A wave of senior hires across the US insurance and insurtech market this week spans board-level governance, investment strategy, energy underwriting, specialty services and AI-driven insurance operaitons.
Ascot Group has appointed Joseph Eppers (pictured, left) as group chief investment officer and a member of its global executive committee.
Eppers joins from Selective Insurance, where he served as executive vice president and chief investment officer. He previously worked as a director at BlackRock in the financial institutions group and as senior vice president of investments at Endurance Specialty Holdings. He will report to group chief financial officer Mark Wilcox.
Wilcox said Eppers brought deep investment expertise and a well-established industry network, while group chief executive Jonathan Zaffino described him as a thoughtful leader with a strong record of navigating complex markets.
Zurich has appointed Alex Baron (pictured, right) as US head of energy, effective June 9, based in Houston.
Baron will oversee the technical and strategic direction of Zurich's US energy business, which covers property and casualty solutions across oil and gas, petrochemicals, natural resources, mining, power generation, utilities and renewable energy. He joins from AIG, where he served as head of energy for the South region, and previously held roles at Phillips 66, Swiss Re, CNA and Aon Risk Services.
Tracey Hunt, global head of energy and marine at Zurich, said Baron's depth of experience would help the business build on its multinational capabilities and deliver innovative solutions for brokers and customers across the energy value chain.
UK-headquartered specialist professional services and technology business Davies has appointed Cindy Harris as vice president of business development for North America, focusing on long-term care, disability and related insurance markets.
Harris brings more than 25 years of sales leadership experience in long-term care insurance, most recently as director of sales at Certitrek Group, and before that as senior sales director at LifeSecure Insurance Company, where she led a national sales organisation across multiple product lines.
The appointment sits alongside two recent hires also announced this week. Tim Lauro joined as vice president of business development with 20 years of experience in property and casualty TPA services including workers' compensation, general liability, auto and captives. Eric Gasbarro joined in the same role with two decades of experience in loss control and underwriting inspections, focused on growing Davies' Loss Control division.
James River Group Holdings has appointed Rajiv Basu to its board of directors as an independent, non-executive member, with immediate effect.
Basu has also been named chairperson of the board's audit committee. He brings nearly four decades of experience in accounting, financial reporting and mergers and acquisitions, having spent a 40-year career specialising in insurance at Deloitte and Touche and its predecessor firms, most recently as chief audit quality leader for Southeast Asia.
Basu currently serves as an independent director of Assurant and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Insurance operations platform Patra has announced five senior appointments as it accelerates its push into agentic AI-powered insurance services.
Gene Linetsky joins as chief digital officer, taking responsibility for how Patra deploys intelligent automation across production environments.
Akhil Verma has been appointed senior vice president of business operations for Asia Pacific, leading the company's global delivery hub in the region. Meanwhile, John Markos joins as senior vice president of client experience and growth, focused on translating Patra's technology evolution into measurable value for agencies, brokers, MGAs and carriers.
Joanna Rogers takes the senior vice president of marketing role, leading brand and go-to-market strategy, while Shonna Andersen joins as senior vice president of human resources to lead workforce design for an AI-led operating environment.
Pratap Sarker, chief executive of Patra, said the appointments brought expanded capabilities in transformation, AI, marketing and client experience at a pivotal moment for the company and the industry. Patra currently processes over 25 million insurance-specific transactions annually at more than 99% accuracy, combining AI with human review across the insurance distribution chain.
