Senior leadership changes this week span rural and specialist broking, insurance advisory and remediation, technology-enabled insurance services, and global insurance data standards.
Lycetts Appoints John Dawson as Commercial Director
Lycetts, the rural, farm and equine specialist broker owned by Benefact Group, has appointed John Dawson as commercial director as the business continues its growth plans and strengthens its senior leadership team.
Dawson brings extensive experience across broking, insurer distribution, product development, e-trading and digital strategy. Most recently, he served as broker sales director and digital director at Markel, where he was involved in developing e-trading capabilities and leading simplification initiatives.
Before joining Markel, Dawson spent more than 12 years at Zurich, holding senior positions including head of distribution and commercial e-trade manager. During his time there, he also represented the insurer on the board of Polaris UK. Earlier in his career, he held senior positions at Countrywide Insurance Marketing.
At Lycetts, Dawson will oversee insurer relationships and contribute to the development of the company’s commercial strategy and client proposition. His responsibilities will include sales, marketing and the Underwriting Centre of Excellence. He will also join the company’s Executive Committee.
His experience across both insurer distribution and broker-facing roles, combined with his background in e-trading and involvement with Polaris UK, brings expertise that could support Lycetts’ efforts to improve the efficiency of quoting and binding business across its rural, farm and equine insurance operations.
Broadstone Appoints Matthew Ford to Lead Insurance Advisory & Remediation
Broadstone has appointed Matthew Ford to its executive team as head of its Insurance Advisory & Remediation division.
Ford joins Broadstone from Milliman, where he served as a principal in the London life practice, specialising in areas including pension risk transfer and capital management.
His appointment follows the continued development of Broadstone’s insurance advisory business, which was launched in 2024 following the company’s acquisitions of OAC and Vestigo Partners. The move also comes after Broadstone received a strategic growth investment from Lovell Minnick Partners in January 2025, aimed at accelerating the expansion of the division.
Ford’s appointment is expected to support the expansion of Broadstone’s capabilities across pension risk transfer. This follows the company’s 2025 acquisition of ExactVAL and forms part of its broader development across insurance technology and the Lloyd’s and London markets.
Ford’s professional background includes experience at Prudential, WTW and Lloyd’s Banking Group. His expertise is particularly relevant to pension risk transfer work, where brokers and advisers support pension scheme trustees through complex buy-in and buyout transactions.
The appointment strengthens Broadstone’s ability to provide actuarial challenge and modelling support as pension risk transfer transactions become increasingly complex and significant in value.
Xceedance Appoints Convex Executive Adrian Spieler to Its Board
Xceedance, a technology-driven provider of insurance services, has appointed Adrian Spieler to its board of directors, effective immediately.
Spieler has served as chief operating officer at Convex since the company was launched in 2019 alongside insurance industry veterans Stephen Catlin and Paul Brand. He brings more than three decades of experience spanning insurance, reinsurance and asset management.
Prior to joining Convex, Spieler spent 17 years at Swiss Re. He later held senior operational and technology-related positions at Catlin and XL Catlin, including group chief administrative officer at Catlin and chief enterprise operations officer and chief platform officer for insurance at XL Catlin following Catlin’s acquisition by XL.
Xceedance provides outsourced underwriting, claims and operational support to insurers and managing general agents. While brokers may not typically interact with the company directly, its services can influence the speed and consistency of underwriting and claims processes at the carriers and MGAs it supports.
Spieler’s experience in developing operational and technology platforms at Convex and XL Catlin is closely aligned with the continued adoption of technology-enabled insurance operations.
His appointment to the Xceedance board also reinforces the company’s focus on developing operational infrastructure that can support faster underwriting, quoting, binding and claims processes for insurers and MGAs.
ACORD Appoints Joe Brace and Jennifer Kyung to Its Board
ACORD, the global standards-setting organisation for the insurance industry, has appointed Joe Brace and Jennifer Kyung to its board of directors.
Brace is operations director at the Lloyd’s Market Association, while Kyung serves as senior vice president of the business performance office at Nationwide.
Brace took up his LMA position in April 2025, where he represents the interests of LMA members in market modernisation and digitisation initiatives. His responsibilities include supporting advocacy for the adoption of ACORD data standards through the Velonetic re-platforming programme.
Kyung leads shared operations, sales business solutions and data functions at Nationwide. Her previous experience includes serving as chief underwriting officer at USAA and holding underwriting and transformation roles at Zurich North America, EY and Accenture.
ACORD’s data standards underpin significant elements of the insurance industry’s digital infrastructure, including e-trading platforms and modernisation initiatives across the Lloyd’s market.
The organisation’s board therefore plays an important role in shaping how insurance systems exchange and standardise data between brokers, insurers and technology platforms.
Brace’s involvement in Lloyd’s market modernisation, including work related to the Velonetic re-platforming programme and ACORD standards adoption, is particularly relevant to London Market participants. Greater adoption of consistent data standards across Lloyd’s managing agents can help reduce reliance on manual processes and support more efficient movement of business through the market’s digital infrastructure.
A Week of Strategic Leadership Changes Across Insurance
The latest appointments highlight the continued focus across the insurance sector on commercial growth, specialist advisory capabilities, operational technology and digital market infrastructure.
From Lycetts’ focus on strengthening its commercial leadership to Broadstone’s expansion of insurance advisory services, Xceedance’s investment in technology and operational expertise, and ACORD’s continued focus on data standards, the appointments reflect several key areas shaping the industry’s ongoing transformation.
