Westfield Specialty International CUO England exiting after a little more than a year

By Mia MacGregor

Feb 18 - Joe England, CUO of Westfield Specialty International, is leaving the company after a year and a half.

Based in London, England joined Westfield Specialty in September 2023, reporting to Graham Evans, executive vice president and head of international insurance.

Previously, he was divisional director of marine, energy and specialty at Hiscox, where he spent just over a year. Before that, he served as CEO of Vibe Syndicate Management and group CEO of Syndicate Holding Corp.

England also spent more than a decade at Axis Capital, where he worked with a number of Westfield Specialty executives, including president Jack Kuhn, and where England ultimately served as CUO for Axis’ international division.

Earlier in his career, he spent 14 years at Chubb predecessor Ace Global Markets, where he was head of UK and Ireland marine and a member of the Ace UK management team.

“This is an exciting time for Westfield Specialty. We have been making significant investments – in terms of new capital, new products, a new executive team, and into new and existing talent,” said Graham Evans, CEO of Westfield Specialty.

Evans noted that the company recently announced a series of new hires, and has further appointments scheduled through 2025.

“We will communicate details around a replacement CUO soon and look forward to announcing a continuity appointment,” Evans added.

Westfield Specialty’s international division was formed largely out of its February 2023 acquisition of Argo’s Lloyd’s Syndicate 1200 for $125 million, and which had around $650 million in premium at the time of acquisition.

The Insurer broke the news last week Westfield Specialty ended 2024 with gross written premium of $1.6 billion and a combined ratio of 95.1% across its US and international portfolio and hired an accident and health (A&H) team led by Chris DiSipio to spur its entry into the class.