Brendan McCafferty to become CEO of Flood Re
Brendan McCafferty has been appointed CEO of Flood Re, after a selection process run by the Flood Re directors and senior representatives from the insurance industry. Currently Commercial Director at Paymentshield, Mr McCafferty will begin his new role in Q4 2014. His appointment will be subject to regulatory approval as part of Flood Re’s authorisation.
Brendan has over 28 years’ industry experience across insurance, broking and consulting. He has worked for leading brands across the industry, including Aviva and RSA, and was formerly UK President of global insurance broker, Willis. He has strong reinsurance experience and has previously established new insurance operations and businesses, as well as leading large and complex transformational change programmes.
Brendan McCafferty will continue taking forward the work begun by Interim CEO, Tom Woolgrove in preparing for the regulatory authorisation of Flood Re, building its systems and processes, and working with Government to establish the required legislative frameworks. He will also lead Flood Re through its crucial implementation phase and launch.
Otto Thoresen, Flood Re director and ABI Director General said:
“Brendan is an experienced insurance industry leader and has worked across the insurance sector, leading change and developing strategy. He has a proven track record in making things happen and getting the job done, which will stand him in very good stead as we build momentum in the establishment of Flood Re. The interim leadership shown by Tom Woolgrove has meant Flood Re has made good progress and I want to thank Tom for his continued good work. I am confident that Brendan will be able to continue this progress and make sure that Flood Re delivers for all those customers who need access to affordable flood insurance.”
Brendan McCafferty, Flood Re CEO said:
“I am personally delighted to be leading such an important initiative and I look forward to working with the team, with Government ministers and officials, and across the wider insurance industry to implement Flood Re. Flood Re will be a world first and exists to address a real customer and social need – the Winter floods this year starkly demonstrated why we need to make sure homeowners can access affordable flood cover regardless of their risk. It is an exciting, innovative solution to a huge challenge. I am grateful to the Flood Re team and wider industry participants for the progress they have made.
Mark Hodges, Group CEO Towergate added:
"I am delighted to see Brendan take on this important role at Flood Re. Brendan has made great strides within Paymentshield during his time at Towergate and we wish him well in this important new venture. We will do all we can to support him in his goal to provide affordable flood insurance for homeowners."
Notes for Editors
1. Enquiries to:
Malcolm Tarling 020 7216 7410 Mobile: 07776 147 667
Linsey White 020 7216 7415 Mobile: 07885 998 011
Kelly Ostler-Coyle 020 7216 7375 Mobile: 07725 245288
2. Brendan McCafferty is currently Commercial Director for Paymentshield, a substantial Household Insurance distribution division of Towergate. Until June 2013, Brendan was President of Willis UK and was responsible for the P&L’s of a number of businesses, including regional distribution and Willis Networks. He also led the creation of Willis Underwriting Programmes (a Managing General Agent) and at various times was responsible for UK functions including Operations and Marketing, and represented the UK business on a number of Group committees. He was also closely involved in a number of relationships with UK insurers at a senior level. Amongst the areas of his responsibility were overseeing a business specialising in advising central government departments and local government on Insurance risk transfer and being involved in proposing pooling / reinsurance solutions for large clients, including Whitehall.
Brendan is from the North West of England and began his career with Royal Insurance in Liverpool, where he qualified as an Accountant. He subsequently joined PwC Consulting, spending several years assisting banking and insurance clients, performing various leading roles in substantial strategic change programmes, specialising in insurance finance function transformation and financial control remediation.
From PwC, Brendan joined Aviva’s UK GI Partnerships Division in 2003, where he led a number of important banking distribution relationships, including Barclays, and later became divisional Finance Director for Partnerships. He later became RSA’s UK Commercial Finance Director, overseeing the financial planning and performance of a number of large and complex underwriting P&Ls, and a balance sheet representing a substantial share of the RSA Group balance sheet, before leaving to join Willis in 2008.
3. The Flood Re scheme will make reinsurance for flood risk available to all insurers that underwrite household insurance policies in the UK. It is the joint UK Government / Insurance Industry medium-term solution and will address the availability and affordability of household insurance for those properties in high flood risk areas of the UK. The scheme is being developed in collaboration with the Association of British Insurers (ABI), Ministers, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Cabinet Office (CO), via the Water Bill 2014, which received Royal Assent in May 2014
4. The Directors of Flood Re are Otto Thoresen, Huw Evans and Tom Woolgrove. Tom will continue in his role as Interim CEO of Flood Re until after Brendan McCafferty joins Flood Re in order to enact an orderly handover. The Directors of Flood Re are supported by an industry Project Advisory Body comprising of Maurice Tulloch (Aviva), Craig Thornton (Lloyds Banking Group) and Amanda Blanc (Axa), who are all members of the ABI General Insurance Committee, representing the wider insurance industry.
5. The ABI is the voice of the UK’s insurance, investment and long-term savings industry. It has over 300 members, which together account for around 90% of premiums in the UK domestic market.
The ABI’s role is to:
– Be the voice of the UK insurance industry, leading debate and speaking up for insurers.
– Represent the UK insurance industry to government, regulators and policy makers in the UK, EU and internationally, driving effective public policy and regulation.
– Advocate high standards of customer service within the industry and provide useful information to the public about insurance.
– Promote the benefits of insurance to the government, regulators, policy makers and the public.
The UK insurance industry is the third largest in the world and the largest in Europe. It is a vital part of the UK economy, managing investments amounting to 26% of the UK’s net worth and contributing the fourth highest corporation tax of any sector. Employing over 290,000 people in the UK alone, the insurance industry is also one of this country’s major exporters, with 28% of its net premium income coming from overseas business.
Insurance and businesses protect themselves against the everyday risks they face, enabling people to own their own homes, travel overseas, provide for a financially secure future and run businesses. Insurance underpins a healthy and prosperous society, enabling businesses and individuals to thrive, safe in the knowledge that problems can be handled and risks carefully managed. Every day, our members pay out £147 million in benefits to pensioners and long-term savers as well as £60 million in general insurance claims.
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7. More news and information from the ABI is available on our web site, www.abi.org.uk.
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