Berkshire Hathaway expands professional liability team with 4 hires

The specialty insurance company is building out its executive and professional liability offerings with the appointments of four industry veterans.

Professional Risks

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Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) yesterday announced the following it would be expanding its executive and professional lines unit, as well as its new dedicated underwriting capabilities in the US.

BHSI named Danielle Librizzi senior vice president, head of professonal liability; Will Fahey senior vice president, head of commercial executive lines; Joe Schrancz vice presdient, head of architects and engineers professional liability; and Maura Verrone vice president, head of private and not for profit, executive and professional lines.

Dan Fortin, senior vice presdient, head of executive and professional lines, welcomed the new additions as part of BHSI's intent to grow its footprint in the market.

“With this infusion of exceptional talent, BHSI will be expanding into numerous executive & professional lines and is poised to grow rapidly in our targeted areas,” Fortin said in a statement. “We look forward to bringing to market new primary policies with the simplicity and clarity that is the hallmark of our company -- all backed by BHSI’s financial strength.”

As senior vice president, head of professional liability, Librizzi is overseeing BHSI’s professional liability and cyber insurance underwriting in the U.S.

She comes to BHSI from CNA Financial Corp, where she spent the past decade in a series of positions of increasing responsibility overseeing management liability, financial institutions and miscellaneous professional liability and cyber claims handling. Prior to that, she was at AIG and Gulf Insurance Group. Before embarking on a career in insurance, she was an attorney in private practice. She holds a law degree from St. John’s University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from New York University. She is based in BHSI’s New York office.

Fahey is leading BHSI’s expansion in the U.S. commercial executive lines market. He comes to the job with two decades of industry experience, most recently as senior vice president at Zurich North America. Before that, he was vice president at Arch Insurance and assistant vice president at Hartford Financial Products.

He began his insurance career as an underwriter at AIG, and was regional underwriting manager there as well. He holds a law degree from New York Law School and a bachelor’s degree in English from Allegheny College. He is based in BHSI’s New York office.

Schrancz, meanwhile, is spearheading BHSI’s entrance into A&E professional liability and will head the underwriting of this product line in the U.S. He has more than 20 years of experience in insurance for design professionals.

He was most recently assistant director, design professional, at Catlin Insurance. Before that, he was Program Manager, A&E, at All Risks Ltd, and Regional Product Line Manager at AIG. He was also Regional Professional Lines and Casualty Manager at AIG. A licensed professional engineer, Joe began his career in civil engineering before moving into insurance. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Rutgers University.

Verrone is leading BHSI’s move into middle market executive lines, focusing on private company and not-for-profit risks in the U.S. She comes to BHSI with 27 years of industry experience spanning both the underwriting and brokerage sides of the business.

She was most recently national underwriting manager for professional risk at ACE Commercial Risk Services. Prior to that, she was senior vice president at Aon Financial Services Group, and senior vice president & FINPRO practice leader at Marsh FINPRO. She began her career as an underwriter at National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA. Maura received her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Richmond. She is based in BHSI’s Atlanta office.

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