Several insurance and risk management firms have announced senior leadership appointments across underwriting, affinity solutions, marine claims, strategic partnerships, and global development.
WTW appoints Varley as global commercial lines leader
WTW has appointed Chris Varley as global proposition leader for commercial lines pricing and underwriting within its Insurance Consulting and Technology (ICT) business.
Based in London, Varley will lead the firm’s global strategy in this area, which WTW has identified as a key growth priority, targeting sustained double-digit expansion.
Varley rejoins WTW from Allianz Commercial UK, where he served as chief data and analytics officer from March 2022 before taking on the role of chief underwriting officer. He previously spent five years at WTW as senior director for commercial lines pricing and underwriting, specialising in the development of analytics tools for the commercial insurance market.
Marsh Risk names Pinto as international affinity leader
Marsh Risk has appointed Roberto Pinto as international affinity leader, effective February 23. He will be based in London and report to Flavio Piccolomini, CEO of Marsh International.
In his new role, Pinto will oversee Marsh’s affinity business across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, India, the Middle East and North Africa, the Pacific, and the UK. He will work closely with clients to identify growth opportunities and mitigate risk across their affinity insurance portfolios.
Pinto brings 20 years of experience in affinity and client loyalty solutions. He previously served as president of digital client solutions and CoverWallet at Aon, where he led the firm’s global digital portfolios, and has also held international affinity leadership roles at WTW.
McLarens expands UK specialist practices
McLarens has strengthened its UK specialist capabilities with the appointment of Michael Wilson as head of marine UK & Ireland and Richard Bradshaw as latent defect lead. Both are newly created roles aligned with the firm’s strategy to expand specialist propositions.
Wilson, a marine practitioner with more than 20 years of industry experience, will lead the UK and Ireland marine practice. He will work alongside global head of marine John Culpitt to deliver services across marine hull and machinery, cargo, ports and terminals, P&I liability, and marine-related casualty claims. His background includes handling complex marine losses and holding senior leadership positions in the London Market.
HSB appoints Poll as director of strategic partnerships
HSB (UK & Ireland) has appointed Sunita Poll as director of strategic partnerships. Reporting to CEO Andrew Burke, Poll will lead the partnerships division to support the company’s strategic growth objectives.
Poll joins HSB after a 25-year career at AXA, where she held senior roles across global sales, account management, client services, and strategy. She has worked extensively at board level within multinational organisations, developing and scaling complex global partnerships.
From 2011, Poll served in global account director and business development roles at AXA Partners, leading partnerships with major financial institutions including American Express, Mastercard, Co-op Insurance, Visa, and Monzo.
IDF appoints new public sector co-chairs
The Insurance Development Forum (IDF) has appointed Alexander De Croo, administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Tsutomu Yamamoto, managing director of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), as public sector co-chairs of its Steering Committee.
De Croo assumed the role of UNDP administrator in December 2025, following a career that included serving as Prime Minister of Belgium from 2020 to 2024. He now leads UNDP’s work across more than 170 countries and territories.
Yamamoto became managing director of MIGA in December 2025, bringing more than three decades of experience in international banking and finance with Mizuho Bank. Most recently, he served as senior managing executive officer and head of global transaction banking, overseeing operations across the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
They succeed Achim Steiner and Hiroshi Matano in their respective institutional roles and as co-chairs of the IDF Steering Committee.
