Everest restructures US casualty business, sharpens focus on sustained growth

Everest Insurance, the specialty insurance division of  Everest Re Group, has restructured its US casualty business as part of its wider strategy to simplify and streamline across all major product lines to fuel long-term growth.

The insurer has realigned its US casualty businesses into a unified structure with three distinct segments: wholesale, retail, and industry specialties, under one leader.

The move aims to increase its speed to market, and better serve the wholesale and retail sectors.

David Sandler has been appointed to the newly created role of president, US casualty, reporting directly to Mike Karmilowicz, president and CEO of Everest Insurance, and will lead the strategic direction of the unified business.

Sandler joined Everest in April 2016 after spending more than two decades in various casualty leadership positions at AIG. He was most recently president of Everest’s Risk Management Group, which includes the risk management portfolio, as well as the company’s workers’ compensation, middle market primary casualty, energy, and multinational business units.

As part of the new US casualty organisation, Mike Harnett (pictured) has been appointed chief underwriting officer of US casualty, with Michael Finnegan continuing in his role as head of wholesale casualty. Both will now report directly to Sandler.

Harnett joined Everest in October 2017 and has more than 35 years of middle market, national accounts casualty, and relevant line of business industry experience. He has helped the build out of Everest Insurance’s portfolio management, underwriting excellence, and governance frameworks.

Finnegan joined Everest in January 2021 and has more than three decades of experience in the insurance industry with deep casualty and wholesale domain expertise. He has helped the company simplify processes, improve ease of use and value proposition for its wholesale casualty trading partners.

Commenting on the changes, Karmilowicz said: “Our united U.S. Casualty business reflects Everest’s deep commitment to the evolving needs of the Retail and Wholesale marketplace, and best positions us with the speed, flexibility, and entrepreneurial spirit our clients and brokers have come to expect from Everest.

“I look forward to working with Dave and our senior leadership team to fuel sustained growth in our casualty business and strengthen our specialised offering with targeted, channel-specific products and services that create more value in the market.”

Sandler added: “This move will build on our broad experiences to increase our speed to market, and most importantly, help us continue to deliver the highest standards of service.”

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