Several insurance and financial service companies have announced senior appointments and structural changes this week, spanning life and annuity leadership, construction specialty, retirement solutions, claims and alternative risk transfer.
Beazley has appointed Stefan Wunderlich (pictured, left) as head of alternative risk transfer (ART), expanding his existing remit as head of parametric, with a planned relocation to Bermuda subject to immigration approval.
Wunderlich joined Beazley in June 2025 following a 20-year career at Swiss Re, where he specialised in modeling and underwriting property and natural catastrophe risks. His expanded role coincides with a significant strategic commitment to Bermuda, where Beazley has confirmed a new office at Ninety-One, 91 Front Street, secured through Brookfield Asset Management and set to open in June 2027.
Beazley deployed $500 million of capital to establish a Bermuda platform targeting the alternative risk transfer market, including insurance-linked securities opportunities, with the aim of becoming operational from early 2026. The platform's next step is to move into securitisation and the transformation of risks, with a dedicated cyber ILS fund planned for launch in 2026 - which would be the first such strategy available to third-party investors. The Bermuda platform is expected to deliver approximately $400 million in premium by 2030.
Liberty Mutual has appointed Amy Gross (pictured, center) as general manager, North America Construction, within its Global Risk Solutions division.
Gross joins from the role of global private equity practice leader, where she built a platform to over $2 billion in premium. Her new practice will work alongside Liberty Mutual's Global Infrastructure Solutions team on domestic highway, renewable energy and data center projects.
Global Risk Solutions North America president Marc Orloff said Gross brings "a rare combination of underwriting expertise, business-building experience, and market credibility."
Athene has appointed Matthew Michelini (pictured, right) as president of Athene Holding Ltd., effective July 1, 2026. Michelini joins from his role as Apollo's head of Asia-Pacific, where he has been based since 2021 building out the firm's regional capabilities.
The appointment comes as Athene's market position reaches its strongest point yet. Athene ranked number one in LIMRA's 2025 US Retail Annuity Survey for the third consecutive year, recording nearly $33 billion in total fixed annuity sales and $15 billion in fixed indexed annuity sales. Industry-wide annuity sales reached $465 billion in 2025, driven by aging demographics, competitive rates relative to other guaranteed products, and growing demand for protected retirement income.
CEO Grant Kvalheim said Michelini's experience since Athene's earliest days, combined with his Asia-Pacific expansion role, makes him well positioned to drive growth in new markets and client bases.
Hudson Insurance Group has appointed Beth Diamond as senior vice president and chief claims officer. Diamond joins from Beazley, where she served as group chief claims and litigation officer, leading teams across multiple lines including cyber and technology.
CEO Christopher Gallagher described Diamond as "an inspiring claims leader" who has been "on the ground floor of how specialty insurance claims are managed."
AXIS Capital has appointed Austin Su as head of alternative risk transfer, North America. Su joins from AXA XL, where he led structured risk solutions for the Americas, and previously held senior roles at AIG across the US and Asia Pacific.
Su brings more than 25 years of experience in structured and alternative risk solutions at a moment of significant market expansion. WTW's 2026 Insurance Marketplace Realities report described ART programs as growing in use, with parametric and structured solutions increasingly deployed in challenging risk categories including casualty, construction and cyber, and new capacity entering the market through MGAs and Lloyd's syndicated facilities.
Meanwhile, Aon's Global Risk Management Survey found that 25% of companies now use captive insurance, up from 17% in 2021, reflecting the structural shift toward alternative risk financing that AXIS is moving to capitalize on.
Lincoln Financial has promoted three executives to its senior management committee and restructured leadership of its life insurance and annuity operations, giving each business a dedicated president reporting directly to chairman, president and CEO Ellen Cooper for the first time.
Darrel Tedrow, a 20-year company veteran who has led the life insurance business since 2024, becomes executive vice president and president of life insurance and retail shared services. Curtis Chesney, who brings 17 years of Lincoln experience most recently as CFO of the annuity business, becomes executive vice president and president of annuities. Paul Spurr, with more than two decades at Lincoln spanning finance, risk and actuarial roles, becomes executive vice president, chief risk officer and chief actuary - combining two disciplines under a single leader for the first time.
The appointments coincide with the retirements of Brian Kroll, EVP and president of retail life and annuity solutions, and Andy Rallis, EVP and chief risk officer, both effective June 1.
The restructuring reflects the scale of transformation underway at Lincoln. Key transitions have included selling its wealth management business to Osaic for roughly $700 million, transferring $28 billion of legacy insurance risk to Fortitude Re, and establishing a 10-year strategic partnership with Bain Capital for investment management alongside a 9.9% equity stake. Fourth-quarter 2025 annuity sales reached $4.9 billion, a 33% increase year-over-year, pushing ending account balances to a record $175 billion, with spread-based products accounting for nearly two-thirds of total annuity sales.
Cooper said the promotions reflect Lincoln's multi-year investment in developing executive leadership from within.
"Darrel, Curtis and Paul each bring deep institutional knowledge, proven leadership, and a track record of results that give me tremendous confidence in our path forward," said Cooper.
