James River names new chief actuary as Kish announces her retirement

James River Group Holdings has named a new group chief actuary to replace Jennifer Kish, who is set to retire later this year.

David Gelinne has joined James River and will take up the chief actuary position in the third quarter of 2021, when Kish retires.

Gelinne’s actuarial career spans over 40 years with a deep and broad focus on non-life casualty risks. He was most recently chief actuary at Allied World Assurance Company, before which he was chief actuary for Allied World’s North American segment. He was at Allied World for five years, before which he spent over 30 years at AIG in roles of increasing seniority within the actuarial group.

At James River, Gelinne reports to Frank D’Orazio, the chief executive officer.

D’Orazio highlighted Gelinne’s deep actuarial expertise which he said make him the right person to support James River’s actuarial function at a key time of ongoing focus on risk management.

He added: “I would like to thank our current chief actuary, Jennifer Kish, for her years of dedicated service to the organisation. She has been a great resource to me, and I speak for the entire James River Group in wishing her the best in her retirement.”