People Moves: WTW Reshapes M&A Practice; Starr Names Relationship Leader; Cover Genius Adds 2

WTW Vows to Grow M&A Practice, Appoints Broking Regional Leader

Insurance broker WTW (Willis Towers Watson) announced that Mark Rusas will focus exclusively on leading the Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) practice within Corporate Risk & Broking (CRB) for North America. Rusas had been serving as both Northeast CRB leader and head of the M&A Practice.

The company said that Rusas, who created the M&A practice in 2003, will now focus 100% on the progression and growth of WTW’s M&A Practice.

Concurrently, Steven Reiss has been appointed to lead the Northeast region for CRB, replacing Rusas in that role. Reiss will transition from his current role as the CRB head for Philadelphia to lead the Northeast CRB region. Reiss joined WTW in 2018 from Chubb North America. He has worked closely with Rusas during his tenure at WTW.

Starr Names Thompson to Strategic Relationship Leader Post

Commercial lines insurer Starr Insurance Companies announced that Matthew Thompson has joined the company’s U.S. sales and distribution team as Strategic Relationship Leader.

Thompson is responsible for establishing new client relationships and expanding existing relationships, working across Starr’s underwriting teams.

Thompson joined Starr from AIG, where he worked for more than 12 years as a client director and business development manager. He also served in a business development role with broker Marsh prior to AIG. He will be based in New York City.

Cover Genius Adds Basem and Chavenson

Cover Genius, an insurtech for embedded insurance, has added Gloria Basem to its New York-based team as as chief people officer (CPO). She will oversee talent acquisition, employee experience, growth, learning, diversity and inclusion, career development and compensation.

Basem joins Cover Genius from Stash, a fintech company. She has also served as CPO at MediaMath, a global adtech firm, New Avon, Planned Parenthood of New York City and the CDM Group.

Cover Genius has also hired Daniel Chavenson, as president of strategy and corporate development. With more than 15 years of experience in the insurance industry, Chavenson will be responsible for the evaluation and execution of growth opportunities for Cover Genius globally. He will identify opportunities to scale and grow the business globally.

Chavenson joins Cover Genius from Embroker where he spent four years overseeing external strategic relationships and leading insurance strategy and operations. Prior to that, he spent several years in leadership positions at AXIS Capital and Zurich Insurance.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Leadership Willis Towers Watson