Chubb Further Strengthens its Real Estate, Hospitality Practice; Aligns Seasoned Leadership Team
New structure enhances field support and strengthens casualty practice to ensure customers have easy access to greater depth of resources

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., Dec. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Chubb has further strengthened its Real Estate and Hospitality practice with a team of seasoned leaders that will maximize efforts around providing customers with easy access to greater depth of property and casualty resources.

As part of this new structure, the following appointments are effective immediately:

  • Seth Gillston, Chubb's existing Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice Leader has been appointed Executive Vice President, Real Estate & Hospitality Industry Practice Leader, within the company's North American Major Accounts division.  He will continue to lead the Private Equity team and also be responsible for overseeing the Real Estate & Hospitality Industry practice. Based in New York, Mr. Gillston will report to Matt Merna, Chief Operating Officer Chubb North America Major Accounts.

  • Steven Reiss, Executive Vice President, Real Estate and Hospitality Industry Practice, will report to Mr. Gillston and assist in overseeing the day-to-day operations for the company's Major Accounts Real Estate and Hospitality Industry Practice area.

  • Reporting to Mr. Reiss will be the Casualty Practice Leader for the REH practice, Tom Agnello, who is now responsible for leading the practice's newly formed center of excellence. In this capacity, he will have broad underwriting authority to manage the specific casualty insurance coverage needs of the Real Estate, Hospitality, Gaming and Financial Institutions industry practices.

  • Luke Testa will report to Mr. Agnello as Chubb's REH casualty underwriting manager, where he will lead a team of underwriters dedicated to this practice; Ted Aitken, will also report to Mr. Agnello and will lead Chubb's casualty practice for Major Accounts Financial Institutions with large real estate operations. 

"We are committed to world-class client and relationship management and see tremendous opportunities to further serve our customers in the property and casualty space and ensure they have the most robust risk management strategies in place," said Mr. Merna.  "Through this new structure our clients will benefit from greater depth of resources, including a broader set of casualty coverage solutions, claims management capabilities and focused loss control services, as well as more comprehensive guidance that can help risk managers ensure extensive risk management solutions are in place to mitigate specific industry exposures."

To further strengthen Chubb's client relationship management and field broker distribution within the REH practice, current zonal leaders from Chubb's Private Equity practice, including Meg Mcsherry, who is responsible for the East Coast market; Erica Nolda, who is responsible for the Midwest market; and, Marife Molina, who is responsible for the West Coast market, will work closely with Hemant Sarma, Chubb's SVP of Real Estate Underwriting to meet the needs of existing clients, serve as a conduit to other offerings within Chubb's portfolio of property and casualty solutions, as well as assist in the overall growth of the REH Practice.

"We are committed to operating as an industry vertical across all lines of business within Major Accounts," said Mr. Gillston. "The combined experiences of our underwriting, risk engineering, claims and service teams translate into effective risk management for our clients. We have been involved in a number of transactions related to private equity, real estate and hospitality, as well as financial institutions and understand the response time and program structure needs of each business."               

About Chubb's Real Estate and Hospitality Practice
Chubb's Real Estate & Hospitality Practice is one of several Chubb industry-specific practices. Our REH Industry Practice is distributed through Chubb's 48 North American branch offices. Tailored coverages are offered to the following real estate-related businesses: building owners; commercial property managers; financial institutions real estate programs; fund managers/fiduciaries (REIF); global service firms; parking operators; portfolio programs; real estate investment trusts (REIT); residential property managers; and senior living facilities. In addition, tailored coverages are offered to the following hospitality-related businesses: hotel brands, operators and owners; luxury resorts; recreational vehicle parks and campsites; rooming and boarding houses; bowling centers; casinos; race tracks; marinas; fitness facilities; golf courses; travel agencies/tour operators; and venues.

About Chubb
Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company, and the largest commercial insurer in the United States. With operations in 54 countries, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London and other locations, and employs approximately 31,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at: chubb.com.

Chubb Insurance Company of Canada has offices in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal and Vancouver and provides its products and services through licensed insurance brokers across Canada. For additional information, visit: chubb.com/ca.

SOURCE Chubb

For further information: Eric Samansky: (215) 640-4666; eric.samansky@chubb.com; Laurie Taylor: (908)-903-2611; ltaylor@chubb.com