Several insurers and brokerages in the US have announced leadership appointments spanning high-net-worth personal lines, carrier relations, human resources, commercial operations, and marketing.
The appointments include executive hires and expanded responsibilities at Ascot Group, Ames & Gough, HUB International, MS Transverse, and Boston Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Ascot Group has appointed Neil Mayer as chief executive officer of high-net-worth personal lines, a newly created position within its Consumer Solutions division. He will join the company in January 2027 and become a member of its group executive committee.
Mayer will oversee the formation and development of Ascot’s high-net-worth personal lines business, which will target affluent and ultra-affluent households. His responsibilities will include business strategy, underwriting performance, operations, and distribution. He will report to Christopher Flatt, president of Consumer Solutions.
The appointment comes as Ascot develops its consumer insurance business, with high-net-worth personal lines identified as its initial area of focus.
“As we build the broader Ascot Consumer Solutions franchise, our initial focus on the High Net Worth Personal Lines segment presents a significant opportunity to extend our underwriting and specialty risk expertise to a new group of clients and enter the market with a clear strategy and a state-of-the-art underwriting platform,” Flatt said.
Mayer joins Ascot from Marsh Re, where he most recently served as global chief operating officer. His responsibilities included client support services, digital enablement, data strategy, and central operations. He also led the firm’s artificial intelligence strategy and served on its executive committee.
Previously, he was chief operating officer for North America, overseeing operations, strategy, and broker support across the US and Canada. He also held the position of global head of strategy and transformation, working with the executive committee on the firm’s strategic direction.
Mayer also worked in the company’s mergers and acquisitions and corporate development team and at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
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Ames & Gough has appointed Erin Sullivan (pictured) as director of human resources, placing her in charge of recruitment, employee development, compensation, benefits, and other workforce functions.
Sullivan joins the insurance brokerage after five years at the American Clean Power Association, where she held several human resources positions. She became the association’s director of human resources in early 2025.
Based in the brokerage’s Washington, DC, office, Sullivan has more than a decade of experience in human resources, employee benefits, and insurance brokerage.
Before joining the American Clean Power Association, she worked as a benefits consultant at PSA Insurance & Financial Partners and as an account manager at Evergreen Health. She previously held a client executive position at Ames & Gough, along with roles in financial services, employee benefits, and auditing.
Her academic qualifications include bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration, with a concentration in accounting, from St. Bonaventure University. She also holds a human resources certificate from Cornell University.
Sullivan’s appointment comes as Ames & Gough expands across geographic markets and business segments. Her responsibilities will include supporting the brokerage’s workforce requirements as it develops its operations.
President Thomas Marchetti said the company’s ability to recruit and retain employees would remain important as it expands.
“As our firm enters a phase of accelerated growth across multiple geographic markets and business segments, our sustained success depends on retaining and recruiting the industry's best people and providing the work environment and support needed to help them maintain exceptional levels of performance and consistently drive outstanding results for clients,” Marchetti said.
Read next: Ascot restructures its US business into five product verticals
HUB International has announced several leadership changes within its carrier strategy function, including the appointment of Lauren Melzer as senior vice president and carrier strategies leader.
Scott Rouzer has also taken on a new role as senior vice president of carrier executive relationship management, while executive management team members Charlie Brophy and Chris Treanor will assume additional responsibilities as executive relationship managers for carrier strategies.
The appointments establish a team responsible for managing executive-level relationships with HUB’s leading insurance carrier partners. Its work will cover discussions on strategy, performance, and growth, as well as coordination between carriers and HUB’s internal business units.
Melzer will oversee the strategic direction of HUB’s carrier relationships. Working with the national carrier team, she will manage day-to-day engagement with carrier leadership and connect carrier partners with HUB presidents, industry practices, product leaders, and chief marketing officers based on business priorities.
She joined HUB in October 2024 as chief marketing officer for specialty practices. Her experience spans nearly 20 years in insurance and leadership, including sales, business development, and strategic initiatives involving carrier and market partners. She will report to Treanor, president of programs and specialties and HUB Digital.
Rouzer will lead efforts to maintain engagement with the brokerage’s leading carrier partners and coordinate the delivery of their capabilities to HUB clients. He will continue reporting to Treanor.
Brophy and Treanor will also serve as primary executive contacts for carrier partners, helping them navigate HUB’s organization and address issues involving underwriting, claims, and client outcomes. Both will continue reporting to Marc Cohen, HUB’s president and CEO.
Cohen said the revised structure was intended to align carrier relationships with the brokerage’s middle-market placement strategy.
“We invest in our carrier partnerships the same way we invest in our clients and employees. This new structure brings the leadership, relationships and market knowledge to deepen that work and strengthen its alignment with our broader middle market placement strategy, delivering more value to our carrier partners and better outcomes for our clients,” Cohen said.
MS Transverse has appointed Anthony “Tony” Grippa as chief commercial officer, adding an executive with more than 25 years of experience across insurance, reinsurance, program business, specialty insurance, brokerage, and claims services.
Grippa most recently served as chief strategy officer for the US at BMS Re, where he was a member of the US executive committee and led strategic initiatives involving programs, mutuals, and specialty business.
Before joining BMS Re, he spent nearly eight years as an operating partner at Dowling Capital Partners and a senior adviser at Dowling Hales. During that period, he held leadership positions at several insurance businesses.
He served as executive chairman of Risk Transfer and vice chairman of Atlas General, overseeing work at both companies before their sales to Arthur J. Gallagher. He also advised on mergers and acquisitions involving managing general agents and insurance intermediaries.
Grippa previously served as executive chairman and CEO of RYZE Claim Solutions, leading the national claims services platform through a strategic recapitalization with Bain Capital Insurance.
Earlier in his career, he spent more than a decade at Brown & Brown. As regional president, he oversaw 19 retail offices and later assumed responsibility for Wright Specialty.
His career began in insurance regulation and public policy at the Florida Department of Insurance. He subsequently served as president of the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association.
MS Transverse CEO John Fitzgerald said Grippa’s experience across different insurance business segments would support the company's leadership team.
“Tony is a respected leader with a rare breadth of experience across the insurance industry,” Fitzgerald said.
Grippa said he would work with the company’s leadership team on its next stage of development. MS Transverse is a Dallas-based specialty insurance group that operates as both a carrier and an MGA, writing commercial lines business across excess and surplus, admitted, and program markets.
Boston Mutual Life Insurance Company has appointed Greg Melton (pictured immediately above) as vice president of communications, marketing, and events within its Business Enablement and Transformation department.
Melton will lead the insurer’s communications, marketing, and events functions, working across the organization to align marketing priorities with business objectives and the needs of customers and broker partners.
He brings 30 years of experience in marketing, market research, product development, and business development.
Before joining Boston Mutual Life, Melton served as assistant vice president of product marketing at SBLI, where he used market intelligence and data-driven insights to inform product positioning.
He previously held leadership positions at John Hancock Life Insurance Company, covering marketing, product development, and business development. His experience also includes business strategy, competitive intelligence, digital marketing, distribution strategy, and operational transformation.
Some of his previous work involved marketing initiatives intended to increase agent engagement, support financial advisers, and contribute to sales growth.
Melton is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, where he earned a diploma in marketing. He also holds a diploma in market research from the Market Research Society and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Middlesex University in London.
Roberta Rainville, executive vice president of Business Enablement and Transformation at Boston Mutual Life, said Melton’s background across sales, product development, and marketing would support the company’s broker relationships and business priorities.
“His experience working across sales, product development, and marketing will help us strengthen how we support our broker partners, communicate the value of our solutions, and align our marketing efforts with business needs,” Rainville said.
Melton said his role would involve strengthening the insurer’s engagement with brokers and customers.
“Effective marketing starts with understanding the people you serve,” Melton said.
