep industry knowledge and formidable network in Renewable Energy and Power space will further strengthen our retail footprint in this hugely dynamic and fast-growing sector in the UK,” said Willmott.

Topics Energy Underwriting Aviation London Aerospace Chubb Willis Towers Watson