Caldwell Partners Recruits CFO for Prime Risk Partners
March 14, 2016 – Caldwell Partners has placed Robert Schneider as EVP and chief financial officer of Prime Risk Partners. Peter Reed, managing partner in Caldwell’s global insurance practice, led the assignment along with consultant Eric Roeloffs. Mr. Schneider has held senior financial executive roles, including CFO, at Ascension Insurance, USI Holdings, Anthem, and Acordia. He has managed the financial function through periods of growth and led IPOs, LBOs and recapitalizations, as well as played key roles in over 100 acquisitions in the insurance industry.
“We are pleased to add an executive of Bob’s caliber and experience to our senior management team,” said Bret Quigley, Prime Risk Partners chairman and CEO. “He brings a wealth of industry experience, having led the financial function at several of the top insurance brokers. With the addition of Bob to our team, we are well positioned to deliver on our commitment to building a truly superior national insurance distribution platform.”
Prime Risk Partners is building a national insurance distribution platform through selective acquisitions and strategic new hires.
“In the brokerage sector, we are seeing a great deal of demand for talent across several functional disciplines,” said Mr. Reed. “Given the amount of M&A and consolidation happening in this sector, there has been an increased demand for experienced and capable finance executives, in particular.”
Mr. Reed said he has noticed an uptick in activity with clients throughout the sector “who rely on us to help them identify and recruit qualified executives with the requisite skills and experience to help them take their companies to the next stage in their growth.”
According to a number of recent reports, the insurance industry is dealing with a talent shortage, including C-suite executives. According to the latest iteration of the ‘Semi-Annual U.S. Insurance Labor Study,’ conducted by executive search firm The Jacobson Group and Ward Group, 66.3 percent of companies polled intend to increase staff in 2016.
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“The staffing prediction was the highest anticipated rate in the seven-year history of our survey,” said co-CEO Gregory P. Jacobson. “It is clear that the insurance industry is focused on building staff, resulting in an increasingly competitive labor market.”
As a result, a number of executive search firms have been seen expanding in the insurance sector, with many developing specialist knowledge silos covering actuarial, risk & regulation, underwriting & claims, as well as board placements, including CEOs.
Some of the specializations include P&C primary insurance, wholesale / broker markets, global reinsurance markets, capital markets & investment management / insurance asset management, and distribution — as well as cyber intelligence / security management.
Some of the firms that have recently brought in insurance sector specialists include Korn Ferry, Hanover Search Group and Ridgeway Partners, who recently added Toby Crosthwaite as a partner focusing on the insurance sector in the U.K. and Asia.
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media
