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DE&I has always been a topic close to Fagnilli’s heart. Prior to joining Liberty Mutual, she worked in the banking, telecommunications, and healthcare industries, leading the development and implementation of advocacy and DE&I strategies. One of her biggest accomplishments is the creation and execution of health equity programs in the United States and European healthcare systems. Getting people access to healthcare, she said, was a cause “near to her heart,” and relates to her goal of “bringing humanity into the workplace”.

“Working within corporate America, I saw this opportunity in DE&I to bring it all together. DE&I is nothing if it’s not really built into the DNA of an organisation – that’s why I do what I do,” said Fagnilli. “And I think companies are also starting to realise that and take action.”

Liberty Mutual, a US-based diversified global insurer, is a gold sponsor for Dive In 2021, the global festival for DE&I in insurance, taking place in a hybrid format from September 21-23. Returning for its seventh year, the theme of Dive In 2021 is active allyship, and the educational sessions will touch a vast range of topics from LGBTQ+ to neurodiversity, generational differences, the work-life balance, mental health, and more.

Read next: Dive In 2021: ‘Be part of the future of the insurance industry’

“I think the Dive In festival is truly phenomenal in that it’s an opportunity to bring industry competitors together behind shared objectives,” said Fagnilli. “DE&I is something that we all need to do better at for the sake of our industry, our employees, and our customers. At Liberty Mutual, we see this as an opportunity, we see the need, and we’re very excited to work with Dive In to bring everyone together and help build a better industry for all.”

This year’s Dive In theme of active allyship “speaks to” Fagnilli, who said that allyship is crucial for the successful integration of DE&I – in other words, “humanity” – into the workplace.

Active allyship is something that Liberty Mutual has been pushing for some time. In 2017, the insurer launched a program called Men as Allies, with the intention of encouraging more male employees to engage with employee resources groups (ERGs) and become champions for colleagues across the whole spectrum of DE&I. The insurer has developed other allyship programs within its Pride at Liberty ERG, which represents the LGBTQ+ community, and within its race and ethnicity collaboration.

“This year, we’re taking this a step further to build allyship within other dimensions of diversity,” said Fagnilli. “Our intention is to understand how underrepresented groups have been left behind and what we need to do […] to build a better culture – a culture of inclusion, a culture where everyone feels counted, a culture where we can talk openly about topics that sometimes we don’t talk enough about.

“It’s important to understand that we all come to work in the same physical space, but we don’t all have the same work experience – and that’s not because the company culture is different; it’s because we all have different life experiences. Active allyship programs can really open our eyes, open our hearts, and build more human connections, which will help us to advance conversations in a way that will build equity across different practices and systems within our organisations. We’re focusing on allyship at Liberty Mutual because we believe it lies at the centre of what we need to achieve with DE&I.”

Read more: Dive In 2021 registration is now open

Since the first ever Dive In festival in 2015, the insurance industry has made great strides with DE&I, moving steadily from awareness to action across more and more areas of diversity. Allyship has been, and will continue to be, key to this progression, according to Fagnilli.

“Allyship plays a key role in DE&I,” she said. “If we don’t listen, if we don’t lean in, if we don’t understand and start championing each other, or give people a voice who, historically, may not have had a voice or a seat at the table, then we’re going to miss the opportunity to develop successful and sustainable organisations for the future. Insurance organisations are social enterprises; DE&I is at the core of who we are, but it’s a work in progress. We all have work to do, personally and as organisations, and I cannot wait for Dive In because I know we’re going to share best practices across the board, we’re going to learn, connect, and come together to build a better industry for everyone.”  

Find out more and register for this year’s Dive In Festival now.

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While all of the big four European reinsurance groups – Hannover Re, Munich Re, Swiss Re and SCOR – grew their books of property-casualty business at the mid-year renewals, there were substantial differences in the extent to which they achieved rate increases, according to a new report from Litmus Analysis.

In total, the four companies renewed €12 billion (about £10.30 billion) of treaty premium, with growth of 11% and an average risk-adjusted price increase of 2.1%, compared to growth of 5% and an average price increase of 4.9% at mid-year 2020.

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Former group chief risk officer Frieder Knüpling will now become CEO of SCOR Global Life. He succeeds Paolo De Martin, who is pursuing “a new direction” in his career. Joining the group executive committee as new group chief risk officer is Fabian Uffer, who previously served as group head of risk modelling.

Romain Launay, meanwhile, has been appointed as deputy CEO of SCOR Global P&C (property and casualty), as well as chief executive of specialty insurance. Prior to the reshuffle, he was the reinsurer’s group chief operating officer.

Additionally, group executive committee members François de Varenne and Claire Le Gall-Robinson will have their respective remit widened. Aside from his role as SCOR Global Investments CEO, de Varenne will be overseeing a broader area of leadership spanning investments, technology, budget, group project office, and group corporate finance.

As for Le Gall-Robinson, the group general secretary has been named SCOR’s group chief sustainability officer. She will have the added responsibility of looking after human resources, communications, and hub operations.

Ian Kelly, Jean-Paul Conoscente, and Brona Magee are retaining their current posts as group chief financial officer, SCOR Global P&C CEO, and SCOR Global Life deputy chief, respectively.

Rousseau commented: “The breadth of global experience, the diverse backgrounds, the strong expertise, the knowledge of the industry, and the leadership qualities of the members of this renewed group executive committee give me a high degree of confidence in our ability to successfully pursue SCOR’s development.

“These internal promotions bear witness to the depth of SCOR’s talent pool and the strong competencies of our rising leaders. I am confident that this new organisation will ensure managerial continuity while reflecting the strategic importance of transformation and sustainability for the group. We are mobilised to accelerate the company’s profound transformation provided for in the ‘Quantum Leap’ strategic plan and accelerate long-term value creation for all our stakeholders.”

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Global specialty (re)insurer Canopius Group – which has underwriting operations in the UK, the US, Australia, Bermuda, China, and Singapore – will be welcoming 2022 with a new group chief financial officer in the form of Gavin Phillips.

The incoming CFO is taking on the post in January, succeeding Nigel Meyer who will step back in March next year. Phillips will join from PwC, where he worked for nearly three decades.

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Aviva and Darwin Innovation Group have registered a passenger shuttle for use in autonomous vehicle trials.

The shuttle, created by Navya, will be used to demonstrate the potential of self-driving cars and gather information about their operation, Aviva said in a statement. The insurer will use data from these trials to improve its current motor insurance offering, as it seeks to provide comprehensive cover for autonomous vehicles and associated technologies once they begin to operate on British roads.

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MS Amlin Insurance SE (MS AISE) has appointed Frédéric Fischer as chief financial officer, and pending regulatory approval.

Fischer joined MS Amlin’s European primary insurance arm from AXA, where he was most recently CFO of AXA Corporate Solutions. Across his 25-year career at AXA, he held a variety of senior financial roles across the P&C division, having gained significant experience in financial controlling, tax and accounting, reinsurance and legal and compliance operations. Fischer is also a qualified actuary.

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Howden has appointed Adam Reed as managing director, corporate client relations, in a move that sees the international broker build out its global proposition for major corporate clients.

Reed will join Howden once he completes his contractual obligations with Willis Towers Watson, where he was most recently global client relationship director. Reed, who had previously worked at Marsh and Aon, has over 25 years of experience managing large, complex, global client relationships. He will become part of Howden UK’s leadership team as a member of its executive committee.

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“The review is now complete, and artworks depicting former governors and directors, where we have been able to establish links to the slave trade, have been removed from display,” a spokesperson for the Bank of England said. “We have also appointed a researcher to work in our museum to explore the bank’s historic links with the transatlantic slave trade in detail. This work will inform future museum displays interpreting these connections.”

The moves come as racial relations are being examined in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, which were sparked in the US by the death of George Floyd due to police brutality.

The art pieces taken down depicted the BoE’s founding director and a governor Gilbert Heathcote, as well as James Bateman, Robert Bristow, Robert Clayton, William Dawsonne, William Manning and John Pearse. These were displayed at the BoE’s headquarters and its museum.

Upon launching the review in July 2020, BoE said that, while it was never directly involved in the slave trade, it was aware that some of its former officials had “inexcusable connections” to slavery, and apologised for them.

In February, Lloyd’s of London looked to hire an archivist that would research artefacts related to slavery in Africa and the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, the City of London, where both Lloyd’s and BoE are located, is reviewing what actions to take regarding the statue of William Beckford in its ancient Guildhall home.

Beckford, who was elected Lord Mayor of London twice in the 18th century, owned plantations in Jamaica, populated with a large number of slaves.

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Jeremy Goodman, meanwhile, will serve as the unit’s president for APAC. Nick Frankland, who earlier this week was tapped to chair the insurance consulting group, is also taking on the role of UK president. For EMEA, co-CEO Alan Gregory is moving on to serve as the region’s chairman.

David Sloan, who is retiring as CEO and chair of Canada and the Caribbean at the end of the year, will remain for another 18 months as an advisor. As part of the transition, Wolfe and Bonifacio will assume their new roles come 2022.

Also effective in the New Year is Moore’s appointment. In addition to the UK CEO post, he will also act as executive sponsor for Japanese clients globally.

Meanwhile, retaining their current positions are US reinsurance solutions chief executive George deMenocal, Latin America CEO Pablo Muñoz, LatAm president Paula Ferreira, and facultative reinsurance chief Andrew Laing.

“Our reinsurance capabilities have been built on the strong foundations of local knowledge and market connections, underpinned by a global focus to ensure we are sharing best practices and helping to drive growth for insurers in each region we serve,” said Tim Ronda.

The newly appointed reinsurance solutions global geographic leader added: “Whether enhancing their property catastrophe programmes or navigating new forms of volatility around casualty, climate, and cyber, our new solutions for insurers will reach every corner of the globe, with the benefit of regional expertise.

“This new team of regional leaders will benefit from the prior leadership, and the firm’s very deep existing and diverse talent base, as we continue to bring together proven talent from across the firm to support our clients’ needs.”                       

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Argo Group International Holdings, an underwriter of specialty insurance, has announced an agreement to sell the renewal rights of its contract binding property and casualty business to Mesa Underwriters Specialty Insurance Company (MUSIC), the excess and surplus lines subsidiary of Selective Insurance Group. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“This transaction supports the company’s strategy to simplify the business,” said Marsh Duncan, president of excess and surplus for Argo Group. “We are pleased to have reached an agreement that provides a smooth transition for our brokers and insureds.”

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