Gallagher Re swoops on Swiss Re to build out embedded insurance

Global reinsurance broker  Gallagher Re has recruited a senior Swiss Re executive for the role of head of embedded insurance within its alternative distribution vertical in North America.

Alexander Choniski (pictured) has joined Gallagher Re in the newly created role responsible for creating an embedded insurance solution for clients in North America. He will work in partnership across all parts of the global Gallagher organisation.

Choniski has more than 18 years of diverse capital markets and insurance experience. He joins from his most recent role at Swiss Re, where he built and co-ran the strategic partnerships mandate — Swiss Re’s largest insurtech and embedded reinsurance portfolio.

Jim Bradshaw, CEO for North America at Gallagher Re, said: “It is a pleasure welcoming Alexander to the Gallagher Re team. He has one of the most unique experience sets within this new arena, which will allow Gallagher Re to offer its clients the most sophisticated embedded solution.”

Choniski said: “At Gallagher, we are focused on building a solution that will be significantly more expansive than what’s currently found in the market. For instance, embedded solutions only win when you bring as much and more than the traditional channel. Many of the embedded solutions in the market struggle with this. Gallagher, as a diverse global group, already possesses many of the tools — across the entire value chain — to be successful at embedded. And for what we lack internally, our insurance partners will help deliver, with us, the preeminent solution.”

He added that embedded insurance is a distribution challenge. “If you are selling embedded and you don’t own the distribution, you are outsourcing the most important thing your embedded partner needs. Gallagher serves up insurance distribution in 130 countries across retail, wholesale and reinsurance,” Choniski said.

“Too many embedded players are not building sustainable solutions with the right partners, which jeopardizes the viability of their proposition and causes market confusion about the success rate of the embedded trend. Just like anything else, there is a commodity approach to embedded insurance and a strategic one. Our solution is relentlessly focused on the long-term, and we are selecting business partners and brands who share this notion.”

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