Chubb reveals new chief reinsurance officer and global cyber president

Property/casualty insurer Chubb has appointed Jeremiah Konz as new chief reinsurance officer, succeeding Michael Kessler who has been named president of the company's global cyber risk insurance business.

Konz is currently executive vice president, reinsurance officer for Chubb Overseas General, the company's international general insurance business. He has more than 20 years of insurance industry experience, and joined Chubb in 2012 as senior vice president of ceded reinsurance for its North American operations. Prior to Chubb, Konz worked as an executive for reinsurance brokerage firm Aon Benfield, providing analytic expertise to large commercial property reinsurance placements in several geographies including Dallas, New York, Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis over a 13-year period.

In his new role, Konz will have management responsibility for the design and purchase of reinsurance programmes for Chubb and its business units globally, managing the company's reinsurance recoverable asset and overseeing relationships with its reinsurers and reinsurance brokers. Konz will also serve as chairman of Chubb's Reinsurance Security Committee and as a member of its Global Credit Committee.

Meanwhile, Kessler will oversee all facets of Chubb's cyber risk insurance business including strategy, product and business development, underwriting and service operations, and overall profit and loss performance, which will continue to report into the company's North America and international cyber risk divisions.

Kessler has nearly 30 years of experience in insurance and actuarial consulting. In 2016 he was named vice president and chief reinsurance officer. Previously, he served as chief actuary for the company's international general insurance business, a position he held from 2008.

Kessler joined Chubb, then named ACE, in 2003 as senior vice president and chief actuary for Westchester, the company's US commercial property and casualty excess and surplus lines business. For the previous decade, he held senior manager and consulting actuary positions at Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Commenting on Konz's appointment, John Keogh, president and chief operating officer of Chubb, said: "Reinsurance plays a critical role in how we manage risk, and we are pleased to welcome Jeremiah to this important leadership role for our company. Jeremiah brings strong analytical and technical skills, and a deep understanding of insurance and reinsurance markets globally. Over nearly a decade at Chubb, he has held important reinsurance roles in both our U.S. and international businesses. I am confident that Jeremiah will be a strong partner to our company's insurance businesses while helping us to further develop, implement and manage our reinsurance strategy."

Paul Krump, vice chairman, Chubb Group, global underwriting and claims, added: "Mike's extensive experience and history with our company, his leadership of our global reinsurance function and his technical skills and actuarial background make him a highly capable executive to lead our global cyber practice.

"Chubb's industry-leading risk transfer, loss mitigation and incident response services for the rapidly evolving cyber risk threats faced by businesses of all sizes and individuals are more important than ever. I have every confidence in Mike's ability to lead this critically important global business for Chubb."