QBE NA hires XL exec to lead Western region specialty underwriting

Re/insurer QBE North America, part of QBE Insurance Group, has appointed Marcia Blanco as senior vice president, Western region specialty underwriting and engagement leader.

Based in San Francisco, California, Blanco will report to the president of specialty insurance Jeff Grange.

Blanco joins QBE from XL Insurance, where she served as vice president, miscellaneous professional liability, based in San Francisco. Prior to that, she held senior underwriting and leadership positions with Navigators Insurance Company, Kemper Insurance Company, CNA, Executive Risk, Reliance National Underwriters, and Swett and Crawford, where she was a broker.

"We are pleased to have Marcia join our leadership team at QBE," Grange said. "As a proven insurance executive with strong underwriting, distribution, and product development experience driving profitable growth, she comes to us with an impressive track record of success."

In the new role, Blanco will serve as the underwriting leader for the specialty portfolio in the Western region. She will work closely with David Kuhn, SVP, regional executive, Western region, to expand the visibility of QBE North America as an integrated specialist insurer.

Blanco will be tasked to build strategic relationships with current and potential customers, foster specialty business growth and profitability, and leverage her deep client and industry knowledge to provide distinctive solutions that enhance customer value within the region.

Kuhn said: "We are thrilled to have Marcia join the region as the specialty underwriting and engagement leader. This appointment further supports and reinforces QBE's ability to deliver unique end-to-end solutions to customers as an integrated specialist insurer. We provide close collaboration between our specialty and field operations businesses to give our trading partners and customers a seamless experience."

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