Argo has picked Tom McCartney as its next group of head of ceded reinsurance, the company announced on Friday. He takes over from Katie Partington Howarth, who was named Axis Re’s CUO earlier on Friday.
McCartney most recently served as vice president and head of outwards reinsurance purchasing for the Americas at Argo, having joined the company last February. He previously spent six years working for Allied World on its reinsurance buying team. Prior to that, he was a reinsurance broker for more than nine years, first spending seven years at Benfield and then two years at JLT Re.
“Tom has been closely involved in shaping Argo’s reinsurance strategy,” Argo EVP and CUO Tim Carter said in a statement. “His strong technical skills and relationships in the market make him ideally suited for this important role. We look forward to working with Tom as we look to build on our past success.”
Carter took over his position in June from Axel Schmidt as part of a revamp at the carrier under CEO Kevin Rehnberg, who took the helm in November 2019.
Partington Howarth was named to her new role at Axis, after running Argo’s global ceded re team since 2018.
Under Rehnberg, the Bermuda-based underwriter has made numerous changes to its operations, including selling reinsurer Ariel Re to a consortium of investors, scaling back in cyber, and announcing the departure of long-time CFO Jay Bullock.
In November, Argo said it would sell its underwriting operations in Continental Europe, outside of Lloyd’s.
Since taking the position, Rehnberg has repeatedly emphasised that the company would hone its focus on the domestic US market.
