REFILE-Exclusive: Liberty Mutual GRS names Hyatt to lead new globally connected practice to help clients navigate risks

By David Bull

May 28 - (The Insurer) - Liberty Mutual Insurance has appointed Wesley Hyatt to the new role of global chief client officer for Global Risk Solutions (GRS), leading a new globally connected client practice set up to help insureds navigate evolving risks.

Boston-based Hyatt has been chief client officer for GRS North America since 2021 and has been with the carrier for 21 years.

In a statement confirming the appointment, Liberty Mutual said the executive and new practice have been charged with “deeply understanding the evolving risks faced by clients and helping them and their brokers fully benefit from Liberty Mutual’s suite of global products, services and capabilities”.

Hyatt reports to GRS North America president Marc Orloff, and her expanded role includes supporting Liberty International Insurance president Phil Hobbs and Global Surety president Tim Mikolajewski.

GRS president Neeti Bhalla Johnson said: “We aspire to be the most trusted global insurance brand, one that puts our clients at the center of everything we do, and I am proud of the strong client relationship manager capabilities that we have developed across our North America, international and surety businesses over the last few years.

“Wes is uniquely qualified to lead our unified and coordinated client practice to ensure we show up for our clients as a globally connected partner."

In an interview with The Insurer, Hyatt said that Liberty’s ambition across its GRS business is to be a “risk-aware partner that clients and brokers trust”.

“As they’re going through many forms of uncertainty, they look to us for confidence and to lean into their risks. They’ve asked for more advice from us on navigating the external environment, which is obviously changing very quickly.

“I think it becomes more and more important that we at Liberty know that client, understand their business operations, understand the risks they're facing, so that we can be stronger advisors and really bring different parts of GRS to the equation that can best meet the needs of that client,” she added.

The executive highlighted the complex nature of risk, with clients seeking products and solutions across the world as they transact in global markets.

She explained that the new practice aims to unify different parts of GRS for clients to make Liberty “feel small for them” and speed up communication and interaction.

Hyatt said that division’s existing client executives will remain where they are, embedded in local markets, teams and product segments, but will now have accountability into the new global practice.

She highlighted areas such as construction and infrastructure for having large global clients that could benefit from the new globally connected practice at Liberty GRS, bringing together offerings across different areas of its business from surety bonds to builder’s risk or environmental insurance.

“My team’s job is to make sure that that’s seamless, and that they, like anybody across the table at Liberty, recognise the fullness of that relationship with that client,” she explained.

Under the leadership of Bhalla Johnson Liberty GRS has been breaking down and unifying what had been siloed operations to bring the full resources and expertise of the insurer to each client interaction.

“We’re here to help clients today, but (also) looking around corners and seeing what emerging risks they have and building a muscle where we can listen, synthesise those themes and make sure we’re developing products and solutions for risks they’ll face in the future. That’s really a part of what’s driving this,” said Hyatt.