Exclusive: Burns & Wilcox hires former Travelers exec Higgins to lead NA commercial insurance

By James Thaler

June 11 - (The Insurer) - Burns & Wilcox has hired former Travelers middle market president Scott Higgins to lead commercial insurance in North America, serving as executive vice president and reporting to the wholesaler’s president Danny Kaufman.

A spokesperson for HW Kaufman confirmed the appointment and said that Higgins is joining the company as a member of Burns & Wilcox’s executive team and will work alongside HW Kaufman senior leaders and heads of its business units worldwide.

The company also said that Higgins will be responsible for building a comprehensive strategy that “further unlocks the full potential of the Burns & Wilcox commercial portfolio, while supporting its teams to further maximize client and market relationships.”

A statement from the company also said that Higgins “will also deploy an aggressive recruiting effort, while identifying and pursuing acquisition targets that align with the Burns & Wilcox long-term vision.”

Danny Kaufman said that Higgins is joining the company “with a stellar reputation, widely recognized for his leadership and vision, multi-sector expertise and deep relationships across the industry.”

“His addition further emboldens our already outstanding Burns & Wilcox leadership team,” Kaufman added.

“We look forward to Scott playing a major role in supercharging the growth of our commercial portfolio and the company overall,” he concluded.

Higgins called joining Burns & Wilcox “an incredible opportunity to join a fast-paced company firmly operating in growth-mode.”

“Burns & Wilcox is uniquely positioned as a privately held, family-owned and operated organization fully committed to making substantial investments in its people, industry leading technology and professional development resources to drive long term and sustainable growth,” Higgins said.

“I look forward to joining such a highly respected organization and making a meaningful impact,” he added.

The Insurer exclusively reported in October that Higgins had departed Travelers, where the executive previously spent his entire career. He worked at Travelers for more than 30 years, holding a variety of roles leading multiple businesses throughout the insurer’s North American operations.

Since 2016, Higgins served as president of Travelers’ middle market, national property and business insurance field organization.

Higgins’ arrival is the latest major appointment at HW Kaufman in the past year.

Former AIG global specialty head Paul Greensmith joined the firm in October as the HW Kaufman’s CEO of international.