Aviva has appointed Susan Penwarden as chief underwriting officer (CUO) for Commercial, Corporate & Speciality Lines. Susan joins Aviva from RSA where she worked for 13 years, most recently as Group Specialty Portfolio Director.
In her new role at Aviva, Susan will report directly into Axel Schmidt, Aviva’s UK and Ireland General Insurance CUO, and will have overall accountability for underwriting results and product development in all Commercial and CSR lines of business.
Commenting on her appointment, Axel said, “We are pleased to appoint someone of Susan’s calibre into this fundamentally important role.
“Susan joins Aviva at a very exciting time. In conjunction with the businesses, she will further drive our cycle management strategy across Commercial and Corporate and Speciality businesses. The market continues to be highly competitive in terms of rates and reflecting the uncertain economic conditions our customers are operating in; that said, it is more important than ever that we continue to focus on disciplined and profitable underwriting.
“One of the challenges we face is to work together with our brokers and customers to ensure we deploy our capacity at the appropriate rates. Our aim is to bring long-term pricing stability that ultimately benefits our customers while ensuring we are able to continue to deploy our capital in a wide range of propositions.”
Susan’s appointment further strengthens Aviva’s CUO community, which also includes Ian Ferguson, Intermediary and Partnerships CUO; Hayley Robinson, Personal Lines CUO; and John Tiernan, Corporate and Speciality Risk CUO.
Axel concluded, “This structure reflects the vital importance of underwriting, pricing and product development both in the individual businesses and organisationally across our businesses in the UK and Ireland, and is critical for the continued success on our world class underwriting journey.”
