Several insurance organizations announced leadership changes this week, spanning brokerage, specialty underwriting, claims, reinsurance and board governance.
Corgi has named Erin Gambrel (pictured, center) vice president of financial services, tasked with driving retail investor growth and brand reach for the company's ETF lineup.
Gambrel joins from Investing Authority, where she oversaw retail trading campaigns reaching more than 20 million retail investors. CEO Nico Laqua said her brand-building experience was a direct multiplier on Corgi's existing product momentum.
This hire concerns Corgi's ETF and retail investment platform rather than its insurance underwriting business, so it has no direct bearing on brokers placing coverage through Corgi's admitted or risk retention group offerings.
Pan-American Life Insurance Group has appointed John Price (pictured, right) to its board of directors, effective November 2026, where he will join the Finance and Audit Committees.
Price is founder of Americas Market Intelligence, a Latin America and Caribbean-focused consulting firm that has completed more than 5,000 client engagements, and has also founded Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence and the Horizontes executive forum.
For brokers and advisors placing life, accident and health coverage with PALIG across Latin America and the Caribbean, Price's board addition signals continued strategic attention to regional expansion, useful context for brokers evaluating PALIG's long-term commitment to specific Latin American markets.
Third Wave Insurance has appointed Paul Vredenburg as chief executive officer, with founder Brian Bair transitioning to president while remaining active in leading the company's insurance operations.
Vredenburg spent more than 14 years at AssuredPartners, most recently as president and chief operating officer, and previously served as executive vice president and chief acquisition officer helping lead that company's M&A strategy, with earlier roles at Brown & Brown and MarshBerry.
For agency owners in the Southeast and Gulf Coast weighing a sale, Vredenburg's arrival signals Third Wave intends to keep acquiring at pace, and his specific experience running AssuredPartners' acquisition function suggests a more structured, repeatable deal process going forward.
Retail brokers referring clients to Palmer & Cay-affiliated agencies should expect continued expansion of the services available under that brand as more acquired firms integrate.
Relm Insurance has named Mike Morales head of claims, where he will lead the company's claims function across insurance and reinsurance.
Morales brings more than 25 years of experience spanning claims, underwriting and brokerage, including senior roles at AIG, CNA, Zurich and Everest Specialty Underwriters, most recently leading Specialty Wholesale Insurance Solutions, a HUB International subsidiary.
Morales's own framing, that he wants brokers and insureds to know they have a claims partner willing to have a pragmatic conversation on complex claims, is a direct signal worth testing on Relm's emerging-industry book specifically, since claims handling on novel risk categories often lacks established precedent and benefits from an underwriter who understands both sides of a dispute.
Gillmon joined AXA XL in 2022 from Chubb, where she managed key client relationships in the North America Major Accounts Division, and previously spent 16 years at Marsh, including as portfolio manager in its Private Equity Mergers & Acquisitions Group and leading incoming multinational business from Dubai across the Gulf Cooperative Council region.
A newly created, dedicated private equity relationship role suggests AXA XL sees enough growth in PE-sponsored portfolio company risk to warrant specialized coverage beyond its existing underwriting structure.
Brokers placing management liability, transactional risk or portfolio company coverage for private equity clients now have a named, senior point of contact specifically built for that relationship, worth engaging directly for complex sponsor-level placements.
AmericanAg has announced that Pat Larsen, senior vice president of client retro and broker assumed pool management, will retire on January 31, 2027, following 36 years in reinsurance and 18 years with the company.
Andrew Boris, AmericanAg's executive vice president and CEO, credited Larsen's deep reinsurance expertise and relationship-building for his lasting contribution to the organization. Details on the transition of Larsen's responsibilities will be announced later.
With no successor yet named, reinsurance brokers and cedents working with AmericanAg's retrocession and broker assumed pool programs should watch for the transition announcement directly, since continuity in those specific relationships during a multi-month handoff period is worth confirming proactively rather than assuming.
The MJ Companies has hired Josh Britton as director of its National Healthcare Practice, based in Nashville.
Britton brings more than a decade of experience advising hospitals, health systems and physician groups on property and casualty risk management and alternative risk financing.
For brokers and risk managers serving healthcare clients, MJ's continued build-out of dedicated healthcare risk financing expertise, paired with its proprietary APERTURE analytics platform, is worth noting as a potential referral resource for complex hospital or health system placements that benefit from alternative risk program structuring.
Global Aerospace has announced that Jeffrey Bruno (pictured, left), president and group chief underwriting officer, will retire at the end of the year after nearly four decades with the company.
Eric Donofrio, who joined as chief underwriting officer in March 2025, will assume the president role effective January 1, 2027, while continuing as CUO.
Aviation brokers with longstanding relationships built around Bruno's underwriting philosophy should find continuity reassuring here, since Donofrio has already been serving as CUO for more than a year and is stepping into an expanded role rather than arriving fresh, reducing the likelihood of an abrupt shift in underwriting appetite.
Burns & Wilcox has promoted Tom Carvalho to regional vice president overseeing operations in Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Sacramento and Fresno, reporting to Rich Gobler.
Carvalho joined the firm in 2011 and has served as managing director of San Francisco since 2024.
Separately, the firm hired Winston Rendall, previously vice president of sales and distribution at Hull & Company, and Sandra Shambaugh, previously vice president of insurance at AAA Hoosier Motor Club, as associate managing directors supporting West Coast growth.
For retail brokers working with Burns & Wilcox across the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, this expanded regional leadership structure, three new or promoted leaders across a single growth region, suggests the firm is investing meaningfully in local relationship management, a good prompt to re-engage on submissions in markets like Portland and Seattle where the firm has flagged significant growth ambitions.
