Industry pays tribute to Bermuda veteran Dinos Iordanou

Dinos Iordanou, a long-time re/insurance industry executive who co-founded Arch Capital Group and was the current chairman of Vantage Risk, has died at age 74.

Iordanou, who was chairman and chief executive officer of Arch from 2003 and a director from 2002, was a recognised figure in the re/insurance industry.

Marc Grandisson, the current CEO of Arch, paid tribute to Iordanou, saying: “Not only was (he) an insurance industry legend, but his leadership, tenaciousness and larger-than-life personality influenced both me and the company in many ways. We’ve lost a great man. He will be deeply missed.”

In a post on the company’s LinkedIn page, Arch said: “The entire Arch family is saddened by the passing of former Chair and CEO Dinos Iordanou. In his nearly 15-year tenure as CEO, Dinos played an integral role in developing Arch into a market-leading company with a worldwide presence in insurance, reinsurance and mortgage insurance. He was full of life, incredibly generous and a role model for anyone seeking to make a lasting impact.”

Grandisson added: “I, along with so many others, was upset to hear about Dinos’ passing. So much of Arch’s success over the past 20-plus years can be directly attributed to Dinos and his leadership.”

The post was greeted with dozens of tributes by former colleagues and business partners, paying tribute to his leadership, compassion and commitment to educating his colleagues, including one from his daughter Danielle Iordanou, who said: "The best of the best and his legacy will live on forever. We LOVE YOU DAD!"

A statement from the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers, of which he was a past chairman, said the entire international re/insurance industry mourned his passing, saying he was a “booming voice for Bermuda”.

“Dinos was a tremendous leader, mentor and industry icon, particularly in his founding role of Arch Capital Group as a Bermuda-based powerhouse since its post-911 start-up,” ABIR said. “The market greatly benefited from Dinos’ guidance as a long-time board member of ABIR including a term as ABIR Chair from 2011-2012.

“ABIR expresses its sincere condolences to the Iordanou family and all those whose lives were touched by this industry giant.”

After retiring from Arch, in 2020 he launched Bermuda-based insurer and reinsurer Vantage with CEO Greg Hendrick.

Iordanou stepped down as chairman and CEO of Arch in 2019. Before joining Arch he worked for Zurich Financial Services including as CEO of Zurich North America. Before joining Zurich in March 1992, he was a senior executive at the Berkshire Hathaway Group and Senior Vice President of American Home Insurance Company, a member of American International Group.

Born in Cyprus, Iordanou emigrated to the United States and graduated from New York University with a degree in aerospace engineering.

In 2017, Iordanou was named Insurance Leader of the Year by St. John’s University’s Maurice R. Greenberg School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science.

In 2021, he joined the board of Bank of Cyprus, which praised him for his commitment to the island nation and for his philanthropy. He was also a board member of Verisk Analytics.

He is survived by his wife, Marianne, and three daughters.

Arch, which was reorganised from its predecessor company Risk Capital Reinsurance Co., recruited Iordanou as president in 2001. He was named CEO of the company in 2003 and chairman in 2009.

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