People Moves: FM Global Sets CEO Succession; Berkley Fire & Marine and ArgoPro Name Presidents; Next Insurance Adds M&A Chief

FM Global Appoints Roberts as President, Succeeding Lawson

Global commercial property insurer FM Global announced that Executive Vice President Malcolm C. Roberts has been appointed president and elected to the company’s board of directors, effective Aug. 1, 2021. He will succeed Thomas A. Lawson as chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1, 2022.

Roberts joined the mutual insurance company in 1995 as a loss prevention consultant in London after working as a chemical engineer. He has held a variety of management roles within the company across the globe and was appointed to his current position in 2018. As president, he will be responsible for the strategic and operational direction of the company, which insures nearly US$10.2 trillion in business property in more than 130 countries.

Lawson will retire on Dec. 31, 2021, after 42 years with the company and will remain chairman of FM Global’s board of directors. He became CEO in 2015. Since that time, Lawson has helped the company grow from US$5.6 billion to US$7.4 billion in annual revenue and from US$11 billion to US$18.4 billion in policyholders’ surplus.

Higley Named President of Berkley Fire & Marine

W. R. Berkley Corp. announced the appointment of David A. Higley as president of Berkley Fire & Marine.

Higley joins Berkley Fire & Marine with more than 30 years of commercial property/casualty insurance experience, including more than 10 years in executive leadership roles in the marine market. He most recently served as senior vice president and head of the marine practice at Argo Insurance. He has also worked at The Hartford, Allianz and Fireman’s Fund in his career.

Argo Promotes Henderson and Fachet

Specialty underwriter Argo Group International Holdings announced that Mary Henderson has been promoted to president of Argo Pro and Rich Fachet has been promoted to senior vice president, head of financial institutions , which was Henderson’s prior role.

With more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, Henderson joined Argo from Travelers Companies, where she spent 14 years serving in several roles, including regional vice president. Prior to working at Travelers, she was assistant vice president, financial and insurance broker, at Marsh & McLennan.

Fachet joined Argo in 2018 as vice president of financial institutions. Prior to Argo, he was at Travelers for 17 years, beginning as an underwriter and moving up through several roles – ultimately serving as vice president, asset management professional liability. Fachet started in the industry working in claims at AIG.

NEXT Insurance Appoints Liron to Chief Strategy Officer, Lead on M&A

Digital small business insurer NEXT Insurance has appointed Eran Liron as the company’s first chief strategy officer. In this role, Liron will lead the company’s mergers and acquisitions, strategic business development, and corporate strategy.

Liron brings experience in acquisitions. Prior to NEXT, Liron served as executive vice president of Marketing and Corporate Development at NICE, a software company, where he led more than 40 acquisitions and strategic investments. Before NICE, Liron worked in corporate development at Mercury Interactive Corp. as well as held various roles at Tower Semiconductor.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions