Everest makes big international push with ex-Chubb executives, leadership moves

Everest Insurance has bolstered its top-tier leadership for Europe, Asia and the Pacific in a move to drive expansion in markets outside of the Americas. New key additions include two former Chubb executives with combined 45 years of experience in the insurance industry.

The company has hired Jason Keen and Adam Clifford to co-lead insurance for Everest International Group. The duo will be responsible for leading the strategy, local teams and structure supporting expansion in three priority regions: Europe, Asia and the Pacific.

Keen has spent more than 11 years at Chubb, most recently as division president of Chubb Global Markets. Prior to that, he was head of property & casualty, Asia Pacific, having previously led its property & terrorism portfolio in the region. Prior to joining Chubb, Keen was vice president at Lloyd’s of London syndicate and global specialty insurance underwriter Ascot. He also previously worked at Talbot Underwriting as an assistant underwriter.

Clifford has also held numerous senior leadership positions at Chubb, including division president, Continental Europe for Chubb Insurance Company of Europe, where he was responsible for all Chubb’s property and casualty, accident and health and consumer lines operations across the 17 countries that make up the company’s Continental Europe region. He previously served as country president Singapore, and regional head of casualty for Asia Pacific.

"With a combined 45 years of deep experience overseeing multibillion-dollar global insurance businesses, Jason and Adam are among the most highly accomplished leaders in our industry," Mike Karmilowicz (pictured), president and chief executive of Everest Insurance, said of the duo in a message.

In Europe, the company's Everest Insurance (Ireland), DAC and Lloyd’s wholesale operation in London will continue to be overseen by Vincent Vandendael, who will also help drive growth across Europe and the UK. "We are already realising significant opportunity resulting from our expansion into the Netherlands, which is an important gateway to further our reach across Continental Europe," Karmilowicz noted.

In Asia, Ben Carey, who is based in Singapore, will lead the expansion across the Asian continent to further scale Everest’s presence in the region.

Finally, Christian Colombera will be assuming the role of managing director of Australia & head of the Pacific, responsible for driving growth and managing the expansion of Everest International Group across the region.

The new changes follow the company's recent expansion into Latin America under the leadership of regional president Pablo Korze and the team to deepen its presence in Santiago, Chile and beyond.

"Our team has been hard at work to seize the significant market opportunity before us," Karmilowicz commented. "Building on the success of our operations in North America, Ireland, and the U.K., the investments we are making in our talent, systems and infrastructure position us for continued growth in the global commercial Property and Casualty market."

"As we achieve critical mass in each of these key markets, we are positioning Everest Insurance® to best serve our customers, on the ground, with the local expertise and new and diversified offerings only we can deliver. And we are only just getting started," he concluded.

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