BMS appoints US chief operations officer

Specialist broker BMS Group has promoted Kristine Westall, formerly EVP of BMS Reinsurance Operations, to a newly created role as chief operations officer.

Westall will oversee all US operations and is specifically responsible for the development and implementation of the BMS strategy in North America.

She will focus on providing creative solutions that enhance client service and procedures that improve consistency and efficiency. She will continue to manage client service operations – including reinsurance accounting, claims, contracts, broker operations and office services.

Westall joined BMS in January 2011 as senior vice president, reinsurance operations officer in charge of the firm’s US platform.

Previously, she spent more than 20 years in the Minneapolis office of Benfield, where she served as SVP, Reinsurance Accounting and Claims. Earlier in her career, as SVP of Brokerage Operations for John B. Collins Associates, Westall managed accounting, claims, IT, contracts, compliance and office services.

“This promotion reflects how tirelessly Kris has worked to develop the BMS operations platform, successfully building it out into one of the finest in the business,” said Christopher Hopton, chairman BMS Group. “It also demonstrates how committed we are at BMS to our growth strategy in the US reinsurance market. We will continue, with Kris’ excellent support, to invest in the best servicing and client operation in the business.”

Westall said: “Since 2011 my focus has been to enhance the reinsurance servicing platform for BMS clients. I am proud to say we have been very successful at creating unique global teams of brokering, analytics, contracts and claims experts. This ‘single-team’ approach makes us operationally efficient and extremely adaptable to the needs of each client. I am excited to be a part of BMS’ continuing growth.”