Ascot creates new COO position
Ascot Group has announced the promotion of Elizabeth Johnson to chief operating officer, North America Insurance. Johnson joined Ascot in September 2020 as chief underwriting officer, North America.
The newly formed leadership position will have oversight for the strategic direction of an integrated underwriting, data, and operational organisation which provides streamlined support functions across Ascot’s North America businesses.
Johnson will work closely with the Ascot leadership team to enhance its underwriting capabilities, data strategy, operational resiliency, and integration. She will continue to have direct oversight of the North America Corporate Underwriting Office, Business Intelligence, Ceded Reinsurance, Risk, and Pricing Actuarial.
She will continue to report to Jon Zaffino, group president, and will work closely with Ascot’s North America company CEOs, comprising Ascot Bermuda, Ascot Specialty Insurance and Ethos Specialty, the group’s wholly owned MGU.
“Under Elizabeth’s leadership, we’ve advanced our underwriting culture and frameworks, refined our many underwriting portfolios, and made strategic improvements to our overall risk profile,” Zaffino said.
“This, in turn, has promoted our goal to achieve long-term sustainable resiliency across both our operational efficiency and risk-adjusted returns. I am thrilled to continue partnering with Elizabeth in this broadened remit as we advance our strategic agenda in the pursuit a modern, tech-centric insurer.”
Johnson added: “Ascot’s strategy focuses on a client, risk and tech-centric mission which is core to our future growth journey. This can only reach its full potential when all facets of our organization are working together towards a common objective within a single operational framework. I’m delighted to take the role of COO, and look forward to working with our talented leadership team to further align our operations strategy which will allow Ascot to remain a pre-eminent specialty risk assumption organization.”
Prior to joining Ascot, Johnson was managing director at Nationwide, after almost two decades at AIG where she held a number of senior underwriting and management roles, including head of excess casualty, North America and global head of excess casualty.
