Arch Insurance International has appointed James Mecham (pictured, left) as deputy chief underwriting officer for Long Tail Lines, effective immediately. RiverStone International has promoted David Soutter (pictured, centre) to group chief risk officer. Sedgwick has appointed Anders Grotte (pictured, right) as chief commercial officer for its Swedish operations, effective September 1.
In the newly created role at Arch, Mecham deputises for Mike Lay, CUO of Long Tail Lines, setting underwriting strategy and leading relationships with key strategic brokers, clients and reinsurers across all long-tail product lines spanning the London Market, UK Regional, Australia and EU business units. He also takes on the role of head of general casualty, with strategic oversight across general liability, energy and marine liability, and professional lines. Based in London, he reports to Lay.
The role explicitly names strategic broker relationships as part of Mecham's remit. For brokers placing casualty, energy and marine liability, or professional lines business with Arch, that means a single, more senior point of escalation across those lines rather than separate conversations with individual line-of-business heads. For complex or multi-line long-tail placements - particularly those spanning the London Market and international business units - a deputy CUO empowered to set strategy across all of them can mean faster decisions on appetite and terms. Brokers carrying significant Arch long-tail relationships should map who their primary contact now is under this restructured hierarchy before their next renewal conversation.
Mecham joined Arch in 2019 as head of casualty and brings more than 20 years of experience to the role. He was named London's Leading Underwriter in 2023. Lay said Mecham's market reputation and track record in underwriting leadership make him well-suited to the role.
The appointment follows a similar structural move at Arch in August 2026, when the insurer named James Barrett deputy active underwriter for Syndicate 2012 and head of specialty casualty. Taken together, the two appointments suggest Arch is deliberately consolidating casualty underwriting authority under fewer, more senior deputies across its London and syndicate operations - a pattern worth factoring into how brokers manage relationships across the group.
Soutter joined RiverStone as head of risk in Bermuda in April 2025 and brings more than 25 years of experience across enterprise risk management, finance, capital oversight, regulatory engagement and governance. He reports to group chief executive Paul Brockman. He previously held senior leadership roles at Zurich Insurance Group, including CFO of its Bermuda operations and project director for internal reinsurance. He is deputy chair of the Insurance and Reinsurance Legacy Association Bermuda and treasurer of the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies.
RiverStone's business is built on acquiring and reinsuring legacy and discontinued liabilities. Counterparty confidence in its risk and capital management is central to how brokers and cedants assess whether a transaction will hold up over the long tail of a legacy deal - these arrangements can run for decades after a portfolio transfer closes. Soutter's promotion from within, rather than an external appointment, signals continuity in exactly the area brokers scrutinise most closely. His Bermuda regulatory relationships are particularly relevant given how much of RiverStone's capital and governance infrastructure sits in that jurisdiction.
Brockman said Soutter has established himself as a trusted member of the leadership team since joining, and that his expertise in risk, capital and regulatory matters make him well placed to lead the global risk function. Brockman himself joined RiverStone as group CEO in January 2026 from Enstar Group, and this appointment is one of several leadership changes at the group since his arrival. Brokers active in the legacy market should track whether this leadership team holds through the group's next transactions.
Grotte will lead commercial strategy and business development for Sedgwick's Swedish operations, strengthening client relationships in partnership with the wider Nordic team and driving growth in the Swedish market.
He joins from Van Ameyde Scandinavia, where he was business development director responsible for commercial growth and partnerships in claims and risk management across the Nordics, including work on claims process automation. He previously served as country manager at Balder Forsikring, where he led the company's establishment in Sweden.
For those placing Nordic claims handling or third-party administration work, a dedicated commercial lead in Sweden provides a clearer local point of contact for negotiating service arrangements and escalating account issues, rather than routing everything through regional Nordic leadership. Grotte's background in claims process automation is worth noting for brokers whose clients are pushing for faster or more digitised claims handling - it signals a commercial agenda focused on service efficiency rather than purely relationship management.
Christian Leif Hansen, Sedgwick's chief executive for Denmark and the Nordics, said continuity, strong relationships and a solid understanding of clients' businesses are essential as Sedgwick continues developing its client relationships and growth in Sweden. The appointment follows Sedgwick's 2024 move to consolidate Nordic leadership under Dan Sivertsen as CEO of its Norwegian and Swedish operations, giving brokers working across multiple Nordic markets a clearer sense of the regional structure.
