Chubb seeks to make ‘positive impact’ with new global climate business and leadership

Global property/casualty insurer  Chubb has put together a leadership team for its  newly launched climate business unit, called Chubb Climate+, designed to coordinate and build out insurance products and services for industries on the front line of the drive to net zero emissions.

The three executives who have joined the business unit's leadership team are: Maria Guercio (pictured left), Melanie Markwick-Day (pictured centre) and Jared Concannon (pictured right), bringing collective experience in climate tech, renewables and underwriting.

Chubb Climate+ will provide a full spectrum of insurance products and services to businesses engaged in developing or employing new technologies and processes that support the transition to a low-carbon economy. The business unit also provides risk management and resiliency services to help those managing the impact of climate change.

Guercio (pictured left) will lead the climate tech industry practice for North America, growing Chubb's underwriting portfolio and creating innovative solutions to support climate tech companies focused on efficient and sustainable use of resources, products, services and technologies that seek to mitigate the impact of climate change. Prior to her current role, Guercio, who has expertise in a range of industry practices and lines of business, held management roles in the Montreal branch, the Northern Underwriting Center, and as Commercial Insurance Manager. She began her career at Chubb in 2003, and from 2005 to 2008 was a senior underwriter in the Vancouver branch.

Markwick-Day (pictured center) has been named natural resources head for Chubb Overseas General. In this role, she brings her energy and underwriting expertise to companies as they transition to lower-carbon solutions. Prior to her current position, Markwick-Day was head of upstream energy and offshore renewables for Chubb Global Markets, where she provided solutions-based risk transfer support to pure renewable energy companies as well as existing oil and gas clients as they transitioned to green technology. In that role, Markwick-Day led the launch of Chubb's offshore renewables product offering. Markwick-Day joined Chubb Overseas General in 2020 as a Senior Underwriting Officer. She began her insurance career in 2009 as a claims specialist for a Lloyd's of London syndicate.

Concannon (pictured right) has been appointed as head of climate tech for Chubb Overseas General. He is responsible for ensuring that climate tech businesses are protected from the unique risks associated with their operations. Prior to his current role, Concannon served as head of developing industry practices, where he was tasked with developing Chubb's property and casualty industry practices for media, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and climate tech across its international operations. He joined Chubb in 2013 as a professional associate in the North America financial lines division and has also served in various underwriting roles.

Matthew McMullin, leader of Chubb Climate+ in North America, said: "The new name and visual identity reflect the value proposition of our global climate business unit, which is about enabling climate change progress around the world, at an industry level, and in local communities. We are drawing on Chubb's extensive technical capabilities in underwriting and risk engineering and bringing together our practices engaged in traditional, alternative and renewable energy, climate tech, agribusiness and risk engineering services."

"The 'plus' in Climate+ is about having a positive impact and adding value for our clients across all industries as they transition to a low-carbon future and take action to be resilient to the threat of a changing climate," explained Matthew Hardy, leader of Chubb Climate+ for the company's general insurance operations in 51 countries and territories outside the US, Canada and Bermuda.

"By offering a wide and extensive range of risk transfer and risk engineering solutions, we can scale to meet the growth and needs of clients, however complex."

McMullin added: "Our ability to field this team of experienced leaders for Chubb Climate+ reflects the strength of our bench of talent, our deep underwriting and technical capabilities, and the breadth of our industry practices. With her experience in underwriting across different industries, Maria is well-positioned to enable progress for our Climate Tech clients."

Hardy said: "Chubb Climate+ is a global business, and Mel and Jared bring the level of technical experience and international perspective that will allow us to continue to be on the leading edge of new technology developments."

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