Toa Re America replaces CEO with former Starstone president

Toa Re America, the US subsidiary of Japan's Toa Reinsurance Company, has appointed Richard Sanford as new chief executive officer (CEO), replacing Edward Stanco from January 2021.

Stanco, who has served as CEO of Toa Re America since January 2009, is retiring at the end of the year, but will remain with the company as non-executive vice chairman of the board.

Sanford has 36 years of experience in the US and international re/insurance industry. Most recently, he was president of Starstone Group, responsible for global underwriting and reinsurance strategy.

He was previously chairman and president of PartnerRe US and head of P&C North America. He is past chairman of Broker & Markets Reinsurance Association (BRMA), and has served on the executive committee of the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA).

Stanco said: “We are very pleased to welcome Dick Sanford to Toa Re. His experience and qualifications are well-known in the global industry, and we are confident he will provide excellent leadership during this time of change in the market.”

Sanford commented: “I am excited about joining Toa Re. The Company has an excellent reputation as a well-respected, stable and reliable reinsurer. I hope to build on that reputation to expand Toa Re’s North America P&C and global Ag Re business.”

Masaaki Matsunaga, president and CEO of Toa Reinsurance Company of Tokyo, Japan, said: “I want to thank Mr. Stanco for his successful contributions to the Toa Group and wish him health and happiness in retirement. Mr. Sanford brings to Toa Re a great depth of knowledge of the global reinsurance business and a desire to continue Toa’s objectives to establish mutually-beneficial, long-term relationships with well-managed ceding companies. We look forward to having him join the Toa team.”