Preferred Mutual Insurance Company named a new president/CEO and chief operating officer. Munich Re’s Digital Partners appointed a new President for its North America region. AXA XL Insurance has chosen a new Head of Commercial E&O for the Americas region.

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Preferred Mutual Insurance Company promoted R. Benedikt Sander to the role of president and chief executive officer and Jeffrey Lopata to chief operating officer and executive vice president, effective January 1, 2022.

PMIC’s current CEO, Christopher Taft, is retiring but will become the chairman of the company’s board of directors. He’ll replace Robert Wadsworth, who will continue to support PMIC as a member of the board.

Sander, who joined PMIC in June 2019, has been serving as EVP, insurance operations, and has more than 20 years of leadership experience in the insurance industry. In his time at PMIC, he has championed strategies to improve company growth and profitability as well as initiatives that foster strong relationships with employees, agents and business partners.

Lopata, who has been serving as EVP, chief strategy officer, has been a driving force behind PMIC’s strategic planning initiatives and a visionary across several key areas of the company during his 17-year tenure, including information technology, enterprise project management and the development of many business strategies and services, the company said.

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Munich Re’s Digital Partners named Courtney Hill as President, North America. Hill will report to Mike Kerner, Chief Executive Officer, Munich Re Specialty Insurance.

Digital Partners provides digital brands with the tools they need to develop innovative insurance experiences. Digital Partners offers entirely digital, comprehensive go-to market solutions that include insurance capacity, product expertise, and data analytics.

Hill joined Digital Partners in November 2018 as Director of Commercial Lines Product. Before Digital Partners, Hill worked for three other large insurance carriers in various capacities, including field underwriter, product analyst, and product manager, for both personal and commercial lines of business. Previous employers include Safeco and Liberty Mutual, according to Hill’s LinkedIn profile.

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AXA XL Insurance appointed Michael Takigawa as the Head of Commercial E&O for the Americas region.

Based in San Francisco and Monterey, Takigawa will oversee the underwriting strategy and product innovation for AXA XL’s Commercial E&O business in the region, which includes Lawyers, Accountants and Miscellaneous Professional Liability.

Takigawa joined AXA XL in 2003 and most recently served as the Head of Strategic Planning and West Regional Leaderfor Design Professional. He began his insurance career in 1996 at Royal Sun & Alliance as a Vice President, Operations Executive. Prior to the insurance industry, Takigawa spent a number of years as an equities analyst for an investment and research firm.

Sources: Preferred Mutual, Munich Re’s Digital Partners, AXA XL Insurance