Generali Global Corporate & Commercial (GC&C) Expands Its Footprint to Serve the North American Market

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Apr 27, 2015) - GC&C, a business unit of Generali (one of the largest global providers of insurance and one of the top 50 global companies) unveiled today that it is launching its U.S. division to serve the needs of the North American market. Located at 7 World Trade Center in New York, GC&C North America will serve the corporate and commercial segment of the property and casualty insurance industry.

To lead this effort, GC&C North America has appointed Bill Skapof as chief underwriting officer, Andrew Sims as senior vice president of multinational property and construction, Warren Berey as senior vice president of foreign casualty and reverse flow and Jose Menendez as head of broker relations. In North America, the unit reports to Chris Carnicelli, head of global business lines North America and chairman and chief executive officer of Generali U.S. Branch.

Today more than 1,000 professionals work in the eight main offices of GC&C (Milan, London, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Sao Paolo, Hong Kong and now New York). GC&C serves clients and brokers in more than 100 countries, generating an overall Gross Written Premium (GWP) of approximately $2.3 billion.

Serving mid and large size businesses with a specific focus on the international corporate and commercial market segment, GC&C operates in property, casualty as well as specialties (aviation, marine, transport, engineering and financial lines). GC&C integrates its offering with an unrivalled multinational program network that handles more than 400 multinational programs providing technical consultancy on all aspects of risk and risk management.

In the U.S., GC&C aims to provide insurance solutions to the multinational customer segment as well as comprehensive coverage for construction projects. From a product perspective, the GC&C offering supports these customers with multinational property, builder risk and international casualty coverage.

By launching its North American division, GC&C has added a seasoned management team. Skapof brings more than 30 years of experience in the industry with a specific focus on this segment. Combined with Sims and Berey, this team has more than 75 years of successfully building businesses in this segment. Their prior experience includes leadership positions at ACE, AIG, QBE and Zurich. Carnicelli, who the team reports to, has spent more than 15 years in the group overseeing Generali's U.S. operations and has extensive experience in the corporate segment both in the U.S. and from his time at Generali UKB Branch in London.

"We are delighted to announce to the market our geographical expansion in North America. Our goal at GC&C is to become the best provider of services and insurance solutions for mid to large size businesses. Success will come from leveraging Generali's global footprint and our global team's extensive experience in each of the local markets we serve. We are confident this will make a very compelling value proposition for our customers and brokers," said Paolo Ribotta, head of GC&C. "At GC&C, our aim is to improve the return we deliver to our stakeholders and to grow in our chosen markets by providing superior and innovative products and services."

"GC&C business in the U.S. will initially leverage its strengths and focus on multinational property insurance, builders risk, international casualty and casualty package solutions," said Chris Carnicelli, chairman and chief executive officer of Generali U.S. Branch. "We are very excited to introduce our new team to the market at the Risk Management Society (RIMS) conference and get the word out that we are eager to start serving U.S. clients and their brokers."

"I am confident that the U.S. market will become fully aware of the value and meaning of the Generali brand, based on more than 180 years of expertise and 50 years as a leading presence in the property and construction insurance market, as evidenced by Generali being the insurer on some of the biggest and most complex infrastructure projects, as well as large property and real estate programs worldwide," said Bill Skapof, chief underwriting officer of GC&C in the U.S.

THE GENERALI GROUP

The Generali Group is one of the largest global insurance providers with 2014 total premium income exceeding EUR 70 billion. With 78,000 employees worldwide serving 65 million clients in more than 60 countries, the Group occupies a leadership position on West European markets and an increasingly important place on markets in Central Eastern Europe and Asia.

GENERALI GLOBAL CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL (GC&C)

GC&C is the Generali Group unit that develops the P&C business and insurance services for mid to large size businesses. The unit acts on a global scale and deploys an integrated approach at Group level with a central management team and specialized teams active in individual countries. Through the new unit, Generali aims to become a key world player in this segment.

GC&C draws on a worldwide network of professionals to offer a seamless approach towards global risks and deliver what matters to clients. With a client-centric approach, GC&C provides a full range of property, casualty and specialty lines protection to corporate and commercial clients and their brokers worldwide.

Generali established the Global Business Lines function, combining the strengths of the Group's Global Corporate and Commercial, Global Employment Benefits (GEB), and Europ Assistance, to offer clients a full range of global insurance solutions.

GEB is the strategic business unit of the Generali Group dealing exclusively with Employee Benefits, offering sophisticated solutions to multinational companies that wish to provide Life, Accident, Disability, Health and Pension cover to their employees. GEB is the global market leader in its business segment with more than 1,500 multinational clients. The GEB network is present in more than 100 countries.

Europ Assistance offers Care services with a focus on innovation. Europ Assistance serves more than 300 million people around the world through 8,000 staff and 44 companies and branches in 33 countries. It is the leading global brands for care services.