Investment company Westaim Corporation (Westaim) and specialty insurer Houston International Insurance Group, Ltd. (HIIG) have announced the appointment of Andrew Robinson as the insurer’s new chief executive officer.
He takes over from founder and outgoing CEO, Stephen L. Way, who left his post as chairman but will continue to serve as one of the company’s directors.
Robinson’s wealth of experience is reflected in his more than 30-year stint as a global insurance executive. This includes recent stops at Crawford and Co., where he was global chief operating officer and executive vice-president, and at Oak HC/FT, where he served as executive in residence and senior advisor.
Robinson also had a 10-year tenure at The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. where he held several executive roles, including president of specialty insurance, executive vice-president of corporate development and chief risk officer.
While at Hanover, he was responsible for the company’s US specialty businesses, acquisitions, divestitures, business integration and enterprise risk management.
Prior to his stint at Hanover, Robinson was managing partner at global insurance at Diamond Consulting, which was acquired by PwC in 2010.
J. Cameron MacDonald, president and chief executive officer at Westaim and director at HIIG, expressed his delight at Robinson’s appointment.
“Andrew is the right leader for HIIG at this stage in its development. His extensive industry background and business skills should help HIIG strengthen its business and expand its presence,” he said.
“We believe his strong leadership experience will help focus HIIG, especially in the current economic environment.”
MacDonald also thanked Way for his leadership and “bringing HIIG to the level of success it has attained.”
“The board and I appreciate his many accomplishments,” he said.
Meanwhile, Robinson expressed delight at his new role.
“I am genuinely honored to lead HIIG and its team of very talented professionals,” he said. “Given the recent equity capital raise via a rights offering, we are well positioned to seize the market opportunity that is in front of us today, and to become one of the handful of truly premier specialty insurance groups.”
