Kessler to retire from Westchester as Meyer steps up

Scott Meyer will take over as the president of Chubb’s E&S insurance platform Westchester with Bruce Kessler moving to a chairman role at the unit before retiring at the end of the year. Meyer will be replaced as president of Chubb’s North America financial lines business by Steven Goldman.

In an announcement today, insurance giant Chubb said that Meyer (pictured above left) will have executive operating responsibility for the commercial P&C insurance business that serves the wholesale and E&S market in the US and Canada.

Westchester accesses E&S business through its brokerage, binding and programs segments.

Kessler (pictured above right) will assume the role of Westchester chairman, where he will remain active in the business including strategic planning and acting as a senior advisor to Meyer during the transition before retiring at the end of 2020.

Kessler had been president of Westchester since 2010.

The Evan Greenberg-led carrier also announced that Goldman (pictured above center) will take over Meyer’s current position as vice president of the group and division president of North America Financial Lines for Chubb.

He will have executive oversight of Chubb’s management and professional liability lines of business, which spans public, private, not-for-profit and financial institution directors and officers coverages, transactional risk, as well as its errors and omissions and cyber products.

Meyer and Goldman will also have oversight of strategy, product and business development, underwriting operations, and profit and loss performance for their respective divisions, reporting to John Lupica, Chubb vice chairman and president of North America major accounts and specialty insurance.

Commenting on the changes, Lupica said: “Bruce Kessler helped shape Westchester into one of the leading wholesale and excess and surplus markets in the US. I am confident he will continue to serve Westchester well in his new role, and I am looking forward to continuing to work closely with him, Scott and Steve as they make the transition into their new roles.”

He said Meyer and Goldman both bring “extensive leadership, underwriting and P&L management experience” to their new roles.

“They are proven leaders in our company and will make an immediate impact in their respective businesses. Scott has done an excellent job building our financial lines business into the market leader it is today, which positions Steve well to further build upon those successes,” Lupica added.

Meyer joined Chubb in 2008 as executive vice president for professional risk. Goldman was most recently executive vice president for financial lines at Chubb Overseas General.

Separately Chubb announced that Tim Stapleton has been named as Goldman’s successor, moving from his position of senior vice president of cyber insurance and information technology. He will report to Timothy O’Donnell, president of commercial P&C at Chubb Overseas General Insurance.