During the month of April, several insurance groups announced moves of some of their highest-ranking leaders.

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McElroy Retiring Early at AIG. American International Group announced a top executive will retire in less than two weeks.

David McElroy will retire from AIG on May 1.

“Mr. McElroy has agreed with AIG to accelerate his retirement date for personal reasons and will remain available to the company,” AIG said in a statement.

Since January 1, McElroy has been chairman of General Insurance, where he was to focus on advancing client development, building distribution partner relationships, and continuing to support the company’s focus on underwriting excellence. Last October, AIG announced that McElroy, then chief executive officer, General Insurance, would assume the newly created role of chairman, on the first day of 2024, also announcing at that time that Don Bailey would become CEO, North America Insurance and Jon Hancock, CEO, International Insurance.

McElroy joined AIG as president and CEO of surplus lines writer Lexington Insurance in October 2018 and was promoted to president and CEO of North America, General Insurance in June 2019. In August 2020 he was promoted to CEO of General Insurance.

AIG Chairman and CEO Peter Zaffino said McElroy “joined AIG at a pivotal time as we began the multiyear effort of improving our underwriting performance and refining our risk appetite.”

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Farmers Ex-CFO Harrison Joins White Mountains. Earlier this month, White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. announced that Giles Harrison will become its executive vice president and chief strategy officer of the bermuda-based financial services holding company.

Harrison will assume those roles on June 10, 2024.

Since 2015, Harrison had served in various capacities at Zurich Insurance Company Ltd., most recently as chief financial officer of its subsidiary, Farmers Group, Inc.

In early April, Farmers announced Harrison’s replacement, John Greik, a former Allstate executive.

Harrison has had prior dealings with White Mountains. Prior to joining Zurich, he was an insurance sector investment banker for 20 years and advised White Mountains on numerous projects in such capacity.

White Mountains also announced that its chief financial officer, Liam Caffrey, has been named president of White Mountains as well.

Commenting on Caffrey’s promotion and Giles’ hiring, Manning Rountree, White Mountains’s chief executive officer described the two as “strong business leaders who will create real value for White Mountains.”

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McDonnell Named President of Vermont Mutual Insurance Group. At the annual meeting held on April 17, 2024, the Vermont Mutual board of directors named Mark J. McDonnell president of Vermont Mutual Insurance Group.

McDonnell, the 18th president of the 196 year old group of companies, succeeds former president and current chief executive officer, Daniel C. Bridge, who is set to retire at the end of the year.

McDonnell joined Vermont Mutual as a senior vice president in April 2014 and was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer in July 2015. Prior to joining Vermont Mutual, he held senior leadership positions at several regional and national insurance companies.

Bridge had held the role of president for the past nine years. In a media statement, Vermont Mutual noted that Bridge is a 40-year veteran of the insurance industry who joined Vermont Mutual in 2009, and that under Bridge’s leadership since 2015, Vermont Mutual has nearly tripled its direct written premium to more than $720 million and has grown policyholder surplus four-fold to $745 million.

Bridge noted that McDonnell “has played a lead role in guiding the strategic direction” of the organization in his COO role.

Vermont Mutual Insurance Group is a trade name of Vermont Mutual Insurance Company, Northern Security Insurance Company Inc. and Granite Security Insurance Company. Chartered in 1828, Vermont Mutual is one of the oldest mutual property/casualty insurers in the United States and provides coverage throughout New England and upstate New York.