Kinetic makes board appointments after Torlea deal

Kinetic Insurance Brokers has made a series of board appointments following its acquisition by the Torlea Group.

Michael Sullivan has been appointed as chairman, and has over 21 years of experience in the property/casualty insurance arena in North America and Europe.

Sullivan started his career in 1988 as a motor underwriter for Farmers Group, and retired in 2009 from the position of chief underwriting officer, Europe general insurance, at Zurich Financial Services.

Sullivan commented: “The depth and breadth of industry experience this board brings to Kinetic is fantastic. I look forward to working with them, to grow the core wholesale broking division as well as the attractive specialty niche business in the UK and North America where we bring a solid value proposition to our clients.”

Peter Bassel has been appointed chief executive officer, and has 28 years of re/insurance experience.

Bassel has held senior executive roles at GWPco, TorLea Assurance, ACE INA Insurance and Loyalist Insurance Group, all based in Canada.

Philip Hicks has been named chief operating officer (COO) and has 22 years of industry experience, having most recently served as COO of Acapella Syndicate 2014.

Prior to this, Hicks served as international head of governance at Ironshore International.

Ray Dowling joins the board as a non-executive director and has 30 years of insurance experience, having previously served as director of Eastern Atlantic Holdings and Eastern Atlantic Re.

Dowling has also held the positions of senior vice president (SV) and chief reinsurance officer of Converium Reinsurance (NA).

Corcoran Byrne also joins as a non-executive director and has 25 years of law firm and corporate experience, having previously served as director of Eastern Atlantic Holdings and Eastern Atlantic Re.

Finally, Robert Hendel joins as a non-executive director and has over 18 years of insurance accounting and underwriting experience, having served as a director of Eastern Atlantic Holdings and Eastern Atlantic Re.