K2-backed Ballantyne adds ex-Marsh, Credit Suisse hires to leadership line-up

Ballantyne Brokers, a new independent brokerage backed by K2 Insurance Services, has completed its senior team with the hiring of operations and finance leaders to help drive its ambitious growth plan.

The company has hired ex-Marsh John Harris as chief operations officer (COO), and former Credit Suisse executive Will Moore as finance director.

Harris has worked at broker Marsh for more than 25 years. Latterly, he served as COO of Decus Insurance brokers, and a member of its executive committee.

Moore is a senior financial professional, having held a variety of senior roles in banking and venture capital in London and New York, including time at Accenture and Morgan Stanley. More recently, he served as global CFO of Emerging Markets Group at Credit Suisse.

Ballantyne recently began trading in the London market, seeking to take advantage of the opportunities arising from "consolidation amongst the big brokers, the hardening market and the impact of COVID-19" - all of which it believes has triggered the demand for a new player in the market.

Ross Ballantyne, founder, said: “These appointments ensure that our senior management team has an excellent talent base from which to grow our business. They join Ballantyne at an exciting time as we continue to drive our ambitious strategy forward and build on our rapidly growing pipeline of new business opportunities.

"Both John and Will bring outstanding experience and impressive track records, and I look forward to welcoming similar senior broker talent to the team to join us in the near future.”