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Nominations & New Responsibilities

Zurich announced in September 2015 that Kristof Terryn, currently CEO of Global Life, will take over as CEO of General Insurance, effective October 1, 2015. He replaces Mike Kerner, who held the job since September 2012. Kristof Terryn will continue to run the Global Life business until a replacement is announced. A 48 year old Belgian, Kristof Terryn has been CEO of Global Life since August 2013, and a

Lockton in August 2015 appointed former Allianz Group executive Guilherme Perondi Neto as deputy CEO of its Brazilian subsidiary, Lockton Brazil. His career included stints at credit insurer Euler-Hermes, a member of Allianz group, and at several corporates as credit manager. He holds an MA in strategic management from Universidad Europea del Atlantico, Spain, and an Executive MBA from IBMEC in Brazil.

In late June 2015, GBV learned that AIG Benefit Solutions President and CEO Curt Olson was about to leave AIG. Only a few weeks earlier, Olson had led AIG’s comeback in the global employee benefits market, five years after the sale of the “old” AIG network along with other ALICO assets to MetLife. In late April 2015, AIG acquired a majority stake in ING’s ING Employee Benefits – Global

Sören Schulze joined Allianz Global Benefits in June 2015 as Senior Network Mana­ger based in Munich. In his new position, he is responsible for the operatio­nal and day-to-day management of the network insurers within the Allianz Global Benefits network and reports to Dr. Reinhardt Schink, Head of Market Management. Sören Schulze started his professional career at Generali Emplo­yee Benefits in Frankfurt, Germany as an account executive. He continued his

David Myers was appointed head of Global Broker Life & Health Development in January 2015, based in Munich. In his new role he is responsible for strategic engagement with global brokers. He directly reports to Dirk Hellmuth, CEO and Head of Sales & Distribution of Allianz Global Benefits. Earlier, he was part of the Allianz Group broker distribution team where he has been for four years, the last two

Adam King was appointed Regional Director for the Americas in June 2015, based in Chicago. He is responsible for Employee Benefits sales and distribution to multinational companies in North and South America. In this role he directly reports to Dirk Hellmuth, CEO and Head of Sales & Distribution of Allianz Global Benefits. Before joining Allianz Global Benefits, he was with MetLife/Maxis and in charge of business development in the

Sheldon Kenton reports to Robert Lang, Managing Director for Bupa Global, and is a member of the Bupa Global executive team.  The newly created role of Global Commercial Director focuses on sales to corporate clients, on health benefits, as well as on institutional distribution partnerships. Kendon had been with Cigna since 1997, lastly as global head for sales of international employee benefits, and relocates from Philadelphia, PA. He holds

Two years after joining AON France as its Global Benefits practice leader, Bruno Valette joins Mercer France as Client Relationship Director and Principal. Or, rather, rejoins, as Valette had spent 14 years with Mercer in Paris right before AON. Mercer was his first employer in the insurance sector from 1989 to 1997, to be followed by leading French broker Gras Savoye, soon to be a division of Willis –

After leaving Allianz Deutschland, Dr. Markus Riess has joined Ergo as CEO and Munich Re’s management board. Ergo is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Munich Re, which operates under the brand names Ergo, Victoria, DKV and others. Munich Re’s CEO Nikolaus von Bomhard has no known successor and has not announced any plans to retire, despite the fact that he will reach the mandatory retirement age of 60 in 2016.

Willis announced the appointment of Brian Shea as Head of Europe for Willis Capital Markets & Advisory, its insurance investment banking division, based in London, effective August 24, 2015. Brian joins from reinsurer  SCOR, where he was Chief Corporate Strategy Officer after 20 years as an investment banker with Salomon Brothers and Merrill Lynch.

Willis appointed Simon Weaver as CEO of its Singapore office, as well as to the newly-created role of regional CEO for South-East Asia.

Vittorio Zaniboni has been appointed in April 2015 as Chief Technical Officer at GEB. Based in Brussels, Vittorio has been with GEB since early 1998, first as an actuary, then reinsurance manager and as chief actuary since late 2006. He joined Generali in 1996 after graduating from Trieste University with an MSc in actuarial sciences.

Willis confirmed that Steve Hearn, Deputy CEO, will leave  to join Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford at the beginning of November, 2015.

Dr. Manfred Knof has become CEO of Allianz Deutschland, succeeding Dr. Markus Riess, who joins Ergo as CEO and Munich Re’s management board. Ergo is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Munich Re that operates under the brand names Ergo, Victoria, DKV, and others.

Willis announced in July 2015 the appointment of Cedric Luah as Asia Head of Human Capital and Benefits, to lead its Asia regional operations based in Singapore. Cedric joins Willis from the AIA group office in Hong Kong where he was responsible for multinational strategies, corporate clients relationships and multinational pooling. Prior to AIA, he spent seven years with the Swiss Life network, where he was the Head of Sales

EB growing in Turkey’s private sector, attracting major players Ms. Sema Gökdemir joined Towers Watson (TW), now WTW (Willis Towers Watson) in Turkey to lead its newly launched employee benefits consulting division, focusing on healthcare, life and retirement. TW’s move is in response to the rapid growth in employee benefits offered to private-sector Turkish employees. Sema Gökdemir has 17 years of experience in local and international employee benefits and

In March 2015, Fabrice Maraval was appointed Chief Financial and Insurance Officer of April Group, in charge of financial and technical activities on a global basis, as well as M&A, legal, and control of April Group’s insurance companies. Fabrice began his career with AXA, then spent 13 years with CNP Assurances, France’s #1 life insurer, lastly as CEO of CNP Caution, providing individual and professionals sureties.

Margrit Schmid leaves Swiss Life. Her future position was unknown as of early May 2015. Margrit was the CEO of the Swiss Life pooling network and the head of Head Corporate Clients for Swiss Life International since June 2006. She had joined Swiss Life in 1998. Although no comment was offered upon her leaving, it is likely that the forthcoming relocation of Swiss Life’s global employee benefits operations to

Cigna in April 2015 named Javier Cano as managing director of its global healthcare benefits business in Europe. While he continues to be based in Madrid, Javier leads a team operating across Europe with three key operational hubs located in the U.K., Belgium, and Spain. He joined Cigna in 2006 as sales director, having been previously with Oliver Wyman (Marsh McLennan group). He holds an MBA from INSEAD and

On April 1, 2015, Generali appointed three new regional Chief Executive Officers: Jack Howell for Asia, Antonio Cassio dos Santos for the Americas, and Jaime Anchustegui for the EMEA region. Jack Howell, 44, a U.S. citizen, holds an MBA from the University of Chicago School of Business. Howell worked for AIG, where he held several positions including Deputy Chairman of Strategic Operations and Chairman and CEO of Philam Plans,

Mimi Gigoux was appointed EVP Human Resources at Criteo in October 2014, with responsibility for all HR operations worldwide, reporting to Eric Eichmann, President and COO and succeeding Antoine Mingalon. She is based in San Francisco, CA. Founded and headquartered in Paris, France, Criteo is a technology firm focusing on optimizing online advertising performance. As of April 2015, it has over 1500 employees in 15 offices across the world.

Mr. Jonathan Mindell was appointed Executive Director by broker JLT Benefits in September 2014, joining from Mercer where he led Operations for the Europe and Pacific regions. Jonathan Mindell is based in London, UK. He has 31 years of experience, including 24 in insurance.

Nick Bushell was appointed head of Healthcare and Risk by broker JLT Benefits in August 2014, based in London, UK and joining from Lorica where he led sales.

Ricardo Almeida MAXIS GBN Head of Distribution As Head of Distribution, Ricardo Almeida is responsible for the development, enhancement and execution of MAXIS GBN strategy globally. His team works with our strategic partners to develop employee benefit solutions for multinational clients across the globe. Ricardo has worked in the employee benefits industry since 1999. He has been with MAXIS GBN since 2016 as its Americas distribution leader, where he

Jonathan Maddison Achievers EMEA Managing Director Jon Maddison is Achievers’ EMEA Managing Director, with responsibility for the services that we provide to customers across the region. Jon has more than a decade’s experience of leading successful Software-as-a-Service businesses. Immediately prior to joining Achievers he spent four years as Vice President of SaaS and Software Solutions with NGA HR, an HCM software leader. In this role, Jon held responsibility for

Matt Frost matt_frost@ajg.com Arthur J. Gallagher & Co Business Development Director of Communications for the Employee Engagement and Communications team Matt Frost is the Business Development Director of Communications for the Employee Engagement and Communications team at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Matt’s primary role is helping clients identify their employee communication needs and develop tailored strategies that will engage employees and support business results. Based in the UK, Matt

Theo Lutgendorff theo.lutgendorff@sprenkelsenverschuren.nl Sprenkels & Verschuren Partner Theo Lutgendorff, MBA, is a partner at Sprenkels & Verschuren, a privately held and independent actuarial, pensions, and investment consulting firm headquartered in Amsterdam. The firm is a member in the Abelica network of actuaries and consultants. Theo has over 25 years of experience in Dutch pensions and in global benefits. His previous roles include managing consultant at Aon Consulting Netherlands, principal