Argo Group poaches Travelers exec as international chief underwriting officer

Bermuda-based Argo Group International Holdings has appointed Steve Eccles as the chief underwriting officer (CUO) for its international business.

Eccles joins Argo from Travelers Insurance where he served as the active underwriter of syndicate 5000 and a director on both the Travelers Insurance Company and Travelers Syndicate Management Limited boards. In his executive role as leader of the syndicate, Eccles had responsibility for driving syndicate performance and as such at various times he served as either a member or chairman of various management committees.

Eccles also serves as an elected director on the board of the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) and as the chairman of the LMA underwriting committee.

Eccles will begin his new role upon completing his contractual obligations, and will report to Jose Hernandez, head of international.

"Argo Group continues to build an impressive international platform with a growing bench of top-tier talent, and I’m pleased to have Steve join the team," Hernandez commented.

"His strong leadership experience and deep knowledge of the industry will serve us well in this newly created, cornerstone role. Steve’s expertise will be valuable as he works with the team to further establish our footprint as we strive to be a leading specialty lines insurer internationally."

Argo further announced that Bruno Ritchie, director of underwriting and active underwriter for syndicate 1200, is set to leave the company.

"We appreciate Bruno’s contributions and wish him the best in the future," said Hernandez.