Everest appoints Elias Habayeb as CFO to stabilise after tough year
Everest Group has named seasoned financial executive Elias Habayeb (pictured) as its next chief financial officer, stepping in as the current CFO retires following a challenging year marked by board turnover, sizeable reserve strengthening and the group’s exit from primary retail commercial insurance.
Elias Habayeb will step in as executive vice president and group CFO on or about May 1, 2026, reporting to president and CEO Jim Williamson and joining Everest’s executive leadership team.
Habayeb brings more than three decades of global finance experience across insurance and financial services. Most recently CFO of Corebridge Financial, he previously held top finance roles across AIG’s General Insurance and Life & Retirement divisions, where he helped steer the IPO that spun Corebridge into an independent company. His earlier career includes serving as CFO of AIG subsidiary International Lease Finance Corporation and a partnership at Deloitte & Touche’s Capital Markets Group, specialising in financial services and structured products.
He succeeds Mark Kociancic, who will retire after five years following the Q1 reporting cycle and stay on as a special advisor during the transition.
Kociancic’s exit caps a sweeping period of senior leadership turnover, including former CEO Juan Andrade’s January departure and the elevation of Williamson to the top job. The shake-up also saw long-time board chair Joseph Taranto step down after three decades, with John Graf taking the helm at the May shareholders meeting.
Everest rounded out the reshuffle by adding John Howard, Darryl Page, Allan Levine, and Laura Hay to its board in 2025.
Williamson said: “Elias is an outstanding financial leader whose experience, strategic insight and record of value creation will be instrumental as we strengthen Everest’s foundation for sustained performance. With a renewed focus on our core businesses, Everest is well positioned to capture the opportunities ahead and deliver consistent, lasting returns for our shareholders.
“I also want to thank Mark for his many contributions, leadership and partnership during a transformative period for Everest. We wish him the best in his future endeavours and look forward to collaborating through a seamless transition.”
Earlier this year, the group booked a staggering $1.7 billion in net reserves after a deep review of its book, a move driven by roughly $2 billion in gross US casualty reserves offset by releases elsewhere in January. That was followed by another heavy reserve charge on its primary casualty book before the group ultimately called it quits on its primary retail commercial insurance venture, ending a decade-long diversification experiment.
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