WR Berkley changes president of E&S unit Berkley Aspire

Property/casualty insurer WR Berkley Corporation has appointed Brian Griffith as president of Berkley Aspire, a Berkley Company that provides excess and surplus lines coverage to small to medium-sized insureds.

Griffith succeeds Miklos Kallo, who will support Griffith and the Berkley Aspire team throughout the transition and take on certain responsibilities at the corporate level.

Griffith joins Berkley Aspire with nearly 30 years of experience in the property casualty insurance industry. He has led regional underwriting divisions for large property and casualty insurance carriers as well as countrywide distribution and field operations.

Kallo joined Berkley in 1999 as chief financial officer of preferred employers insurance, became chief financial officer of Nautilus Insurance Group in 2008, and was named president of Berkley Aspire in 2017. Having filled key leadership roles at each of these operating units, he's said to have been instrumental in advancing their profitable expansion throughout the insurance market cycle.

W Robert Berkley, Jr., president and chief executive officer of WR Berkley, said: “We welcome Brian to Berkley, confident that he will be an excellent complement to our team at Berkley Aspire and the enterprise as a whole. His broad skill set will further enhance the success of Berkley Aspire. In addition, we thank Mick for his tremendous contributions to our organization over the past two decades. With his extensive knowledge of the property casualty insurance business and his hands-on experience in managing several of our operating units, Mick will be a great asset to our corporate activities.”